Home » Off Topic » David Einhorn Pulls Out of Mets Deal
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September 1, 2011 Off Topic Joe Janish

David Einhorn Pulls Out of Mets Deal

By now you may have heard that hedge fund extraordinaire David Einhorn has walked away from the deal / loan / purchase of the New York Mets.

What does this mean?

I’m really not sure, mainly because I’m not privy to the details of what went on during the negotiations. All we can do is speculate, based on the little info that leaked out over the past few months.

We will cover this in more detail soon enough, but for now, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Post facts, rumors, opinions, and conspiracy theories in the comments.

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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Jerseymet September 1, 2011 at 2:52 pm
    Einhorn is not a baseball man he is a hedgefund manager. He saw an opportunity to make money by buying the Mets on the cheap.

    The Wilpons for their part used him by stringing him along to buy time and get their finances in order.

    Alderson is doing his part cutting pay and restocking the farm.

    Madoff is being handled. The Wilpons won’t have to pay out a billion dollars.

    Time for the Wilpons to make a more favorable deal.

  2. MikeT September 1, 2011 at 3:03 pm
    Einhorn is a big Mets fan though. Not sure how I feel about a fan running a team. Namely that “running the team” should not be in the job description of an owner. Approving a budget, making public statements, hiring a front office to run the team should be however. So I think if Sandy is running the FO Fred’s impact will be kept minimal, and I like it that way.

    And I think the big indicator in this is that Fred must feel his finances have improved enough that he doesn’t need to risk a minority owner taking over just to get some cash. This is good or bad depending on your view of the Wilpons. Again, my view is owners should be rarely seen and heard from, so it makes no difference to me so long as Fred continues to stay out of baseball decisions.

    • Joe Janish September 1, 2011 at 10:54 pm
      You prefer a Dodgers fan running the team? Interesting.

      If you truly believe that Sandy is “running the team” w/o Fred’s influence, I have a bridge to sell you. Sandy has the exact same amount of power as Omar Minaya, the only difference is he’s working with the reduced budget that Fred gave him. So, same amount of tinkering by the Dodgers fan, but with less money. Good luck with that.

      • MikeT September 2, 2011 at 10:59 am
        Please Joe, you think Omar would have pulled off the K-Rod and Beltran deals with any shred of elegance like Sandy did? Alderson and Co are not spending money this off season because there’s no one worth spending on. Why not wait until awful contracts are off the books and you know what you have in a few players on the farm. Reese Havens on his rookie contract vs. 5 mil for Orlando Hudson or similar player? I’ll take the cheaper controllable player. And if not Havens then Turner or Valdespin or Tejada. Point is I’m not sure what you expect Alderson to do with this team this off season when there’s no one worth spending on. You can’t just spend on the biggest names because they are better than what you currently have, not when you can have a cheaper option long term from within. Is the marginal gain in performance worth the extra cash? I dont think so.

        We all know this team can’t win without star starting pitching. It has to be Wheeler and Harvey or else it will never work. So why spend when it won’t make a difference.

        You can keep your pessimistic view of things, I’ll keep believing that Omar was incompetent where it counted and the Wilpons are not the problem because if they are nothing matters anyway, so why even watch/root for the team?

        • Joe Janish September 4, 2011 at 1:08 am
          I know for a fact that Fred and Jeff Wilpon were behind the Jason Bay signing. They also told Omar to “make a splash” in the previous offseasons. They also were the ones who chose the last four managers, among other decisions.

          Yes, Minaya shared some of the responsibility for the Mets’ demise, but ultimately the Wilpons ran the team, and continue to run the team — albeit with some guidance from MLB / Bud Selig. But you are welcome to continue with your head in the sand. The idea that Minaya was “incompetent” is ludicrous — his role was to spend the money the Wilpons gave him and to make sure the team earned a profit. Everything fell apart when Bernie Madoff’s money tree was cut down and the Mets couldn’t spend like a New York team any more.

          Take a look around — the Mets are not the only team in MLB to hand out bad contracts. They happen all the time. But other teams cut their losses and/or outspend their mistakes. The Wilpons couldn’t do that after the funny money stopped flowing. So now they may as well be the Pittsburgh Pirates or KC Royals. Enjoy!

  3. gary s. September 1, 2011 at 5:27 pm
    When do we move into our minor league stadium in Brooklyn?This would be beneficial in 2 ways. Our imbecilic owners could save money on running the ballpark and when we get the usual 6 or 7 thousand to attend, the Wilnots could declare a full house.At this rate, forget about Reyes coming back next year,We will be lucky if we can afford to pay Ruben Tejada.
  4. Mel September 1, 2011 at 5:40 pm
    One of the worst days in Met history. The continued and apparently endless ownership by the Wilpons means decades of failure with those few teasing occassions like ’06 that don’t last. I think gary is on the right track. the small market mets will get 7 k per game maybe.
  5. AC Wayne September 1, 2011 at 7:20 pm
    I was a little surprised when I saw that Einhorn and the current Mets owners couldn’t reach a deal, everything seemed so certain, he was at Citi Field wearing a Mets cap, talking about how much of a fan he was of the Mets, pictures of him as a younger man wearing Mets jerseys…WTF was that all about, I guess with the possibility of the Wilpons/Katz not having to be raked over the coals for $1B, their hands perhaps not as tied as before and the minority stake given could very well be reduced…for that previous commenter, I believe the Mets will sign Reyes.
  6. gary s. September 2, 2011 at 12:01 am
    Argenis Reyes or Jose Reyes?They will have money to sign the former according to Sandy,
  7. Walnutz15 September 2, 2011 at 8:00 am
    This is going to get beyond interesting again – as the Wilpons now have to find themselves another prom date. They asked the mysterious rebel to the prom, and unshockingly got left at the front porch when they said they wouldn’t put out.

    It’s really no surprise as to how Einhorn works…..why the Wilpons thought they’d be different?

    Anyone’s guess.

    Please just sell. We’re entering into Wilpon Season again, fellas. Just FYI.

    ……………and it just sounds like what they want to do, provided they want so many minority partners — is going to take a good, long while.

    You just hope they don’t have it drag out forever, while a guy like Alderson seriously wants to put together a competitive roster. In addition to a very important Reyes negotiation, the Mets have a TON of work to do in filling out other spots……..already HATE where this is going.

    Yet, it’s par for the course with this ownership team of circus clowns.

    • Joe Janish September 4, 2011 at 1:19 am
      You really have to wonder what Alderson is thinking right now. If Selig unofficially took over the Mets and appointed Alderson to prove that a big-market team could win with a Moneyball / low-budget strategy, I guess he’s in for the long haul. But if not, what is his motive for staying around? Why did he come out of GM retirement in the first place? Will he bail out when he realizes this is an unwinnable situation?
  8. gary s. September 2, 2011 at 10:30 am
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XclGta7hBg..Nutz, check out some nice memories of shea on this video.Looks like this is all we are going to have to put a smile on our face for a while.,
  9. Walnutz15 September 2, 2011 at 10:38 am
    I can’t get youtube at work, however – someone on YouTube went nutz with Met footage through the years.

    Take a look around…..it’s worth watching. Not gonna link, since The MLB Gestapo will probably go in and take it all down.

    Bastards.