Steve Serby traded some questions for answers from Mets general manager Sandy Alderson.
Q: Will the Mets be serious buyers if you’re in a pennant race at the trade deadline?
A: Well, we’re serious lookers right now. We’ll see where we are as we get closer to the deadline. Right now the market for players is not quite as defined as it will be in the next couple of weeks.
Q: But you’ll keep all options open.
A: Yes.
Q: That has to be encouraging to Mets fans compared to a year ago, correct?
A: Right now we’re in a somewhat different mode than we were last year at this time.
Q: Do you feel you have a need for a right-handed bat?
A: Well, I hope the right-handed bat we have [is] Jason Bay. I know that doesn’t inspire confidence on the part of most Mets fans, but I think Jason has an opportunity to play a big part for us the second half.
Q: But that won’t preclude you from actively looking?
A: No, but I think we have to keep in mind that Jason could be the biggest addition we could hope to get. No guarantees that he’ll make a big contribution, but he certainly has that potential.
Q: And your concerns about the bullpen?
A: We just need to get better and more consistent, including the bottom half of our pen. When we’re behind by a run or so and we end up getting blown out, it doesn’t allow for many come-from-behind opportunities in the eighth and ninth inning, so what happens when we’re behind is just as important as what happens when we’re ahead. We’ve been a little more successful when we’re ahead protecting the lead, but we have to better across the board.
Q: Why should Mets fans come back and watch this team play?
A: At this point, that ought to be self-evident. I’m not sure what I would need to point out that the fans can’t already perceive for themselves. The team is over .500. We’ve got some terrific storylines within the framework of that over-.500 record … R.A. Dickey, Johan Santana, David Wright. … The team plays hard … a little bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality … but exciting to watch, fun to watch … I think Mets fans should be proud of the team at this point, and where they are, and, I would hope, be supportive.
Q: Are you optimistic attendance will spike in the second half?
A: I think [if] we continue to play as we have, it should be better. When you start the season with low expectations on the part of those who are buying tickets, they don’t turn around right away. It’s not like it takes a week, or two weeks. You have to change a perception that people have, so it takes a little while. But I hope we’re at the point now where those attitudes are beginning or already have shifted.
Q: With this starting rotation, do you see this as a playoff team?
A: Yeah, I do. There are two things about our rotation — 1, it’s deep. We match up pretty well, regardless of the opposition, with all five of our guys. And, the other thing is that right now we have some real quality at the top end, which can have a very big impact in a short series.
Q: Would you be disappointed if R.A. didn’t start the All-Star Game, and does he deserve to?
A: I think he does deserve to start the All-Star Game, and I would be disappointed if he doesn’t.
Q: Locking Jon Niese up?
A: We felt he could be important to us over the next several years, and it was something that he wanted to do, and I think he’s responded to the security that contract represents, but also, as a younger pitcher and left-hander, he’s got a potential to get better and better.
Q: What has been most rewarding about the first half of the season?
A: I think we’ve exceeded outside expectations. We’re in reasonably good position going into the second half of the season, and I’m happy with the way in which the team’s played as well as the results.
Q: Could you have envisioned this?
A: I think we did envision it in the sense that certain things had to go our way, and some things have gone our way. Not everything has, but certainly R.A. Dickey has pitched beyond reasonable expectations. Johan has been spectacular for someone coming off of the kind of injury he experienced. David Wright has been outstanding. … There are individual players who have exceeded I think anyone’s expectations to this point, but at the same time, that’s been offset in some cases by less-than-expected performance. But on an overall basis, I think that we’re happy that we’re positioned well for the second half.
Q: What do you hope or think the perception is of your club around baseball right now, compared to what it was?
A: I think there are a number of outside observers who have been surprised by our performance, but I think also have renewed respect for the team, and hopefully the organization. There’s a great deal of admiration for [manager] Terry Collins and the job that he’s done. So I hope that we’re in the process of restoring a very positive impression among others throughout baseball.
