Should They Pay Or Just Say No?
This time last year rumors of the Mets’ losses due to Bernie Madoff were cited as a possible reason why the team didn’t make a run for any big-time free agents other than K-Rod. After all, they had more issues other than finding a closer, but watched players such as Manny Ramirez, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Orlando Hudson, Bobby Abreu, Raul Ibanez, and Derek Lowe sign with other clubs.
This year, Jeff Wilpon promised that the Mets would be aggressive players in the free-agent market, and that Omar Minaya had no specific budget constraints.
Wilpon has plenty of time to make good on that promise, but the early signs suggest that there is indeed a budget, and the top-tier free agent targets likely will go untouched by the Mets.
Bill Madden of the Daily News says the Mets have only $20M to spend this winter, so they’ll focus on “second-tier” free agents. Adam Rubin reports that the Mets are looking at Jose Guillen as a bargain basement alternative to Matt Holliday or Jason Bay (wow, that’s some drop off!). Recent rumblings are that the Mets will look past the high-priced John Lackey and toward less expensive (and less reliable) options such as Joel Pineiro and Randy Wolf. Further, there suddenly is talk that they are considering bringing back Carlos Delgado on an inexpensive, incentive-laden deal.
This could be posturing by the Mets, in order to keep their leverage in negotiations. After all, it wouldn’t make much sense if they publicly announced “hey, the wallet is open, and we’re spending freely this winter!”. Except, that’s basically what Jeff Wilpon said in October.
In the end, I might agree (gasp!) with Wallace Matthews, who believes the “Wilpons should be honest and look toward 2011“. The Mets have several holes to fill this winter, and have almost no trading chips they can afford to let go. That said, the free agent market is the quickest and easiest way to rebuild the roster, and the Mets have the added bonus of having their #1 draft pick protected (if they sign a “Type A” free agent). But Matthews is right on when he says:
The problem is, this year he will be spending thoroughbred money on a crop of dogs.
This year’s free agent class has two top players (Matt Holliday and Jason Bay), one top pitcher (John Lackey), and then everyone else is a few rungs below. Further, it can be argued that Lackey isn’t an “ace”, and is a question mark due to health concerns.
Holliday and Bay would probably get top dollar in any free agent year, though not Teixeira-type money. Lackey likely would not get top dollar if he were a free agent last year; my guess is he’d get something along the lines of a Derek Lowe deal (which is still pretty decent). But the rest of the class is sketchy, and they’ll all benefit from the trickle-down effect of these three “top dogs”.
What do you think? Should the Mets continue their habit of overpaying for talent — even if it’s the only way to build a contender — or is it time to tighten the budget, at the cost of possibly being also-rans in 2010?
Mets: Who’s the Boss?
If we’ve learned nothing else from the 2009 season, we learned that the Mets have no clear plan, a lack integrity, and operate under questionable leadership.
That last issue has become even more muddied, if we are to believe Peter Gammons — who stated on the Michael Kay Show that Jeff Wilpon is the real Mets GM, while Omar Minaya is “the one who’s out there to take the heat” (follow this link and skip ahead to the 13:20 minute mark to hear that part of the conversation).
If true, that would certainly explain a number of the mysteries surrounding this futile franchise. Perhaps it now makes sense to re-evaluate whether Jeff Wilpon is qualified to be a Major League GM. As we know, the sum total of his baseball background is limited to the time he’s spent as COO of the Mets, a bullpen session with Tom Seaver and a shady “professional” stint.
BTW, Gammons also hinted that all is not well in Dodgerland — so perhaps the news of the McCourts breakup is just the tip of the iceberg.
Wilpon: Citi Field Criticism Unfair
Much has been said about the lack of Mets history at Citi Field — not only from here, but throughout the Mets blogosphere. Many fans have felt that the park is an homage to Fred Wilpon’s beloved Brooklyn Dodgers — underscored by the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.
Some may have missed this following tidbit from Mike Francesa’s recent interview with Jeff Wilpon.
Mike Francesa:
“Did feel that any of the criticism you received … from me or anybody else … do you think there was anything — criticism — that was unfair this year or your team?”
