One reason Brodie Van Wagenen is now the ex-general manager of the New York Mets is how poorly he performed in free agency. Zaid Lowery, Wilson Ramos, Dallin Betances, Rick Porslow and Michael Covenant stand as a costly punchline for the flawed rule of the time.
But one of the reasons Van Vagenen acquired the job was because of how his predecessor worked in free agency, especially in the 2018 season – so badly that even Sandy Alderson admitted, “We signed on, not me Address, five, six free agent lineages. And in fact not one of them has lived up to their expectations or maybe ours, either.
Alderson said that in June 2018 when he was taking a leave of absence due to a recurrence of his cancer. Asked if he should be retained, Alderson admitted, “If I want to see it on properties, I’m not sure coming back.”
Alderson was not recalled – until he was the first big forward of the Steve Cohen regime. And indeed, with the plans expressed by both of them in their Tuesday introductory zoom conference, much of the near future will develop around Alderson and which he hires to eagerly pick players – ie free Agent – Better than the previous two MM GMs, one of whom was Alderson.
As a GM with the three-time AL champions 1988–90A and 2011–18 Mets, Alderson was better at purchasing talent through drafts and trades than free agency. Oakland players such as Dave Henderson, Ricky Henderson, Carney Lansford, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Stewart and Bob Welch came to Championship A through unilateral trades favorable to the A-Elders; And Jose Canseco, Mark McWyer, Terry Steinbach and Walt Weiss came from their drafts.
The Mets could have been the playoff team over the last two years if Van Vagenen improved during the Alderson acquired corps (Noah Cindergaard, Jack Wheeler) or around the draft (Pete Alonso, Michael Conferro, Jeff McNeill, Brandon Nimmo, Dom Smith) . first term.
So perhaps the most important quote within two hours that Cohen and his team president addressed to reporters on Tuesday was when Alderson said: “I don’t want to make the impression that we’re just going out and signing a group of players Will do. But I think now we can emphasize acquisition rather than cost. Does that make sense? “
This is when Alderson was throwing shadows at Wilson, if he was making subliminal references that you can’t buy the best stuff without the money to do so. Alderson’s last free-agent class was Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, Jason Vargas, Anthony Swarzak, Jose Reyes and Adrian Gonzalez. The total guarantee was $ 88 million, or my estimate of what it would cost to sign DJ LeMahieu.
One Van Wagenen found Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz receiving from the Mariners in a trade that currently looks ominous that he was able to dump Bruce’s remainder and Swarzak’s contracts with some financial offsets against Cano (It also cost Alderson two first-round elections in Justin Dunn and Jared Kallinik.
Perhaps nothing equates Alderson’s skills with his dealings with the Mets to Yonis Cespedes. Trading for him in 2015 was a bonanza (and the younger pairs of Tyler Clippard, Addison Reed, Kyle Johnson and Juan Uribe also helped the Mets to the NL title). Cespedes’ retention on a three-year contract with a one-year contract was fine. Retaining Cespedes for four years is a disaster for $ 110 million.
The next time Alderson shopped, he was at Bruce, Frazier, Vargas Isles. Cohen would obviously allow the Mets to relax from luxury areas. So Alderson and his baseball department will have to properly judge the George Springer Association with a sign-stealing scandal, demanding JT Realmuto take over as a catcher, and whether Trevor Bauer as an Iconstal Mets and New Yorker Will blend well together.
But not all purchases are done in posh categories. The Mets will have to improve their bullpen. If they say, Springer’s purchase, it may mean starting a less expensive catcher and / or pitching.
Alderson and his handcuffed lieutenant will get the keys to be bold. Now the historically difficult part – getting those options.
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