Adam Rubin reports on “Baseball Maverick”

Steve Kettman’s book, “Baseball Maverick: How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball and Revived the Mets” has been a recurring topic for discussion down in Port St. Lucie.

So much so that ESPN’s Adam Rubin was even live-tweeting his progress through Alderson’s biography:

Page 293: In mid-Aug. of last season, Collins' chances of returinng were 51%. Alderson: "Frankly, for me, that percentage has been eroding."
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) March 15, 2015

Page 329: Alderson suggests there was a PR win in giving up 1st-round pick for Cuddyer because it signaled Mets going for it this season.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) March 18, 2015

As of last night, Rubin finished the book and released a report on Kettman’s book. Here are some highlights:

On Jose Reyes:

"Alderson approached Peter Greenberg, the agent for Jose Reyes, in June of Reyes’ walk year, but the GM was rebuffed in extension talks. Alderson never made an official offer that winter, but informally indicated the Mets genuinely were prepared to bid $100 million."

On Ruben Tejada:

"Ruben Tejada is one of the few criticized. “Gradually you come to the conclusion that Tejada is just a placeholder,” Alderson said. “He’s not a long-term guy for us.”"

On the Bernie Madoff situation:

"Alderson was naive about the impact of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. “Madoff wasn’t even a topic of conversation in my interview for the Mets job,” Alderson said. “I didn’t raise it. Maybe I should have. The bottom line is, I would have taken the job anyway. It just added to the challenge.”"

Rubin has a bunch more tidbits about Alderson in his report, which you can check out in the link above.

What’s interesting to see is that despite what many thinks about Alderson, the man is passionate and isn’t just acting as a puppet to the Wilpons. Rubin agreed that although the book may be somewhat “excessively positive” it’s still worth reading.