The Pressure is on Sandy: Make the Right Move

Sandy Alderson spent Saturday night at Carlos Beltran’s fundraiser in Puerto Rico, where he presented a check for Beltran’s foundation from the Mets.

It’s hard to argue with the path the team has taken, compiling more front office brainpower – at least in terms of Harvard University degrees – than any in baseball. The Wilpons have made peace with Beltran. The new regime has not acted rashly.

But it is the managerial choice to come that I still wonder if the Mets are outsmarting themselves.

While the final count for the second round of interviews is not set yet with one more first-round candidate, former Met player and current Cardinals coach Jose Oquendo to interview Monday in Orlando, sources indicated that the Mets are leaning toward a person with major league managerial experience.

Hard to argue with that, except the group the Mets are choosing from consists of Clint Hurdle, Terry Collins and Bob Melvin.

That leaves out Wally Backman, who sources said had a tremendous interview session with Alderson. It leaves out Chip Hale, who knows the club from the inside, having spent last season as a third base coach.

And it also leaves out prime experienced and available managers in the game – Bobby Valentine, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre.

Maybe Piniella and Torre really are retired. What about Valentine, who seems resigned to return to ESPN baseball coverage? Is the price too high? Would his price come down after he was left out of Seattle and Milwaukee?

Backman, who was once named manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, saw his tenure there last just four days before he was fired as personal issues came to the surface. Stories surfaced this week about Collins getting charged with allegedly driving under the influence in 2002, something a high-ranking Mets official said the team knew about.

Hurdle is being recruited hard for the Pittsburgh Pirates job. That may leave just Collins and Melvin. If the Mets take the easy path, Melvin could emerge as the choice.

And this all reminds me that as good as he may be, Alderson’s greatest success came with Tony La Russa as manager in Oakland and a payroll that was the highest in the game. He pushed La Russa aside in favor of Art Howe, a dramatic example of his theories on a manager’s role. But he didn’t win again and no one would put Howe on a level of leadership with La Russa. Few in baseball would mention Melvin in the same breath as Valentine. Alderson better hope that someone isn’t saying Melvin and Collins aren’t in the same class as Backman in a few years.