Jeff Wilpon:
“Not the team but maybe about the ballpark, because I don’t think we did anything to slap anybody in the face. It wasn’t something where we said ‘gee, we’re going to honor the Brooklyn Dodgers but we’re not gonna honor the Mets or the Mets history’. So I think that is the only thing that was said that was unfair. We’re going to make the changes now to correct it, because it is a proper criticism.”
Huh?
Help me out, folks. Is it possible for UNfair criticism to also be classified as “proper criticism” — in the same sentence?
I suppose it’s good that the issue is being “corrected” — even if it was unfair, or proper, or both(?)
Since this is the way the leader of the franchise addresses and explains issues, it’s now clear why we get similarly confusing doubletalk from the underlings, such as Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel — perhaps everyone in the organization is expected to practice the art of “Wilponspeak”.
Wilpon, Minaya, Howard Explain Your Pain
In case you missed it yesterday, Mike Francesa hosted Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya, and David Howard on his WFAN show. Francesa joked that Howard’s presence was “to be a filibuster”. In truth, it was because he is “the guy” associated with Citi Field, and the homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers was of course the most successful accomplishment of the New York Mets franchise in 2009.
Oh did you mistake “success” for “winning”? No, friend … success is bottom-line profits. And as you will hear in the interview, the Mets “brand” did well in its ability to serve its “customers”. But that should be changing in 2010 — if we are to believe the head honchos of the Mets’ organization.
Understand that the above links lead to material that may not be suitable for all audiences. For example, they are not for those with a weak stomach, nor for the strong of mind. I also would not listen to these clips if you are suffering from anxiety, depression, or stress disorders.
Some of the things I personally gleaned from the interview …
- Daniel Murphy will not return to the outfield, and he may or may not return as the starting first baseman
- Jeff Wilpon insists that the Mets will continue to have one of the highest payrolls in MLB, and that Omar Minaya has no financial constraints
- Further, Wilpon will not be “slicing payroll”, will be “aggressive” on the market, and his commitment this winter is “to give Omar the resources he needs to put a championship team on the field”
- Neither Minaya nor Wilpon believe the team needs a “rebuilding”, and they plan to use a mix of free agent signings and trades to “fix the holes”
- Minaya’s role and responsibilities as GM will not change
- Citi Field was built so large because Omar Minaya’s philosophy was to build a team around pitching, defense, and speed (hmm … the plans for Citi Field, including the vast dimensions, were unveiled in 1998 — when Minaya was an assistant to Steve Phillips)
- the Mets are going to add “more imagery” and a “Mets Hall of Fame” to placate fans’ complaints that Citi Field is an homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers
Conclusion
The Mets have publicly changed the goal from “putting a winning product on the field” to “putting a championship team on the field”. Wilpon claims that the financial coffers are available to make that happen.
We are going to hold on to these two points in particular as we watch and analyze this winter’s moves.
Why the Mets May Consider Tony LaRussa
Tony LaRussa is currently busy leading his St. Louis Cardinals into the postseason. But he could be on table of discussion in the Mets front office right now.
After two consecutive collapses and a godawful premiere season in their brand-new, billion-dollar ballpark, the Mets have to do something signficant to win back season-ticket sales their fans in 2010. They absolutely cannot stand pat, or make a few minor changes. In order to sell tickets compete in 2010, they have to make a sales-inspiring announcement drastic change at some point this winter.
But what can they do? If they were tightening the purse strings last winter — BEFORE the Madoff scandal came to light — then certainly they won’t have much money to spend this offseason. So forget about the Mets bidding for the services of Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. In fact, I’d be surprised if they have the money or gumption to go after Chone Figgins, John Lackey, or Rich Harden. My guess? We’ll see Mark DeRosa, Xavier Nady, Jon Garland, Benji Molina, Nick Johnson, and Jason Marquis on their radar. Nice complementary pieces, but hardly impact players.
Further, the Mets have next to nothing to offer in trade for a big-name player. No one of value is healthy enough nor expendable, and they’ll get lambasted if they empty their farm system for one player for the third consecutive winter. So, with no big trades and no big free agent signings on the horizon, the Mets will have to try another route to the back pages.
