Ricco On the Rise – and Recommended Francoeur Deal

According to Adam Rubin, Mets insiders believe that John Ricco will eventually replace Omar Minaya as the Mets GM. Certainly, Ricco’s sudden plunge into the role of public speaker for the team is a supporting clue.

Also in Rubin’s report: Omar Minaya credits John Ricco for the Jeff Francoeur trade. (And here we thought it was Rubin who lobbied Minaya to acquire Francoeur … wait, I may be confusing something.)

This is an intriguing claim, considering that most of the sabermetric crowd has panned the Mets for the deal and Ricco is supposed to be “a numbers guy”. What numbers, exactly, was he looking at? (Personally, I didn’t love the deal, I’m OK with it now, but the point is, Francoeur is and always has been trashed by statheads.)

Switching gears, here is another baffling piece of information from Rubin:

During an upcoming offseason in which the Mets’ payroll figures to decrease – limiting the team’s maneuverability to fill several holes – installing Ricco as GM if Minaya is pushed aside makes financial sense, team insiders say. That’s because much of the front office and other staff can remain intact if Ricco ascends to the role, avoiding the type of costly overhaul that could ensue if a new general manager is hired from outside the organization and wants to replace 12 front-office members, plus dismiss the on-field staff.

Can you say “penny wise, pound foolish” ?

It’s one thing to save money by not going after expensive ballplayers. But if an organization is in dire need of a complete change in leadership, how does it make sense to focus on the economical aspect of a turnover? Is it common practice for a billion-dollar company that is failing to meet expectations in revenues to choose to find the cheapest solution of management?

To put it into perspective: the entire 12-person front office, field manager, and coaching staff costs the team about as much as the combined salaries of Tim Redding and Ramon Martinez. So you tell me what the priority should be — replacing an incompetent leadership group, or saving that money for a couple of players who may or may not be good enough to be the 25th man on the MLB roster?