With all due respect to the Boston Globe offering of “(‘Oil Can’) Boyd says he used cocaine with Red Sox”, the least eyebrow-raising headline of this week has to be the New York Post’s contribution ; “Alderson Says The Mets Are Standing Pat”. With the Post’s Dan Martin doing everything possible to keep a straight face, Mets GM Sandy Alderson declares, “We’re pretty much there,” which makes plenty of sense if your idea of “there” is contending for a 5th place finish.
Alderson has at least postponed the search for a left-handed bat off the bench and regardless of whom he was thinking of bringing in, the starting outfield is expected to remain Jason Bay in left, Andres Torres in center and Lucas Duda in right, with Scott Hairston as the fourth outfielder.At the same time, Daniel Murphy talked about competing for the playoffs, a notion Alderson didn’t discourage.
“[He] has every reason to be optimistic,” Alderson said of Murphy. “There are unanswered questions on every team. It’s very important that they not be discouraged and they shouldn’t be. Some teams improved themselves on paper, like the Marlins and maybe Washington, but we can’t let that affect us.”
“I really believe we have a tremendous opportunity for improvement from within the organization,” Alderson said. “Nobody had a career year. And everybody — everybody — has something to prove and that can be a powerful component during the season.”