They will start by promoting John Ricco, either to GM or some kind of parallel position to Omar Minaya. With their budgetary concerns, I would be surprised to see them eat the rest of Minaya’s contract — particularly if they plan to eat Jerry Manuel’s. At the same time I don’t see them spending big bucks to lure Pat Gillick out of retirement, or hiring another big-name GM. They won’t do that because a) they don’t want to spend the money; and b) Jeff Wilpon wants to remain the puppet-master. So forget about the nonsense of bringing in a strong-minded personality such as Billy Beane or Bobby Valentine.
Instead, they’ll do the financially prudent move of keeping Minaya in the organization — in some type of “player evaluation” capacity — and promoting Ricco to GM. Such a decision will be a cheap way of making it look like things are changing, and they’ll spin it by positioning Ricco as a young Brian Cashman or Theo Epstein — a numbers-crunching uber-geek who can use his calculator to lead the Mets into the Promised Land. Maybe he can do that, who knows? … but the decision will be financially motivated, and in keeping with the “Jeff’s in charge” theme.
Still, a change in GM and a few mildly impressive free-agent signings won’t be enough to stimulate season-ticket sales improve the 2010 Mets. Soon after Ricco is promoted, expect to see Manuel ousted and replaced with Tony LaRussa.
LaRussa is most likely a bad fit for the bright hot lights of New York City — he barely gets through the mild-mannered press and forgiving fans in St. Louis. But convincing LaRussa to manage the Mets (3 years / $18M?) will be much cheaper than signing a big-name free-agent. Most importantly, it will be seen as a major change in “the right direction” — substantial enough on its own to sell season tickets position them as a contender.
I could be wrong — the Mets may not have enough money to even afford LaRussa. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see a scenario similar to this unfold in the offseason. If not LaRussa, then another big name that won’t cost a fortune (in comparison to an impact free agent). Perhaps Lou Piniella is let out of his Cubs contract, or Frank Robinson comes out of retirement. Or maybe they do something completely off the wall and hire Gary Carter or Wally Backman (not likely). Whatever it is the Mets do, it will be newsworthy, but unlikely to break the bank.
Wilpon Warms Up in Buffalo
According to The Buffalo News, Jeff Wilpon appeared at Coca-Cola Park in Buffalo to apologize for the Bisons’ awful season.
After all, it was the Mets who inadequately stocked their AAA team with players who would have a hard time competing in the local Babe Ruth League.
Some of the quotes:
“There’s disappointment in the fan base and ownership here as well as ownership in New York with how [the Bisons] have performed. We have to fix that,” Wilpon told The Buffalo News during the Herd’s 9-4 win over Lehigh Valley. “It’s something we want to do better and we will do better for the City of Buffalo and for the Mets.
“It’s good business to do better and it’s also the morally right thing to do because Buffalo has opened its arms to us and we really appreciate that. It’s been terrific to be here. …”
and:
“We want a competitive team for the entire year, not just two-thirds of the year, and we’re going to spend the money on Buffalo,” Wilpon said. “We spend money on the big league club and we spent money here as well. The injuries with the big league club were the biggest issue here. Everybody in our organization knows this is a priority to get this team in a better position. We’d like to be here long term.
“We’re disappointed as well. I can understand the fans’ feeling. We don’t want to lose. The ownership group here doesn’t and I can tell you for certain ownership in New York doesn’t want to be losing here.”
So … was this trip to Buffalo a warmup for the apologies Jeff will be offering to Flushing a few weeks from now?
Regardless, the fans of Buffalo should know — the Wilpons are well known for apologies and empty promises, so get used to it.
Cheap Seats at Citi Field
With the economy in a tailspin, unemployment through the roof, and diehard fans unable to partake in their favorite pastime due to money woes, the New York Mets have made the gracious and humane gesture of lowering the price of some tickets by 15%.
Now, you negative Nellies out there will be quick to point out the losing season, uninspired play, and overall degraded “product on the field” as a good reason to offer a discount. The worst of you likely are saying the Mets have instituted this charitable deduction as a means to stimulate sluggish ticket sales. Well, the whole lot of you can go Read more
Update On Jeff Wilpon and Pro Ball
Last week we discovered an inconsistency between the published bio / resume of Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and the memory of the 1983 Jamestown Expos manager.
