Report: Mets COO Wilpon Overruled GM, Ordered Hudgens' Firing
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Most fans would say the New York Mets' ownership has a spending problem. That is, they're not doing enough of it.
But do they also have a meddling problem?
Mets COO Jeff Wilpon pulled a power play on general manager Sandy Alderson, overruling him on the matter of former hitting coach Dave Hudgens, who was fired after Monday's loss, according to Howard Megdal of Capital New York.
Wilpon forced Hudgens' ouster after a series of "angry" communications with Alderson via phone and in person, Megdal reported.
Megdal wrote that the team "referred Capital to Alderson's post-firing comments, which did not address" the issue.
"Look, I talk to ownership from time to time, sure," Alderson said, according to Newsday. "I talk to Fred (Wilpon), I talk to Jeff, and I have a sense of what they're thinking or what their frustrations might be. But ultimately, I have to make a baseball decision, I guess, and that's what this was."
Hudgens, who has a decades-long history with Alderson, went on a media blitz after his firing. He ripped the negativity that comes from the television booth and said batters were "trying too hard" at Citi Field, where fans haven't been kind to the punchless offense.
"There's nothing I can do with the results we're getting. I don't really judge it on that. I judge it on what I can control," Hudgens told WFAN's Mike Francesa on Tuesday. "But all I can do is look in the mirror. What kind of job did I do? Did I work? Was I prepared? Were the guys prepared? Did I do everything I was capable of doing as a coach?
"I'm not Houdini. I'm not a miracle worker."
Dave Hudgens
Hudgens hasn't done much to dispel the perception of the Wilpons, wondering during another radio interview whether Alderson's "hands are tied" financially.
"I know what Sandy's capable of doing if he was making all the decisions," he said. "Nowhere in baseball does the general manager make all the decisions. That's just the way the game is."
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