Every year, it’s just the same old story coming out of Queens. When the Mets go south, they do it spectacularly. They don’t just lose, but they lose in style and have something interesting going on.
This season has been no exception.
It’s been about a month since Sandy Alderson took a leave of absence and the general manager triumvirate has been doing as well as you expect. This is not a bad mark on nice guy John Ricco and capable executives Omar Minaya and JP Ricciardi. They are doing as well as they can, but the Mets are learning why other teams haven’t put three men in charge. It just doesn’t work.
Over the weekend we saw this in action, as the Mets seemed to have a disconnect with Yoenis Cespedes about the issue with his heels and then as an afterthought announced Noah Syndergaard going back to the DL with hand, foot and mouth disease, which generally affects children.
Oh yeah, they also traded Jeurys Familia for a less than impressive haul, angering the fanbase even further.
And today they made the press wait an hour and a half for a Cespedes press conference, which never happened, and could have been and was eventually done with an email.
It’s time to stop and reflect if you are Fred and Jeff Wilpon. This system is not working and they need to do something as soon as possible. By all accounts, the Wilpons will be going outside the organization to look for a new general manger in the offseason. If that’s the case, then why don’t they just start looking right now.
Alderson isn’t coming back. He even said it himself and it would be no insult to Sandy if he announced his retirement and gave his blessing for the Mets to conduct their search. Who should they hire? Well that’s a discussion for another day, as there are a number of capable candidates out there.
Anyone with a job in a front office probably won’t get a shot to the offseason anyway. That’s fine, but the Mets can start looking at candidates that are currently not with organizations. Maybe there is someone out there, and maybe there isn’t. It worked for the Football Giants with Dave Gettleman, who had the job before the season was over.
There may not be a candidate like him out there for the Mets, but if the Wilpons did start shopping, they will need a checklist and at the top of it should be a candidate that can act as a buffer between Fred and Jeff and the organization. He needs to be someone, who will stop Jeff from meddling in the baseball operation, while enduring Fred’s old Brooklyn Dodger stories. Is there a candidate like that out there? I don’t know, but they need to look into it.
Everything else should fall into place and even if the Mets will give Ricco the requisite interview, he probably isn’t a candidate anyway or he would have gotten the interim title instead of the Borg-like, “One of Three.”
And speaking of that, if the Wilpons are going to bring in an outsider to run the show, then the current triumvirate must not trade any players the Mets have under control after this season. It shouldn’t be their decision. Trading anyone outside of Jose Bautista, Asdrubal Cabrera and Devin Mesoraco is not doing the organization or the new GM any favors. Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard will be very valuable come the winter, if the new guy wants to make that move.
So, it’s time for the Mets to put away the clown shoes and start giving this ship a rudder. This Marx Brothers act needs to stop in Queens. Start interviewing for the next general manager and slink away this season.
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