Again, for your indulgence … this is what has been the “canned” bio for Jeff Wilpon, on the official websites of both Sterling Equities and the Brooklyn Cyclones:
But, the manager of the Jamestown Expos back then — Moby Benedict — said that Jeff Wilpon never played for him.
It took a few days for the information to sink in around the blogosphere, but finally Shannon Shark of MetsPolice re-confirmed the facts, as posted on MetsBlog.
You know how us bloggers sitting in our parents’ basements can be quick to make assumptions and spew wild speculations that could significanly damage a person’s reputation. So before John Gonzalez or some other well-respected journalist accuses us bloggers of being irresponsible or not doing our due diligence, I provide you an update to the lingering question of Jeff Wilpon’s professional baseball career.
This from the June 21, 1998 edition of The New York Times (page ST-4):
From the time he was 10, Jeff Wilpon had been eager — maybe too eager — to follow his father. At that age he carried a homemade business card identifying himself as Director of Construction. His father, Fred Wilpon, was an owner of Sterling Equities, a real estate conglomerate he founded with his brother-in-law Saul Katz.
In 1980, when Jeff was a high school senior in Roslyn, N.Y., his father and uncle bought the Mets. Jeff was so gung-ho to join the front office that he gave up every boy’s dream — a potential career as a professional athlete. He had been drafted by the Montreal Expos out of college and believes he could have started at catcher in the major leagues, he said, but quit after one spring training session to join the family business.
“I always knew I wanted to do what my dad did,” he said, sitting, like his father, with legs crossed in Fred Wilpon’s office in Sterling Plaza, on Fifth Avenue at 47th Street. From time to time, his father glanced dotingly at him.
So there you have it — Jeff was drafted by Expos, as we confirmed, but his pro experience consisted of “one spring training session”. Now it makes sense that Moby Benedict didn’t remember him — Jamestown was in the NY-Penn League, a short-season rookie league that doesn’t begin play until June. By then, Jeff was long gone from the Montreal system and getting himself comfy in the Mets’ front office.
Though, I’m not sure what “one spring training session” means. I can tell you that after my own college career, I spent a few weeks at MLB spring training camps warming up minor league pitchers and playing in some scrimmages as a means of trying out. However, I do not label that experience as “professional”, since, technically, I wasn’t under contract and didn’t play in an official game. But maybe someone else would interpret that differently. Although it would certainly help my baseball instruction business if I told people I “played for the Sarasota White Sox”, I wouldn’t feel right saying it because, to me, it’s simply not true. But furthermore, I don’t want to gain clients because they think I played pro ball — I want them to come to me because they’ve heard I do a great job teaching baseball. You don’t have to be a pro ballplayer to be a good teacher — as they say, “those who can, do, those who can’t, teach”.
Similarly, there’s no correlation between playing baseball and running a professional franchise. In fact, I’m not sure there is another COO in MLB who has baseball playing experience above the Little League level. And if there is, who cares? What would it have to do with managing a $500M – $1 billion business?
But I digress. What I wanted to do today was present evidence that suggests that Jeff Wilpon spent some time (hours? days? weeks) in the Montreal Expos spring training camp in 1983. How you want to interpret that is up to you — and how Sterling Equities wants to describe it, is, obviously, up to them.
Did Jeff Wilpon Play Pro Ball?
You may already know that I’m a former college baseball player and coach, and therefore geeky enough to have an appreciation for listening to an interview with Moby Benedict. For those unaware, Benedict was one of the most successful college coaches of all-time, leading the University of Michigan from 1963-1979. In those 17 years, no less than 25 of his players went on to play in MLB — a fairly stunning accomplishment. After his college coaching career, Moby spent three years coaching the Jamestown Expos in the NY-Penn League (from 1982-1984).
Considering that Moby played for Michigan in the mid-1950s and managed Jamestown in the early 1980s, one would think that he’d be familiar with Fred and Jeff Wilpon. After all, Fred was supposedly a “star” pitcher in high school and college, and Jeff played for the Jamestown Expos in 1983 … or did he?
