The Con, Part III
Joseph DeCaro is a brave man. Proprietor of the of the famed Mets Merized blog, Joe D. is a redoubtable voice among Mets bloggers - especially in the last couple of years as the worship of Sandy Alderson has grown to choir-like proportions. Come dark of night of night, heat of day, or the tempting aroma of grilling steak sandwiches, Joe goes his own way. He's free to be a real and persuasive critic. He was an island of sanity in the Jose Reyes rationalization fest that passed for analysis. He called this front office on making poor use of the reduced budget it actually had to use.
And he's nailed it on the R.A. Dickey fiasco.
I’ve been a Mets fan for 40 years now and thanks to our GM, I apparently don’t understand the game. I always thought that when you have a good player you keep him. You use that player and try to build a winner. Apparently, I’m incorrect. I now see that when you have a good player, you trade him and gamble on young unproven prospects.
See, Joe understands that you build teams in a big market, in New York - you just don't tear them down and expect the fans to show up. No one understood the Jose Reyes disaster better than Joe D.:
Jose Reyes, among the most exciting players in baseball, was one of the most popular Mets in decades. Although he’d been our shortstop for eight seasons, Alderson channeled M. Donald Grant. After putting down his talents by saying speed was not important, he told Reyes, “Show me what you can do.” Jose sure showed him, becoming the first player in team history to win a batting championship… Then Alderson showed him the GW Bridge and pointed him south.
And now the coup d'grace on the Mets struggling, overmatched General Manager:
Fast forward to one year later. RA Dickey became the one and only bright spot in yet another abysmal Mets season. He was the feel good story of 2012. For a change, the Mets were presented positively in the national spotlight. R.A. became the first Mets pitcher in more than a quarter of a century to win the Cy Young Award, and the first knuckleballer ever to cop the award. In addition to setting a team record of 32 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, he also led the NL in innings pitched, strikeouts, complete games and shutouts.
Last winter, Alderson told us he couldn’t keep Reyes because he wanted too much money and that he wasn’t worth the risk due to injuries. This winter, Alderson lets Dickey walk because of a difference of only $6 million over three years in a new contract. And ironically, who do we get back, but a catcher who missed half the season with a knee injury, and also missed half a season in 2010 with two bulging discs in his back.
If we had no problem getting rid of Reyes because of injury concerns, then why now is it acceptable to get a player trying to recover from a season-ending injury? An injury to his knee… And a catcher yet, too…
M. Donald Grant is regarded as the worst GM in our history. He traded Seaver, Kooz, Tug, Rusty, Cleon, Buddy, etc… However, I have more respect for him than I do for Alderson.
Follow Mets Merized, folks. Why? Because Joe D. (who we hope is feeling better!) wears no rose-colored glasses.