NEW YORK (AP) — Expecting no major moves before the start of spring training next month, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson thinks his payroll-cutting team can improve on last year’s 77-85 record and fourth-place finish in the NL East.
On a conference call Thursday, Alderson said: “I think our greatest avenue of improvement is internal. I think that if you look at the pitching as well as the position players, we’ve got great room for improvement.”
With their owners being sued by the trustee seeking money for victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, the Mets traded Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran during the summer, then didn’t make an offer as All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes left last month for a $106 million, six-year deal with the Miami Marlins.
New York added relievers Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch and acquired outfielder Andres Torres and pitcher Ramon Ramirez from San Francisco for center fielder Angel Pagan. Its latest move was to keep outfielder Scott Hairston with a $1.1 million, one-year contract, a deal pending a physical.
