Those Mets

SANDY ALDERSON NEW GM

Sandy Alderson was in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, attending to his duties for Major League Baseball in its efforts to clean up the player procurement process. But he has already begun working on his next assignment, which may be equally as challenging — resurrecting the Mets. Alderson will become the Mets’ general manager, and he has begun compiling a list of potential field managers and is looking into re-signing at least one potential free agent, reliever Hisanori Takahashi. Whatever he decides to do, it will most likely be his decision alone. Alderson is expected to be granted full control over the Mets’ baseball operations, within the framework of a budget set forth by team ownership. Essentially, the Mets will be handing the keys of the franchise to him. “I think he’ll be able to keep ownership at bay,” said Steve Phillips, a former Mets general manager who acknowledged he was too young and inexperienced when he held the position to have the clout that Alderson will. “Young guys do need some guidance, but Sandy has the credibility and the maturity to set forth a plan for the entire organization,” Phillips said. “If Sandy says, ‘No, this guy doesn’t fit into our budget,’ or ‘It doesn’t make sense for us,’ everyone will know it’s really coming from him.” Alderson is expected to begin asking teams for permission to speak to potential managers. There are indications he will at least interview Wally Backman, manager of the Mets’ Class A Brooklyn Cyclones; Chip Hale, the Mets’ third-base coach; and Bob Melvin, a former manager of the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Of more immediacy is to decide whether to re-sign Takahashi. By rule, the Mets have until Oct. 31 to get a contract worked out or Takahashi will not be able to sign with them until May 15. Complicating matters, Takahashi recently switched agents after the Mets had begun negotiations with his old agent, Peter Greenberg. But the Mets have reached out to the new agent, Arn Tellem, in hopes of completing a deal before the deadline. While that may be the most time-sensitive issue for Alderson, the more vital one is the next manager. Alderson has said in past interviews that he favors low-key managers who follow the overall philosophy and strategy set forth by him as general manager. The reasoning is: why set policy and formulate a tactical plan only to have a maverick, charismatic manager make decisions that do not follow the plan? Managers like Melvin and perhaps Hale could fit into that framework, but the fiery Backman does not seem to. Alderson has already told others he would not favor hiring Backman, the former Mets infielder, because he has no major league managing experience and would be better served honing his skills in the minors. Ownership is fond of Backman, however, and Alderson is said to be willing to have an open mind. The last manager Alderson hired was Art Howe in 1996, when he was general manager of the Oakland Athletics. Mets fans may cringe as they recall Howe’s listless campaigns in Flushing in 2003 and 2004, but he was more successful with the Athletics from 1996 to 2002. Working closely with Alderson, and later Alderson’s protégé Billy Beane, Howe finished with a 600-533 record with the A’s. He won two division titles while taking Oakland to the postseason in his last three years there. The A’s never won a playoff series under Howe, but he did win more than 100 games two years in a row with a team that had a modest payroll. It has been suggested that most of the decisions, even in-game tactical decisions, were made in the front office by Beane, and when the A’s decided they wanted to turn to their bench coach Ken Macha as manager, they were only too happy to let Howe go to the Mets. When Howe got to New York in 2003, replacing Bobby Valentine after a 75-86 season, the Mets did not need a laid-back button-pusher to follow a plan. Howe finished well under .500 both years with the Mets. Before Howe, the Athletics had Tony La Russa, who is not a managerial automaton by any means. But La Russa was an exceptional talent who has worked well within organizational parameters. Alderson will be introduced at a news conference at Citi Field on Friday. He hopes to begin interviewing candidates almost immediately.