This title flew under the radar when it first came out. Despite knowing of Alderson's past front office roles, I was wondering why someone thought that his life and career justified such a deep dive. Say what you want about a bad contracts for Chris Young Michael Cuddyer and more, Alderson is clearly a very intelligent and thoughtful executive. The deeper dive into his A's days was definitely a highlight - seeing how a lawyer with the right connections could parlay those connections into such a dynamic career was fascinating.
What I enjoyed the most (and what Mets fans surely will, too) is the insight into his day to day workings with the team and it's players. There are some entertaining one-offs of Sandy expressing frustrations with players (Throw a goddamned fastball, Gonzalez Germen) and potential players (dinner with Jay-Z and wondering what to do with Stephen Drew ('Is this guy worth $11 million more than Ruben Tejada?'))
The insights into the evolution of pitchers Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom and Noah Syndergaard are especially timely and certainly worth reading.
Kettmann has taken a subject that many would have thought might not justify 334 pages and delivered some great anecdotes that thinking baseball fans will find insightful. Now would be a good of a time as any to pick this one up, provided that the Mets can keep the good times rolling. If they fall flat again, you may find yourself extra confused about the misfortune of the Mets. I guess we'll continue to blame the Wilpons.
Coming up next: TBD
Maybe Uppity by Bill White
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