NEW YORK — A major change is coming to the Mets’ organization soon.
On Thursday, the Mets announced that team president Sandy Alderson will step down from his role once the team identifies a successor. No timetable was given for that. Alderson won’t be totally disappearing though, as he’ll transition into a new role as special advisor to owners Steve and Alex Cohen and the club’s senior leadership team.
“For me personally and for the organization, it’s the right time for this transition,” Alderson, 74, said in a statement released by the team just an hour before their Thursday night game against the Pirates.
“We are having a successful season, we have made several key additions to our senior leadership team and we have built a strong and forward-thinking culture. When the time comes, I am looking forward to continuing to support Steve, Alex and the organization in a new role.”
Alderson was originally hired by the Mets as general manager after the 2010 season. He was the team’s GM for the 2015 World Series run and remained in that role until being diagnosed with cancer in 2018, causing him to take a leave of absence. When the 2018 season ended, he decided not to return. While Alderson has been cancer-free since then, he did not come back to the Mets until 2020, when the Cohens bought the team and appointed him team president.
“When I asked Sandy to come back to the team, it was for a defined period of time and with a specific mandate — revive our culture and this iconic franchise for our fans, partners and employees,” Steve Cohen said. “Sandy has done those very things and more and we have begun a search for his successor.”
Whenever that successor is named, they will step into a much better situation than Alderson did in 2010, as former owner Fred Wilpon was tangled up in the Bernie Madoff scandal. Alderson did an admirable job of helping to clean the Wilpon stench off the franchise, which is now in much better hands thanks to his tenure in the front office.
