You build and you build — really rebuild — and deal with all the losing and noise and after four years you see a chance to do something meaningful.
In Sandy Alderson’s case, in Year 5 as the Mets’ general manager, his team was in contention in late July. He already had landed Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe to deepen Terry Collins’ lineup options and Tyler Clippard to provide a steadier bridge to Jeurys Familia.
He had improved the overall depth of the roster, complementary pieces. But something gnawed at him.
“I still felt we needed a hitter,” Alderson said during an hour-long conversation with The Post in which he delved into the highs and lows of his administration.
But what hitter and at what cost — and why now?
In a way, Alderson’s tenure had led to this moment. He had grown both his system, to the point there was talent with which to trade, and his credibility throughout the front office and up to ownership, to heed his counsel. His advice at this point was that after so much losing and hearing about what the organization was unwilling to do, it was time to strip away regret.
“There was a sense on our part that even if we got all the way to the World Series and lost and we hadn’t gotten a hitter that we would forever hear that we are partially in and if we get to the World Series and lose, people will point to the fact that we were not all in,” Alderson said. “And they would be right. It wasn’t ‘Do this because this is what the fans will think.’ The fans would be right. They would just be affirming what we knew to be true.”
The Mets ultimately landed Yoenis Cespedes and are about to appear in the World Series and — win or lose — it is hard to see a criticism coming that not enough was done to upgrade this roster.
In retrospect, it seems obvious this was what the Mets had to do. But remember the forum in which it was done.
On July 29, the trade with Milwaukee of Wilmer Flores and Zack Wheeler for Carlos Gomez fell apart publicly. Flores was crying on the field and the Mets were questioned about their motives after it was revealed the deal collapsed because Gomez’s MRI exams did not pass their doctors’ medical inspection. The next day, July 30, they suffered their worse loss of the year, blowing a 7-1 lead to San Diego in that rain-delayed matinee monstrosity.
That left them just three games over .500, three games behind Washington in the NL East and four out of the wild card. They had a three-game series beginning July 31 against the Nationals. So it would be possible to make a trade and three days later be six games back in the NL East if the series against the Nats went poorly and rue the decision instantly.
“The Gomez deal cratered and we lost that game to San Diego, so there was disappointment,” Alderson said. “But it was not a low point. We just powered through it. We had already made deals to improve the team. We felt we had momentum. We just had to pick up the pieces and do our job.”
Job 1 already had been completed. By agreeing to include Wheeler, in particular, for Gomez, Alderson had convinced both his bosses and his underlings that going for the hitter was the right thing to do regardless of the standings.
“I wanted to create as many options as possible,” Alderson said.
But the options were disappearing. The Reds — even with Wheeler in play — took Jay Bruce off the table the morning of the deadline. The Padres kept telling the Mets if they would overpay — namely including shortstop prospect Amed Rosario, pitcher Michael Fulmer and others — they would consider dealing Justin Upton.
The Mets wouldn’t do that, but San Diego was not yet completely out. So at 3:25 p.m. — 35 minutes before the deadline — Alderson asked the Padres for their final decision, and they asked for 10 minutes to decide. Alderson waited five minutes and called then Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski and asked if he were he still willing to trade Cespedes for Fulmer and Luis Cessa. The answer was yes, and Alderson said he would call back in 10 minutes, wanting to know for sure about Upton. The Padres said no.
Cespedes was not a perfect piece. Unlike Bruce and Gomez, there was no control beyond this season. The Mets were not sure he would or could play center. And he was not good at getting on base. But he was a “hitter” and Alderson could not turn away now.
At one last get-together with the main decision-makers — with the clock now nearing the 4 p.m. deadline — Alderson let all in the room know what would be heard if this trade were not made and the team did not win a championship: “We had a chance to do this and didn’t do it.”
Said Alderson: “That is a form of conversation that would make it as stark and dramatic as possible, another way of articulating what we all thought we should do. There were people in this organization saying these deals don’t particularly help you. I got that.
“But part of what we are doing here, like any business, you have a product and a brand, and your brand is something that is partially a function of what your product line is and what you offer in the marketplace and part of it is this other equity — what people think. And what people think is a function of what your product line was five years ago and three years ago and now. The Mets as a brand took a hit. Part of our effort was not just to improve the product, like General Motors would improve the product from year to year, but to somehow restore confidence in the brand also.”
The brand is in the best position in years and so, obviously, is the team. In part because Sandy Alderson knew it was time to go for it.