Q: What did you sense the impression was a year-and-a-half ago?
A: Well, it certainly wasn’t positive, and we were coming off a couple of seasons of back-to-back disappointment. … There was some uncertainty about the direction of the organization. … There was some concern about how outside forces might affect the organization. And I think that in many ways, we’re well beyond that now.
Q: The favorable settlement in the suit by the trustee of Bernie Madoff victims, was is psychologically uplifting to have that resolved?
A: I think there were a number of off-field issues that were resolved over the last 6-12 months that allowed everyone within the organization and I think outside observers to refocus on the team itself. Certainly the Madoff settlement was important for clearing that distraction. I think the minority investment in the team also was a positive factor.
Q: Do you hope it will impact the payroll in a positive way?
A: I think that over time, it certainly will impact our investment in the team. And you can see, for example, what we did last year with regard to amateur and international scouting, what we’re gonna continue to do this year. At some point, certainly, it could be manifested in payroll. But payroll really isn’t our issue at the moment, it’s really making sure that we have players in the pipeline for the future and that we can identify core players who will be with us for a while that we can hopefully retain on into the future.
Q: Describe pitching prospect Matt Harvey’s progress, and what you like best about him.
A: He’s progressed very nicely. This is actually his second year of professional baseball. He’s already at Triple-A and pitching very well. He’s got a bright future for us. I think what I like best about him are the high expectations that he has for himself. He had hoped to make the team out of spring training — I thought that was a little ambitious, but I was glad that he had that attitude. At the same time that he has his eyes on the goal, he understands what he needs to do in the meantime to improve, and that is to continue to refine all of his pitches so that he’s got a full array of major league-quality pitches when he gets to the big leagues.
Q: Could he get to the big leagues this year?
A: It’s conceivable. I think it’s unlikely, but I think it’s conceivable.
Q: Fellow pitching prospect Zack Wheeler?
A: Zack has done well in Double-A. He’s pitching in the Futures Game in connection with the All-Star Game. It’s very possible that he’ll be moved to Triple-A sometime in the near future. I’d be surprised if he ends up in New York by the end of this season, but he is someone who would have to be protected on the major league roster going into next year, so at the very worst, he’ll be in major league camp next year, and I’m sure he’ll be competing for a rotation spot.
Q: Is your vision for Harvey as an ace down the road?
A: Well, I think we’ll allow the Harveys and the Wheelers and the [Jenrry] Mejias to make that determination by their own performance. I would never place that expectation on a young player.
Q; Jenrry Mejia?
A: He’s done nicely coming back from his elbow injury, and we’ve been pitching him out of the pen lately, which has not gone absolutely according to plan, but he’s got a very high upside and we’re happy he’s back and healthy, and he’s overall pitched very well since coming back this year.
Q: If a team takes on the personality of its manager, what’s this team’s personality?
A: I’d say passionate, tenacious and professional.
Q: When Collins sat down for his interview, what came through that told you, “This is our guy?”
A: I think maybe what was most impressive was that he seemed to have, not only had the major league experience as part of his resume, but seemed to have learned from that experience. And then had a different vision for how he would manage and lead this time around.
Q: Where does Collins rank among the best managerial hires of your career, all things considered?
A: Well, gee, I hired Tony LaRussa (smile), so I’d say one of the best.
Q: Are you smiling inside about [Ruben] Tejada hitting .331 and [Jose] Reyes .268?
A: If I’m smiling about that disparity, I’m equally unhappy at the disparity of number of games played (smile). Reyes has been healthy all year, and Tejada has not. That has to do with the vagaries of the game.
Q: Do you second-guess yourself for not trading Reyes last year at the trade deadline?
A: People ask me that, and for a variety of reasons the answer is no. First of all, I try to go back and learn from past events, but I don’t spend a lot of time second-guessing because it’s not productive. I think we felt that there was some possibility we could resign Jose, I really didn’t think it was practical to trade him and then try to resign him. So, no regrets on that.
