NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Sandy Alderson never could have imagined that he would be back with the New York Mets, but when Steve Cohen started to make inroads towards purchasing the New York Mets, the team's former general manager started to see a chance to come back.
"This kind of came up late last year when Steve first inquired about the team and as he sort of threaded the needle through the spring and into the summer, it became more of a possibility, but I'm really excited about being back," Alderson told Mets radio play-by-play announcer Wayne Randazzo on Tuesday. "It's not often you get to come back to an organization in the same capacity, let alone a higher one."
After previously spending years with the team, Alderson admits it would've been hard saying "no."
"Baseball is about relationships, it's a people business, and when you spend seven, eight years with people you get close to them," Alderson said. "So the chance to come back to that group, and maybe take it to a higher level, that was a real appeal."
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Cohen and his personality, vision for the team and commitment to the fans was also a driving force in his return.
"It was inspiring talking to him," Alderson said. "Learning that his approach to business, his approach to the team was very similar to mine and if you have that kind of alignment between an owner and upper management it's a really good thing."
So now that he's back, what about Luis Rojas? Alderson cleaned house last week in the Mets front office, letting go of General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen and his top lieutenants, but many have been wondering what will happen to the Mets manager.
Alderson said he expects Rojas to be back, but a final decision is pending the hiring of a president of baseball operations.
"Nobody likes to be left uncertain about what their situation is and I know we still have that with respect to our manager, but we've tried to in that case be timely and let people move on and in Luis' case I think we're just going to have to wait a bit before we can confirm anything," Alderson said.
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Rojas marked his first year as a major league manager during an unusual and shortened season thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but in that time, he has shown that he has the chops to lead.
"I think the personal qualities of an individual go a long way to determining their ability to lead and Luis' got all of those qualities, and they've been demonstrated over the course of the last year, as well as the many years he's been with the Mets organization," Alderson said. "This is a guy who's not just a good person but somebody who inspires loyalty, who I think makes people feel as if they're both appreciated and accountable for what they do. That's a hard thing to do today... You can't underestimate the importance of the individual and the quality of his personality and his ability to communicate with his players and be a pivot point between the players and the front office. I think Luis' got all those qualities, not only based on my observation, but from what I've heard from other people over the last several weeks."
With the manager most likely all set, what about the rest of the front office and baseball staff? Alderson says it's not just about experience.
"I think we're also looking for someone who's got, not just the experience, but the energy, the ambition and the vision to build out an organization," Alderson said. "This is about winning at the major league level but also the opportunity to really build out an organization that now has the resources to do so," Alderson said.
So how far away is this team from being a contender?
"We have a good corps of players and I think we're going to have the resources to compliment those players and if we can do that I think we can be pretty competitive," Alderson said.
And as for what mark he hopes to leave on the team?
"I think what I'm hoping to do is create a lasting perception of the Mets as a professional, consistently successful, iconic franchise," Alderson said.