New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is going to take an immediate leave of absence to deal with a recurrence of cancer.
The New York Mets received some sad news on Tuesday as it was announced that general manager Sandy Alderson has suffered a recurrence of cancer. He had previously dealt with cancer in late 2015 into early 2016.
According to Danny Abriano of SNY, Alderson will be taking a leave of absence to deal with his cancer. Former general manager Omar Minaya will work with John Ricco and J.P. Ricciardi to run the front office while Alderson is gone.
“At the end of ApriL, early-May, a recurrence was detected. Since that time, I’ve been undergoing treatment. I expect that the treatment will continue. I expect to have surgery later in the summer. The prognosis is actually good. But in the meantime, the chemotherapy, the surgery all take their toll. I think in the best interest of the Mets and for my health, this is the right result. I feel badly that we’ve had the season that we have had to date. I feel personally responsible for the results that we’ve had. At the same time, I have confidence in our manager, our coaching staff, our players that this will change. John, Omar, J.P., I’m sure will take a hard look at where we are.”
Alderson has served as the general manager of the team since October 2010. The team won the National League championship in 2015 and qualified for the Wild Card game in 2016. He won the Executive of the Year Award in 2015.
He previously served as general manager of the Oakland A’s from 1983-1998. He enjoyed a lot of success with the team, winning the World Series in 1989.
Alderson was asked about returning to the Mets as the general manager and provided an interesting response. According to Tim Healey of Newsday, he said he’s not sure if he deserves to return.
Does Sandy Alderson plan to return to his role as GM?
“If I were to look at it on the merits, I’m not sure coming back is warranted,” he said.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) June 26, 2018
Alderson has suffered through a frustrating year. He’s had to deal with incessant trade rumors involving ace pitcher Jacob deGrom all season as the team has struggled. Additionally, he’s had to watch most of the moves he’s made this offseason backfire on him.
However, now Alderson’s focus will be on his health and treatment. Obviously, everybody will be hoping for the best for Alderson’s health.
