Sandy Alderson admitted Thursday that Opening Day is a day of baseball anxiety for him because it is a much different day than the beat of the drum that is the regular season.
But he is not anxious one bit about his hiring of Mickey Callaway.
In fact, Alderson indicated he is more excited today than the day he hired the Indians pitching coach in late October to become the 21st manager of the Mets.
Having had a full spring training to watch Callaway establish a culture, Alderson said: “The decision we made to hire Mickey was largely based on first impressions as well as some research, but in terms of actual personal contact, it was predicated on an interview and little else.
“I think the thing that has pleased me the most is that those first impressions have been justified throughout the offseason but particularly during spring training,’’ Alderson said before Noah Syndergaard and the Mets took on the Cardinals at a wet Citi Field.
“The approach that he has taken to the players, the level of communication, the level of detail that he has brought to the position, the way he has interacted with his coaching staff, the rapport that he has built with the players. One of the things that I like to talk about is an environment that is friendly but professional. It’s a hard balance to maintain, but I think so far he has hit that spot. He is friendly, but people are accountable.”
To Alderson, a military man, accountability is king.
Mickey CallawayAP“The thing I’m most happy about is the impressions that we had as far back as November have really been sustained over a long period of action as opposed to talk,” the GM said. “I’m still excited. Still looking forward to today and the rest of the season.”
The Mets have changed managers, replacing Terry Collins, have changed the look of the tunnel leading to the playing field, posting murals from the Mets titles, the two World Series championships and other titles. There are no longer words of motivation painted on the clubhouse walls. A simple message has been sent and delivered to the players: Be accountable, be successful.
“I think we should be very competitive,” Alderson said. “I like the rotation that we have. With Syndergaard and [Jacob] deGrom, we have a top two in the rotation that can match up with anybody in the game. The key for us will be three, four and five, six and seven.
“Bullpen-wise, I think we are improved. We’re deeper and I like our offense. We’ve got some veteran players who are going to have to perform at their previous levels, but generally speaking I think our lineup is a lot deeper.
“We have to improve by 20 games,” he said of a team that went 70-92 last season, “but I think we are capable of doing that.”
