Monday November 9th is the start of the MLB General Manager meetings in Boca Raton, FL. One General Manager who will not be in attendance is Sandy Alderson of the National League Champion, New York Mets. According to Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News, Sandy Alderson will be hanging back in New York for a medical procedure. When asked if the procedure had any relation to the fainting incident involving Alderson at a press conference, Assistant GM John Ricco failed to confirm or deny saying, “Just respect Sandy’s privacy on this one.”
“He had a medical procedure that was scheduled for after the season ended and because of the playoff run it kept getting pushed and pushed,” Ricco said. Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi and Paul Depodesta will be representing the Mets on his behalf. According to Ricco, they conduct most of their work, “remotely anyway.” Previous reports have indicated that the Mets had some off-season interests such as relief pitcher Darren O’Day of the Orioles, and outfielder Denard Span of the Nationals. The organization has said that Alderson not being at the meetings should have no effect on any off-season plans.
The news of Alderson’s absence comes just days after he fainted during a press conference. USAToday reported last week, the 67-year-old GM was speaking to the media to announce the official extension of Mets manager Terry Collins when he went down mid-sentence. Alderson was only down briefly, but it still came as a major scare. When asked about the incident later Sandy more or less attempted to dismiss the concerns with the notion that he skipped breakfast. Alderson has not been too popular with Met fans during his tenure as Mets general manager, gaining the nickname “Small Market Sandy.” That was until he pulled off a big trade for Yoenis Cespedes right at the trade deadline whom helped the Mets make it to the World Series.
