Former New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson reveals his greatest regret in allowing Daniel Murphy to walk via free agency.
Sandy Alderson represents an NL pennant-winning general manager. This will forever remain the case—despite what any one individual thinks of the job he did in Flushing.
There were highs. There were lows. There were even regrets the former New York Mets executive spoke on during a call Friday, via Dan Martin of the New York Post.
“The one thing I regret — and I told him this — was not signing Daniel Murphy,’’ Alderson said by phone Friday. “We’ve kept in touch. He’s a great person and a really good player.”
Daniel Murphy, the man who single-handedly carried a Metropolitans offense usually not equipped to handle the non-power hitting game of October to the pennant in 2015, is Alderson’s long admitted regret.
Instead of keeping the man who cemented himself in Mets history forever, he signed on with the Washington Nationals for three years and $37 million.
Murphy, 33, qualified for his first NL All-Star team in 2014. In 130 games a year later, he smashed 14 home runs and 73 runs batted in to go along with a .283 batting average.
He efficiently followed that up with seven homers during the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers and NLCS vs. the Chicago Cubs, his last club prior to his current Colorado Rockies designation.
Murphy was more than astonishing; his play defied any plausible previous norms.
After passing on his services, Murphy went on to help the Nats dethrone the Mets in 2016. His .347 average, 25 home runs, and 104 runs produced remain a career-high.
“He’s a very good player and an excellent offensive player,’’ Alderson said. “We made him a qualifying offer and he signed a multi-year deal elsewhere. I don’t think we predicted him sustaining that level of performance and he didn’t end up being part of our strategy. But I applaud him for what he’s done. I’d like to have that one back.’’
Failed retainment or not, Daniel Murphy’s name will forever live in New York Mets history.
Sandy Alderson is now officially back in Oakland with former student Billy Beane and the Athletics.
