Alderson: 2012 Closer Not A Met Yet
In case you missed it, Sandy Alderson appeared with Ron and Gary during the top of the third inning in last night’s Mets-Cardinals game. The Mets cooperated, scoring three runs, giving Alderson the time to respond from some frank questioning from Cohen.
Alderson admitted that the 2012 closer may not yet be in the organization and that the team will not use next Spring Training to decide on who gets the role. He blamed the recent dreadful homestand on the numerous blown save opportunities by the bullpen. Alderson also dwelled on the concept that this as-yet-undetermined closer may currently be a minor league pitcher on the verge of a breakthrough.
Alderson spoke highly of both Ruben Tejada and Dan Murphy, noting the Mets slide from contention began when Murphy was lost for the year. He praised Jason Bay‘s determination to work himself back to past performance and indicated that the starting rotation, plus Johan Santana will be much the same as this year. He also said that his staff will recommend changes to the dimension of Citi Field.
About the Author
A Mets fan since 1971, Dan spent many summer nights of his childhood watching the Mets on WOR Channel Nine, which his Allentown, PA cable company carried. Dan was present at Game 7 of the 1986 World Series and the Todd Pratt Walkoff Game in 1999. He is also the proud owner of two Shea Stadium seats. Professionally, Dan is a Marketing Communications Coordinator. He is married, lives in Bethlehem PA and has a 10-year-old son who unfortunately roots for the Phillies.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed.
Rosy colored glasses there Sandy. The games were lost for a variety of reasons, including poor fundamentals and not scoring runs. The Mets weren’t really in “contention” for anything but .500. On that level, yes, the crazy day when Reyes & Murphy got hurt was probably the beginning of the Mets slide from “gutsy” (if mediocre as a whole) to “looking pretty bad” (if ending up with a record about where you expected — 75-85 games was the likely range). I do respect Bay — his play made the expensive contract look pretty bad, but he managed to continue to do his job in the field (mostly) and does (fwiw) seem like a nice guy.
I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid about Ruben Tejada or Daniel Murphy. They are one sided players. I would drink the Kool-Aid if Sandy was a mad scientist and could combine the two of them into one player. Then you would have an all around player you can really cheer for. Now, you have decent players at best.
As far as Citi field, we definitely need to change it. I would get rid of the double wall in Left. That would give Wright and Bay a chance to hit more HRs. Also, I hate to say this but Reyes won’t be back. If I’m a player at my peak of my career, I would not waste it with these Mets. I would go somewhere else. With that said, no more triples from Reyes so we don’t need a large field anymore. No one else on the team really has speed except Pagan but I hope he isn’t on this team next year. I’m tired of see him and Pelf.
I think there will definitely be big changes next year but not the big changes like in the past. I feel we’ll lose more people than gain more players. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing because these Mets aren’t cutting it. Broxton as our closer next year and maybe Webb in our rotation could be a good chance. You never know. We’ll definitely have to see what will be done.
Sandy says no closer in sight and we will have the same rotation next year plus Johan.Of course that’s the same Johan we were told would be back as a starter by August 1.Also Bay stinks, but he steals his paychecks with a smile, so we should be grateful for that.I guess i missed the bad news
Classic Met’s PR move. I was getting sick of hearing that Johan and Ike would come back this year. I knew they wouldn’t be back this year. They just wanted to give the Mets fans hope and keep our interest so they could sell tickets.
Is there anyway we could move the fences when the mets are up next year and move them back when the other team gets up?
Seriously, with the anticipated staff are we quite sure this would even be a good move? Seems like it would hurt the pitchers more than helping the hitters. If young David continues to strike out 150-200 times per year, movin them fences aint helping.
Have to agree. Unless the Mets pick up a few power hitters this winter, i see this hurting more than helping. Though, it does clear the way to let go of both Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan — no need for speed in a “neutral” ballpark.