Q: What can you tell Mets fans about David Wright’s future with the team?
A: I think it will be a long one, and hopefully very bright.
Q: His desire not to talk contract during the season?
A: It didn’t surprise me. It’s tough to concentrate on playing and at the same time be distracted by contract negotiations. We’ll abide by his wishes. It’s probably in his best interests and our best interests as well.
Q: What have you learned about him that maybe you didn’t know about him?
A: He’s a tremendous teammate. Of course, part of that arises from his play on the field, but I think he’s also someone who cares about the other guys on the team, and demonstrates that in a variety of ways that are probably not even apparent to people outside.
Q: Do you think Dickey will command an eight-figure salary if he wins the Cy Young with 20-plus wins, and could the Mets pay him?
A: I think we’ll just let this season play out, and hope he wins 12 in the second half (smile).
Q: Can you think of a story similar to his in baseball?
A: I’ve never been involved in one personally, the kind of professional and personal redemption that is part of his history and narrative. … I can’t remember one.
Q: What do you remember watching Santana’s no-hitter unfold?
A: The excitement doesn’t begin to build until the sixth, seventh inning. I watched from the seventh on from the clubhouse, because [Mike] Baxter [who was injured making a diving catch into the left-field wall in the seventh inning] was in the training room and I’d gone down to check on him. It’s one of the nice occurrences from this year that have made for a much more positive season for us, even though a no-hitter doesn’t necessarily portend anything about the team as a whole and how the season will ultimately conclude. It’s nice to have ended a 50-year drought (chuckle). It’s a feel-good story that I think has a beneficial effect beyond just the game itself.
Q: The other no-hitters have you witnessed?
A: One was by Nolan Ryan against the A’s, and another was by a pitcher by the name of Mike Warren, who was pitching for the A’s at that time. Dave Stewart threw a no-hitter in Toronto, I watched that one on television.
Q: What’s the state of the farm system?
A: We’ve got prospects at the top end, we’ve got prospects at the younger end of the pipeline, and very happy with our scouting and player development as we’ve evolved over the last year-and-a-half. I think we’re in pretty good shape — certainly with pitching, we’re very strong and have prospects throughout the system. There’s always room for improvement, and I expect that we’ll continue to improve.
Q: How have the new Citi Field dimensions impacted this team?
A: I think the new dimensions have worked out well. They haven’t dramatically altered the character of the park. It’s certainly not a hitter’s park at this point. I think it’s fairer to hitters than it was before. Home run production has gone up by about 30, 35 percent as a result. We haven’t disproportionately benefited from it in terms of just the number of home runs hit. But I do think we’ve benefitted substantially by just taking the field dimensions out of the public debate and also changed the attitude of our own hitters toward the ballpark. When a team comes in from outside and they play every three days, the park doesn’t really have an impact on them psychologically. When you play half your games here, it certainly can. The new dimensions have had the positive effect of negating all of the hitters’ complaints, and at the same time, it hasn’t given rise to a bunch of new complaints by the pitchers.
Q: What do you think of the Bobby Valentine Dominican Republic baseball documentary, “Ballplayer: Pelotero”?
A: Haven’t seen it.
Q: Does what you’ve heard trouble you or disturb you?
A: Well, having been in the Dominican myself (chuckle) for quite a long time, being familiar with the country and baseball as it exists there, I really should watch the movie before I comment on it.
Q: What’s it like competing in the same market as the Yankees?
A: I wouldn’t say that they provide the greatest motivation for improvement ’cause that comes from within our own league and our division. But we certainly want to be considered comparable to the Yankees at some point. We played ’em six games, lost five, we weren’t happy about that. But they were exciting games. I thought that the fact that they caused more excitement here in New York this year than they had in the past also represented a step forward for us. (Chuckle) Definitely aware of their existence, and keep an eye on ’em, but wouldn’t say that it’s an overriding concern of ours.
steve.serby@nypost.com