According to the biography on the Sterling Equities website:
The exact same bio appears on the Brooklyn Cyclones official website.
However, if you listen to Moby Benedict tell the story, Jeff never played for Jamestown. Per the interview:
Q: “One of the players you managed while at Jamestown, but Jeff played with you in 1983 at the Jamestown Expos … what can you tell us about Jeff?”
A: “I don’t think he did … the years I was there, and I was there three years, and I don’t recall that he played. No. No — not for me.”
Moby is not a young guy, so you might think that his memory is failing him, or that Jeff was such a poor player that he didn’t leave much of an impression on Moby. Except, you would think that Moby Benedict would remember the son of Fred Wilpon playing for him — even if it were for only five minutes. After all, Fred and Moby were teammates at the University of Michigan, and Fred was extremely helpful to Moby’s baseball program. Indeed, Benedict later mentioned, in regard to Fred Wilpon:
“… he was there at the same time as I was … in fact, I know him well — we were pretty good friends … he gave us a lot of money to re-do our baseball field … he was very, very, very generous … it’s called the Wilpon Baseball Complex … it’s really beautiful … he was very generous, and a very kind man.”
Benedict also clearly remembered that Fred came down with a sore arm while at Michigan, and therefore never pitched for them.
You can listen to the interview here (the Wilpon discussion comes in around the 3-minute mark):
Still, maybe Moby, for whatever reason, forgot that Jeff Wilpon played for him. But there doesn’t seem to be any information, anywhere, that supports the claim that Jeff played pro ball. For example, if you go to the Jeff Wilpon page on TheBaseball Cube.com, there are no stats listed. Neither is Wilpon’s name listed on the 1983 Jamestown Expos page. Baseball-Reference.com reports the same non-info on Jeff Wilpon (nothing for ‘82, ‘84, either).
Of course, neither of those websites can be considered “official” — so it’s possible that both of those sites have mis-reported the facts and that Moby Benedict mis-remembered his time in Jamestown.
Perhaps I’m nitpicking, but this information is bothersome to say the least. If it’s true that Jeff Wilpon never played pro ball, why does his bio claim that he did? Why would the COO of a billion-dollar company have to lie on his public resume? And what else is he, the Mets, and Sterling Equities lying about?
And for the record, I have never lobbied for the job of COO of the New York Mets. I’m not looking to tear anyone down, either — only in search of the truth.
** UPDATE **
An alert MetsToday reader pointed me to a Murray Chass article from the September 14, 2004 edition of The New York Times, which includes this tidbit:
Wilpon is the son of Fred Wilpon, the Mets’ owner. Like his father, Jeff was a baseball player as a youngster but didn’t go far. In 1983, at the request of and as a favor to Fred Wilpon, the Montreal Expos drafted Jeff, a catcher. He joined Jamestown of the New York-Penn League but apparently never played before he was released a week or so later. Jeff Wilpon’s name does not appear in the team’s statistics for that season.
So this is old news that has yet to be addressed. Or does being a bullpen catcher count as “playing”?
Bernazard Firing Part Deux
In case you missed it, the Mets held a press conference moments before game time tonight to address Omar Minaya’s attack on Adam Rubin.
I’m not 100% sure, but I believe the Mets are the first franchise in sports history to call a press conference to explain a press conference. Someone check with the Elias Sports Bureau to confirm, please.
During the second press conference, Minaya apologized for isolating and attacking Rubin in the first press conference. He did not, however, apologize for what he said; rather, he apologized for saying what he did, WHEN he did and WHERE he did. He stands by the inane accusation that Rubin sought a job in the Mets’ front office. As if it matters. And as if anyone would want to work in that Chinese fire drill of an organization (no offense to my friends of Chinese descent).
Furthermore, Jeff Wilpon made it clear that Tony Bernazard was a good friend, and that Omar “fostered” that friendship. Again, it matters why?
After listening to Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum in this absurd press conference, Jerry Manuel’s postgame interview will resemble a symposium conducted by Albert Einstein.
One can only wonder what this Mickey Mouse operation will do next.
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