If Sandy Alderson becomes the next Mets general manager, he won’t have a problem working for the Wilpons.
That’s the opinion of Tony La Russa, who worked with Alderson for a decade as manager of the A’s.
“Sandy has been around long enough and been in enough situations that he’s able to adapt to any environment,” La Russa said by phone. “Even though he’s the guy in charge, he’s always been answerable to someone, and it would be no different in New York.”
Alderson is seen as the favorite to take over the reins at Citi Field after Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and interim head of baseball operations John Ricco met with the 62-year-old and four other candidates last week.
More people could be added to that list — including, reportedly, Detroit assistant general manager Al Avila — and Wilpon said in a letter to fans on Friday the team expected to find a replacement for Omar Minaya “in the next few weeks,” so no decision is imminent.
According to La Russa, they can’t go wrong with Alderson, who is currently working for Major League Baseball in its attempt to improve operations in Latin America.
“There are going to be a lot of expectations to fix things right away,” the Cardinals manager said. “That’s usually the way it is, but it’s especially true in New York. And Sandy is the kind of guy who can stand there and tell people, ‘This is how we’re going to do things,’ and make sure they get done the right way. He’s not going to rush anything.”
Alderson has the most experience of anyone currently on the list, which also includes the White Sox’ assistant GM Rick Hahn, former Arizona GM Josh Byrnes, Boston assistant GM Allard Baird and Dodgers’ assistant GM Logan White.
And though some question why Alderson would want to take on a challenge like the Mets at this point in his career, La Russa does not.
“He’s as competitive as anyone I’ve ever met,” La Russa said. “I know he used to pace in the ninth inning of games and he was so involved. I think he wants to get back to having that kind of feeling and there’s no replacement for it.”
That attitude is one of the reasons why La Russa enjoyed working for Alderson.
“You want to work with someone who wants to win as much as you do,” La Russa said. “And he definitely does.”