Alderson: Mets done with offseason moves
Mets GM Sandy Alderson speaks with reporters on Oct. 29, 2010. Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Chris Capuano. Chris Young. D.J. Carrasco. Taylor Tankersley. Tim Byrdak. Blaine Boyer. Taylor Buchholz. Boof Bonser. Ronny Paulino. Willie Harris. Scott Hairston. Chin-lung Hu.
Sandy Alderson says he's done.
A Mets offseason that was more about hiring a new front office and setting an improved organizational tone and less about acquiring talent was all but declared over by the Mets general manager Wednesday.
"We're pretty much there, I think," Alderson said at snowbound Citi Field, where the team introduced Hu. "It's possible that something will pop up, but right now we're at about 55, 56 players in [major-league] camp. We don't want to get beyond 60. I would say we're just about at our max. I think we're about ready to go. Again, something could pop up, but right now I don't expect anything to happen."
Unfortunately, many Mets fans have the same expectations about the 2011 team - they don't expect much to happen.
Alderson doesn't share that view. "Actually, I feel pretty good about it," he said. "We've been able to address all of our needs. Hopefully we've addressed those needs well. We're going to find out in spring training and early in the season. But given what latitude we have, I'm actually happy with what we have. I think we've maximized our resources and I'm happy with what we have going into spring training."
When a GM is throwing around words and phrases such as "latitude" and "maximized our resources," you know he's talking about money. Even though the Mets will have one of the biggest payrolls in baseball at about $145 million, contracts left over from the previous regime have made it money not well spent.
Oliver Perez, the $12-million lefthander, could be considered a bad investment. He will come to spring training in less than three weeks to compete for a job. Perez is just not sure which job, starter or reliever.
"That's something that [manager] Terry [Collins] and I and Oliver will talk about at the very beginning of camp," Alderson said. "We certainly want to take his view into consideration. Ultimately, it'll be where we think he can best make a contribution to us."
If Capuano and Young are healthy, the Mets' rotation is set. But that's a big "if." Capuano had just 24 appearances (nine starts) with the Brewers in 2010 because of elbow troubles and Young (shoulder woes) made only four starts for the Padres.
"Right now we're pleased that we've extended the list of potential starters to seven or eight - if you wanted to include Ollie in that group," Alderson said.
Notes & quotes: Alderson said he did not think Johan Santana (shoulder surgery) had begun throwing. The Mets expect Santana to begin throwing sometime in the next three weeks . . . Alderson said he expected to have a role in the organization for former hitting coach Howard Johnson soon. Johnson, who is under contract, is waiting to hear where he will be re-assigned . . . Alderson said he is waiting to hear from former GM Omar Minaya about whether he will remain in the organization. "I think you've got to give people some space to figure out what they want to do," he said . . . Former Met Frank Viola is expected to be named pitching coach for the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones next week.
