| Sandy Alderson | |
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 Alderson in 2010 | |
| Born: (1947-11-22)November 22, 1947 (age 77) Seattle,Washington, U.S. | |
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Richard Lynn "Sandy" Alderson (born November 22, 1947) is an American baseball executive. He was most recently the president of theNew York Mets. He previously served as thegeneral manager of theNew York Mets from 2011 to 2018, an executive in theOakland Athletics andSan Diego Padres organizations, and thecommissioner's office ofMajor League Baseball. As a front office executive, Alderson led the Athletics to aWorld Series championship in1989 and led the Athletics to the World Series in three straight seasons. Alderson led the Mets to the2015 World Series.
Alderson is the son of Gwenny Parry Alderson and John Lester Alderson; the latter anAir Force pilot who flew missions duringWorld War II,Korea, andVietnam.[1] Alderson has two siblings, Kristy and Dave.
Alderson attendedFalls Church High School inFalls Church, Virginia and laterDartmouth College in New Hampshire on aNROTC scholarship.[2] After graduating from Dartmouth in 1969, he joined theUnited States Marine Corps and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. He received hisJuris Doctor fromHarvard Law School in 1976.[3] After law school, he worked for the Farella Braun & Martel law firm inSan Francisco,California.
Roy Eisenhardt, one of the firm's partners, left to become president of theOakland Athletics when his father-in-law,Walter A. Haas Jr., bought the team. In1981, Alderson joined Eisenhardt to become the Athletics' general counsel and in 1983 was named the team's general manager, a position he held through 1997. Under Alderson, the Athletics' minor league system was rebuilt, which bore fruit later that decade asJosé Canseco (1986),Mark McGwire (1987), andWalt Weiss (1988) were chosen asAmerican League Rookies of the Year. The Athletics won four division titles, three pennants and the1989 World Series during Alderson's tenure.
In 1995, Haas died and the team's new owners,Stephen Schott andKen Hofmann, ordered Alderson to slash payroll. As a result, Alderson began focusing onsabermetric principles toward obtaining relatively undervalued players. He was a mentor to his eventual successor as general manager,Billy Beane.[4]
Alderson left the Athletics to work forMajor League Baseball'scommissioner’s office, where he was the Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations between September1998 and2005. In 2010, Alderson worked as commissionerBud Selig’s point man to address the issues of the corruption of baseball in theDominican Republic, the largest supplier of Major League Baseball talent outside the United States.[5]
Alderson served aschief executive officer for theSan Diego Padres from 2005 to 2009, with the team winning back-to-back division titles in 2005 and 2006. Concurrently, he lectured at theUniversity of California, BerkeleyHaas School of Business.[6]
Alderson was hired by theNew York Mets after the 2010 baseball season to replaceOmar Minaya as the general manager. He was officially introduced on October 29, 2010, signing a four-year deal with a club option for 2015.[7][8] Mets owner,Fred Wilpon, was dealing with his involvement in theMadoff investment scandal, and Alderson worked with a limited budget. As Alderson wasBilly Beane's predecessor and mentor with the Oakland A's, and as the Mets also hired Beane's former associatesPaul DePodesta andJ.P. Ricciardi to the front office, the team was jokingly referred to as the "Moneyball Mets".[9]
The first big money signing that Alderson did with the Mets was a 7-year contract extension forDavid 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 asZack Wheeler,Noah Syndergaard, andTravis d'Arnaud. Alderson also developed players drafted by Minaya such asMatt Harvey,Jacob deGrom, andSteven Matz. The Mets won theNational League Pennant in 2015, earning their firstWorld 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 byJohn Ricco,Omar Minaya, andJ. P. Ricciardi.[14] After the season he later decided not to return to the position. Since then, he has been cancer-free.
In January 2019, Alderson returned to the Oakland Athletics as senior advisor of baseball operations to general managerBilly Beane.[15] He left the position after the 2020 season in order to return to the Mets front office.[16]
In September 2020, new Mets ownerSteve Cohen hired Alderson as team president after he was approved as majority owner by MLB.[17] He replacedSaul 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]
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.
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| Preceded by | Oakland Athletics General Manager 1983–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Oakland Athletics President 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Oakland Athletics President 1996–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by None | Major League Baseball Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations 1998–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | San Diego Padres CEO 2005–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | New York Mets General Manager 2010–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | New York Mets President 2020–2023 | Succeeded by Vacant |
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