Sandy Alderson

Richard Lynn "Sandy" Alderson (born November 22, 1947) is an American baseball executive. He was most recently the president of the

Alderson is the son of Gwenny Parry Alderson and John Lester Alderson; the latter an Air Force pilot who flew missions during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.^[1] Alderson has two siblings, Kristy and Dave.

Alderson attended Falls Church High School in Falls Church, Virginia and later Dartmouth College in New Hampshire on a NROTC scholarship.^[2] After graduating from Dartmouth in 1969, he joined the United States Marine Corps and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1976.^[3] After law school, he worked for the Farella Braun & Martel law firm in San Francisco, California.

Career

Oakland Athletics

In 1995, Haas died and the team's new owners, Stephen Schott and Ken Hofmann, ordered Alderson to slash payroll. As a result, Alderson began focusing on sabermetric principles toward obtaining relatively undervalued players. He was a mentor to his eventual successor as general manager, Billy Beane.^[4]

Commissioner's office

Alderson left the Athletics to work for

San Diego Padres

Alderson served as chief executive officer for the San Diego Padres from 2005 to 2009, with the team winning back-to-back division titles in 2005 and 2006. Concurrently, he lectured at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.^[6]

New York Mets

Alderson was hired by the

The first big money signing that Alderson did with the Mets was a 7-year contract extension for David Wright in December 2012 which was worth $138 million (7 years for $122 million plus a club option for $16 million that the club picked up for the 2013 season).^[10] Wright's deal was contrary to the Mets budget-conscious policy of not offering large contracts to players aged in their 30s. Nonetheless, Alderson made an exception as he viewed Wright as a leader and role model, on and off the field.^[11] Although it had been six years since the Mets' last playoff appearance and four years since their last winning season, Alderson managed to persuade Wright to stay, as the Mets' farm system had many young, talented pitchers.^[12]

From 2012 to 2014, Alderson reduced the Mets payroll to under $100 million, and exchanged veterans to acquire young talent such as Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, and Travis d'Arnaud. Alderson also developed players drafted by Minaya such as Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz. The Mets won the National League Pennant in 2015, earning their first World Series appearance since 2000.^[13]

Alderson took a leave of absence from the Mets in July 2018 due to a recurrence of cancer. He was informally succeeded on an interim basis by John Ricco, Omar Minaya, and J. P. Ricciardi.^[14] After the season he later decided not to return to the position. Since then, he has been cancer-free.

Return to the Athletics

In January 2019, Alderson returned to the Oakland Athletics as senior advisor of baseball operations to general manager Billy Beane.^[15] He left the position after the 2020 season in order to return to the Mets front office.^[16]

Return to the Mets

In September 2020, new Mets owner Steve Cohen hired Alderson as team president after he was approved as majority owner by MLB.^[17] He replaced Saul Katz, who had served in that capacity since 1980. In September 2022, it was announced he would step down as team president and move into a special advisory role.^[18] In February 2023, Alderson was officially no longer the president of the team.^[19]

Personal life

Alderson is married to Linda Alderson. They have two children, Bryn and Cate, who both also attended Dartmouth, and 5 grandchildren. Alderson lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sandy Alderson.

• C-SPAN

Sporting positions
Preceded by Billy Martin	Oakland Athletics General Manager 1983–1997	Succeeded by Billy Beane
Preceded by Walter Haas Jr.	Oakland Athletics President 1993–1995	Succeeded by Steve Schott
Preceded by Steve Schott	Oakland Athletics President 1996–1998	Succeeded by Michael Crowley
Preceded by None	Major League Baseball Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations 1998–2005	Succeeded by Jimmie Lee Solomon
Preceded by Dick Freeman	San Diego Padres CEO 2005–2009	Succeeded by Jeff Moorad
Preceded by Omar Minaya	New York Mets General Manager 2010–2018	Succeeded by Brodie Van Wagenen
Preceded by Saul Katz	New York Mets President 2020–2023	Succeeded by Vacant