Mets GM Sandy Alderson is taking an immediate leave of absence due to a recurrence of the cancer he was first diagnosed with in 2015, with John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi, and Omar Minaya taking over decision-making duties, and is not sure if an eventual return is warranted.
Before addressing his future, Alderson -- who said he will not be involved in day-to-day operations during his leave of absence -- was frank about the recent baseball decisions he has made.
"We signed, I don't know, five, six free agents over the offseason," he said. "And really not one of them has performed up to their expectations or probably ours, either. One, it's a bad result. But at the same time, I think it's a commentary on the process. And I think that that's something that one has to revisit. ... I wouldn't call those mistakes, but they certainly did not turn out as we had hoped. And this is a results business."
The Mets signed Todd Frazier, Jason Vargas, Anthony Swarzak, Jose Reyes, and Adrian Gonzalez during the offseason. Frazier, Vargas, and Swarzak have dealt with injury and ineffectiveness, Reyes has been one of the worst players in baseball, and Gonzalez has already been DFA'd.
Combined with his health and the above, Alderson explained that an eventual return to his GM role might not happen.
"With respect to the future, I would say two things," Alderson said. "One is -- notwithstanding the good prognosis -- my health is an uncertainty going forward. And secondly, if I were to look at it on the merits, I'm not sure coming back is warranted."
After a follow-up question, Alderson clarified his comments:
"I think I made it clear that one factor is health, another factor is merit."