Alex Trautwig/Getty ImagesSandy Alderson missed the GM meetings due to a medical procedure.
The Mets received troubling news just weeks after their most successful season in 15 years: General manager Sandy Alderson has been diagnosed with a “very treatable” form of cancer.
Doctors confirmed the cancer after Alderson, 68, underwent a medical procedure at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan about three weeks ago, Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon told reporters Friday during an annual lunch at Citi Field. The Mets did not disclose the type of cancer or the procedure Alderson underwent at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
“The doctors believe and have told Sandy that the cancer is very treatable and are optimistic about a full recovery,” Wilpon said in a press statement.
Alderson will undergo eight to 12 weeks of chemotherapy and will miss Major League Baseball’s winter meetings next week in Nashville. Alderson will continue his GM duties through the treatments, Wilpon said, although there may be days he does not make it to the office. Alderson was part of the Mets entourage that wooed Ben Zobrist when the top free-agent target toured Citi Field Wednesday.
“It’s nearly impossible to predict with certainty how a patient will react to chemotherapy,” said Dr. Alvaro Carrascal of the American Cancer Society. “Chemo generally refers to the use of a cocktail of drugs that are selected based on a patient’s unique cancer diagnosis. There are more than 100 chemo drugs used today. Every patient is different and ever cancer is different, so treatment and subsequent reactions are always different, too.”
Members of the organization privately expressed cautious optimism about Alderson’s prognosis. Players and team employees continue to rally around longtime public relations executive Shannon Dalton Forde, who has been battling breast cancer since 2012. One source said the club is well aware that cancer is a serious health issue and is deeply concerned for Alderson.
“I can speak for everybody in our clubhouse when I say our thoughts and prayers are with Sandy and his family,” Mets captain David Wright said. “There is no doubt in my mind Sandy will beat this and continue to be one of the best executives in baseball.”
Former Red Sox president and chief executive officer Larry Lucchino, attending David Ortiz’s charity golf tournament in the Dominican Republic, applauded Alderson as a Moneyball pioneer and called him a “beloved and respected guy.”
“I know (Alderson) well and I respect him enormously,” Lucchino said. “Anybody who knows him for longer than 30 minutes knows how smart and how tough he is. I suspect he will navigate this tough road with grace and with success.”
Alderson’s 11th-hour deals for Yoenis Cespedes, Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe helped the Mets reach their first World Series since 2000. He collapsed during a post-World Series news conference, which he attributed to not eating breakfast and hot television lights.
It’s unclear if the incident was related to Alderson’s cancer diagnosis, but Alderson skipped MLB’s GM meeting last month in Boca Raton, Fla., in order to undergo the surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Wilpon said he would work with assistant general managers John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi and Paul DePodesta, with guidance from Alderson, similar to the way the front office functioned at the GM meetings. During those three days, the assistant GMs met with players’ agents and said they were in position to make moves quickly if necessary.
“We’ll have plenty of access to Sandy,” Ricco said Friday. “We’ll talk to him all the time. He was with us the whole day with Zobrist the other day. I don’t envision that being an issue. He’s a phone call away.”
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