Sandy Alderson: We Still Want to Win

Alderson says Carlos Beltran trade isn't preordained.

Sandy Alderson had a conference call on Wednesday to discuss the Francisco Rodriguez trade and what it means for the Mets going forward.

He admitted that the deal was made for financial reasons, as if such a thing needed to actually be explained to anyone following the team this season.

He didn't say that the team rushed to make a deal because they thought K-Rod's new agent Scott Boras might realize that his previous agent had never bothered submitting the 10 teams covered under a no-tradde clause, but we have the Times for that and we're really glad we do. 

Can you imagine just how ridiculous it must have been to do a contract negotiation with Omar Minaya?

Not only would he happily give your client more money, years and vesting options than any other team in the league, he didn't even bother making sure you complied with the details of the contract because, to Minaya, there would never be a reason to trade K-Rod before the end of the deal.

This isn't about Minaya, though. Alderson went on to say that nothing had changed about the Mets' desire to win games in 2011 after the Rodriguez trade and that the team isn't giving up on the season.

He also touched on the Carlos Beltran situation and said exactly what you'd expect the general manager of a team with a desirable asset about his player. He said a deal wasn't preordained, but that he would listen to teams expressing interest in the right fielder.

This is being interpreted as the team refusing to wave the white flag and surrender the 2011 season. That's true, but not for the reason most people think.

Alderson's approach to the team hasn't changed in the slightest, so there's no flag waving or anything else going on other than business as usual. Unlike some other Mets general managers, he isn't overreacting to one thing or another and making moves because of it.

The idea that he's going to let the next week of the baseball season, something some fans want because the games are against the Phillies and Braves, make up his mind about a decision that will impact the Mets for years to come. Beltran's appeal to other teams means that taking his time and sending smoke signals is perfectly fine because the offers are going to keep coming in a way they might not have come for K-Rod. 

Treating each situation differently and acting accordingly is what good general managers do. We're used to the one size fits all style of past years so it is understandable that Alderson's measured approach would throw people for a loop.

What's more, Alderson won't simply reject out of hand the idea of dealing a player like Beltran, one he won't re-sign and one that won't yield draft picks, before listening to every offer to come his way. The K-Rod deal might not mean that a Beltran deal will happen, but nothing Alderson said Wednesday makes you think a deal won't happen either.

Trading Beltran won't represent waving a white flag either. Alderson's main job is making the Mets a better team and that job doesn't end when the 2011 regular season does so there's no reason to wave a flag of any color.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.

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