American baseball executive
Baseball player
Sandy Alderson
|
---|
Alderson in 2010
|
Born:
(
1947-11-22
)
November 22, 1947
(age 76)
Seattle
,
Washington
, U.S.
|
|
---|
|
|
|
|
Richard Lynn "Sandy" Alderson
(born November 22, 1947) is an American baseball executive. He was most recently the president of the
New York Mets
. He previously served as the
general manager
of the
New York Mets
from 2011 to 2018, an executive in the
Oakland Athletics
and
San Diego Padres
organizations, and the
commissioner
's office of
Major League Baseball
. As a front office executive, Alderson led the Athletics to a
World Series
championship in
1989
and led the Athletics to the World Series in three straight seasons. Alderson led the Mets to the
2015 World Series
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Alderson is the son of Gwenny Parry Alderson and John Lester Alderson; the latter an
Air Force
pilot who flew missions during
World War II
,
Korea
, and
Vietnam
.
[1]
Alderson has two siblings, Kristy and Dave.
Alderson attended
Falls Church High School
in
Falls Church, Virginia
and later
Dartmouth College
in New Hampshire on a
NROTC
scholarship.
[2]
After graduating from Dartmouth in 1969, he joined the
United States Marine Corps
and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. He received his
Juris Doctor
from
Harvard Law School
in 1976.
[3]
After law school, he worked for the Farella Braun & Martel law firm in
San Francisco
,
California
.
Career
[
edit
]
Oakland Athletics
[
edit
]
Roy Eisenhardt
, one of the firm's partners, left to become president of the
Oakland Athletics
when his father-in-law,
Walter A. Haas Jr.
, bought the team. In
1981
, Alderson joined Eisenhardt to become the Athletics' general counsel and in 1983 was named the team's general manager, a position he held through 1997. Under Alderson, the Athletics' minor league system was rebuilt, which bore fruit later that decade as
Jose Canseco
(1986),
Mark McGwire
(1987), and
Walt Weiss
(1988) were chosen as
American League Rookies of the Year
. The Athletics won four division titles, three pennants and the
1989 World Series
during Alderson's tenure.
In 1995, Haas died and the team's new owners,
Stephen Schott
and
Ken Hofmann
, ordered Alderson to slash payroll. As a result, Alderson began focusing on
sabermetric
principles toward obtaining relatively undervalued players. He was a mentor to his eventual successor as general manager,
Billy Beane
.
[4]
Commissioner's office
[
edit
]
Alderson left the Athletics to work for
Major League Baseball
's
commissioner
’s office, where he was the Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations between September
1998
and
2005
.
In 2010, Alderson worked as commissioner
Bud Selig
’s point man to address the issues of the corruption of baseball in the
Dominican Republic
, the largest supplier of Major League Baseball talent outside the United States.
[5]
San Diego Padres
[
edit
]
Alderson served as
chief executive officer
for the
San Diego Padres
from 2005 to 2009, with the team winning back-to-back division titles in 2005 and 2006. Concurrently, he lectured at the
University of California, Berkeley
Haas School of Business
.
[6]
New York Mets
[
edit
]
Alderson was hired by the
New York Mets
after the 2010 baseball season to replace
Omar Minaya
as the general manager. He was officially introduced on October 29, 2010, signing a four-year deal with a club option for 2015.
[7]
[8]
Mets owner,
Fred Wilpon
, was dealing with his involvement in the
Madoff investment scandal
, and Alderson worked with a limited budget. As Alderson was
Billy Beane
's predecessor and mentor with the Oakland A's, and as the Mets also hired Beane's former associates
Paul DePodesta
and
J.P. Ricciardi
to the front office, the team was jokingly referred to as the "Moneyball Mets".
[9]
The first big money signing that Alderson did with the Mets was a 7-year contract extension for
David Wright
in December 2012 which was worth $138 million (7 years for $122 million plus a club option for $16 million that the club picked up for the 2013 season).
[10]
Wright's deal was contrary to the Mets budget-conscious policy of not offering large contracts to players aged in their 30s. Nonetheless, Alderson made an exception as he viewed Wright as a leader and role model, on and off the field.
[11]
Although it had been six years since the Mets' last playoff appearance and four years since their last winning season, Alderson managed to persuade Wright to stay, as the Mets' farm system had many young, talented pitchers.
[12]
From 2012 to 2014, Alderson reduced the Mets payroll to under $100 million, and exchanged veterans to acquire young talent such as
Zack Wheeler
,
Noah Syndergaard
, and
Travis d'Arnaud
. Alderson also developed players drafted by Minaya such as
Matt Harvey
,
Jacob deGrom
, and
Steven Matz
. The Mets won the
National League Pennant in 2015
, earning their first
World Series
appearance since 2000.
