Mets COO Jeff Wilpon announced Tuesday that GM Sandy Alderson will be taking an immediate leave of absence to address a recurrence of cancer.
During Alderson's absence, John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi, and Omar Minaya will assume baseball decision-making duties.
"At the end of Apri, early-May, a recurrence was detected," Alderson said. "Since that time, I've been undergoing treatment. I expect that the treatment will continue. I expect to have surgery later in the summer. The prognosis is actually good. ... "But in the meantime, the chemotherapy, the surgery all take their toll."
"I think in the best interest of the Mets and for my health, this is the right result," Alderson continued. "I feel badly that we've had the season that we have had to date. I feel personally responsible for the results that we've had. At the same time, I have confidence in our manager, our coaching staff, our players that this will change. John, Omar, J.P., I'm sure will take a hard look at where we are."
Mets manager Mickey Callaway said his players didn't find out about Alderson's situation until about 20 minutes before the announcement.
"It was difficult news for those guys to receive today," Callaway said. "He's a badass marine, that's all I can say," Callaway later added about Alderson.
Alderson took over as GM after the 2010 season, guiding a rebuild and overseeing the construction of a team that went to the World Series in 2015 and reached the postseason again in 2016.