[13]
Alderson took a leave of absence from the Mets in July 2018 due to a recurrence of cancer. He was informally succeeded on an interim basis by
John Ricco
,
Omar Minaya
, and
J. P. Ricciardi
.
[14]
After the season he later decided not to return to the position. Since then, he has been cancer-free.
Return to the Athletics
[
edit
]
In January 2019, Alderson returned to the Oakland Athletics as senior advisor of baseball operations to general manager
Billy Beane
.
[15]
He left the position after the 2020 season in order to return to the Mets front office.
[16]
Return to the Mets
[
edit
]
In September 2020, new Mets owner
Steve Cohen
hired Alderson as team president after he was approved as majority owner by MLB.
[17]
He replaced
Saul Katz
, who had served in that capacity since 1980. In September 2022, it was announced he would step down as team president and move into a special advisory role.
[18]
In February 2023, Alderson was officially no longer the president of the team.
[19]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Alderson is married to Linda Alderson. They have two children, Bryn and Cate, who both also attended Dartmouth, and 5 grandchildren. Alderson lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Red, Christian (November 16, 2010).
"Driver who struck and killed John Alderson, dad of Mets general manager, may only receive a ticket"
.
Daily News (New York)
. Archived from
the original
on November 19, 2010
. Retrieved
November 18,
2010
.
- ^
"Richard L. "Sandy" Alderson '69CEO, Diego Padres"
.
Dartmouth Life
. 2007.
- ^
Boeck, Greg (August 24, 2005).
"Many hats fit Padres CEO"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
May 23,
2010
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael D.
(2003).
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
. New York: W. W. Norton.
ISBN
0-393-05765-8
.
- ^
"MLB on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games"
.
- ^
"Sports, Media, and Startup Stars Teach Fall Courses"
.
Haas News | Berkeley Haas
. September 14, 2009.
- ^
"Mets' introduce Sandy Alderson"
. October 30, 2010.
- ^
DiComo, Anthony (October 29, 2010).
"Mets' future in hands of new GM Alderson"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
October 29,
2010
.
- ^
"The Moneyball Mets"
.
New York
. March 25, 2011
. Retrieved
April 6,
2011
.
- ^
DiComo, Anthony (December 4, 2012).
"Mets, David Wright make contract extension official"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
December 4,
2012
.
- ^
Veteran leader David Wright eyes return to prominence
mlb.com
Archived
January 9, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Sullivan: David Wright is a bridge to the Mets' past, a leader in the now - News - NorthJersey.com"
. Archived from
the original
on November 18, 2015
. Retrieved
November 17,
2015
.
- ^
Kepner, Tyler (October 22, 2015).
"For the Mets, Pennies Saved Add Up to a Pennant Earned"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
October 22,
2015
.
- ^
"Sandy Alderson is taking leave to battle cancer recurrence"
. June 26, 2018.
- ^
Wagner, James (January 30, 2019).
"Sandy Alderson is Returning to the Oakland Athletics"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
"A's senior adviser Sandy Alderson expected to become Mets' team president"
. October 31, 2020.
- ^
Joel, Sherman (September 24, 2020).
"Steve Cohen hiring Sandy Alderson as Mets team president"
.
New York Post
. Retrieved
September 25,
2020
.
- ^
Wagner, James (September 16, 2022).
"Sandy Alderson Will Step Down as Mets Team President"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
February 14,
2023
.
- ^
"Sandy Alderson No Longer Operating As Mets' Team President"
.
MLB Trade Rumors
. February 20, 2023
. Retrieved
February 24,
2023
.
External links
[
edit
]
Sporting positions
|
Preceded by
|
Oakland Athletics
General Manager
1983?1997
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Oakland Athletics
President
1993?1995
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Oakland Athletics
President
1996?1998
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
None
|
Major League Baseball
Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations
1998?2005
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
San Diego Padres
CEO
2005?2009
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
New York Mets
General Manager
2010?2018
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
New York Mets President
2020?2023
|
Succeeded by
Vacant
|
|
---|
|
Franchise
| |
---|
Ballparks
| |
---|
Culture and lore
|
|
---|
Rivalries
| |
---|
Key personnel
| |
---|
World Series
championships (2)
| |
---|
National League
pennants (5)
| |
---|
Division titles (6)
| |
---|
Wild Card (4)
| |
---|
Minor league affiliates
| |
---|
Seasons (64)
|
---|
1960s
| |
---|
1970s
| |
---|
1980s
| |
---|
1990s
| |
---|
2000s
| |
---|
2010s
| |
---|
2020s
| |
---|
|
|
|
---|
Kansas City Athletics (1955?1967)
| |
---|
Oakland Athletics (1968?present)
| |
---|