21
2009
Wilpons May Get Fan Outrage If They Cut Payroll
An article by 
Last week, ESPN’s Andrew Marchand posted the following on his Twitter account:
An associate of the Wilpons tells me that the only way to get them to spend this offseason is with public pressure and that might not work.
Jon Heyman of SI.com also adds this in one of his reports last week:
“Reports have suggested the Mets plan to cut from an NL-high $145 million payroll, but even a small reduction might be a tough sell in their second season in Citi Field. The guess here is the payroll stays about the same. Mets people already are discussing big-name free agent targets – though, of course, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll actually sign any of the big ones.”
I’ve been very concerned about much of the news I’ve been reading that suggests that the Mets will cut payroll this season. With the departures of Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado and J.J. Putz among others, the Mets are expected to still have $25-30 million they could spend after raises and arbitration awards.
I fear that the Mets may only allow Omar Minaya $5-7 million of that amount to fill the remaining roster spots going into the 2010 season. Obviously that will not get the Mets any quality players that they absolutely need to succeed.
If Minaya is forced to reduce payroll to $125 million from $149 million, he may have to trade a high salaried player to fill key spots. This might put K-Rod ($12 MM) and Beltran ($18.5 MM) in trade discussions, although ultimately I believe they will still be Mets in 2010. It is something to think about though.
Marchand might be right about the fan base putting pressure on the Wilpons not to cut payroll. As Heyman also points out, cutting payroll might be a tough sell to Mets fans, and the Wilpons better tread carefully on this issue.
Unless the Mets add a quality starter and bat to the current mix, the fans won’t flock to Citi Field as much as they did in it’s inaugural season.
I hope we’re not on the precipice of those past Mets periods where only a few thousand fans showed up for the games, but it could happen if the Wilpons are foolish enough to avoid adding the quality players the Mets need to contend for the division next season.
Atlanta, Philadelphia and even Florida will have formidable rotations next season, and the Mets need a number two starter to compliment Santana just to keep up with them. They also need to add a thumper in the middle of their lineup. The NL East will finish the season with 11 players who had 25 or more homeruns, and the Mets will be extremely luck to have one player finish with 11 or 12.
The Wilpons and their GM Omar Minaya (who they now have on a very short leash), better do the right thing this off season or I fear there will be a backlash such as the organization has never seen before.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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If they don’t make any moves this offseason. I am going to be pissed.
same here. id be pissed too, but i dont think the Wilpons are that dumb. but at the same time, i think about how the Wilpons tried to waste time getting another MLS team in NY using their money, when they should be focusing on the Metropolitans! no one really cares about the MLS!
“I hope we’re not on the precipice of those past Mets periods where only a few thousand fans showed up for the games, but it could happen if the Wilpons are foolish enough to avoid adding the quality players the Mets need to contend for the division next season.”
If that were to happen, the Wilpons will certainly put the team up for sale as there is no way they can sustain a daily dose of red ink to their bottom line. So, in actuality, that is the best thing that can happen. If the wilpons stand pat in the offseason, the fans had best stay home and leave the Citi seats empty. Then we will be on the road to the real fix, which is new owners who understand baseball and will be dedicated to winning. I almost hope that they actually do nothing.
They never should have given Omar Minaya almost 150 million to spend in the first place, but now that they’ve set that benchmark they cant backout and retreat. The problem is that Minaya has gotten little value in return for the Wilpon’s gold. The money was never spent wisely. The Mets pay their bench players more than any team and most of them make as much as everyday players. They have no role players that are serviceable, although they may have found one in Angel Pagan this season. When you see guys like Schneider making 5 million, and Perez 12 million, and Delgado 14 million you begin to see where it all unravelled. They should not have picked up Delgado’s option, not at the exorbitant sum. They could have paid him his buyout and reworkd a two year 14 million deal instead of a one year. Noother team in baseball would have paid that much for an aging slugger with a chronic and debilitating hip injury.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
REGARDING YOUR STATEMENT, “Noother team in baseball would have paid that much for an aging slugger with a chronic and debilitating hip injury.” THE METS DIDN’T EITHER SINCE THERE WAS NO CHRONIC, DEBILITATING HIP INJURY WHEN THEY PICKED UP HIS OPTION. HIS INJURIES SUSTAINED AS A MET WERE WRIST & UPPER BODY RELATED INCL REPAIRING BROKEN HAND RESULTING FROM HBP FROM D-TRAIN IN INFAMOUS GLAVINE “NO MAS” GAME THAT LEFT TOMMY UNDEVASTATEDLY A BRAVE. PERHAPS, U BELIEVE HIS 30 HR POTENTIAL BAT ISN’T WORTH THE RISK, THAT’S YOUR PEROGATIVE. JUST TRY TO KEEP IT ALL WITHIN ACCURATE PERSPECTIVE. BTW, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO BATSPEED! AMONGST THE AVAILABLE F/A 1B OPTIONS THERE’S LITTLE POWER TO COUNT ON ESP IN CITI:
Russell Branyan SEA
Carlos Delgado NYM
Jason Giambi COL
Ross Gload * FLA
Aubrey Huff DET
Nick Johnson FL
Adam LaRoche ATL*
Robb Quinlan LAA
Matt Stairs PHI
Mike Sweeney SEA
Jim Thome LAD
Chad Tracy ARZ
UNLESS U R ONE OF THESE, FANTASY=REALITY FANS, THAT ACTUALLY BELIEVE ANYONE IS AVAILABLE FOR UNWANTED JUNK THE ABOVE LIST IS ALL THAT U CAN CONSIDER AS AVAILABLE & NYM BETTER PRAY DELGADO’S BATSPEED IS STILL THERE & HE’S AMENABLE TO A 1Y INCENTIVE LADEN DEAL.
* SECOND HALF PRODUCER LIKELY TO STRONGLY PREFER TO REMAIN W/ATLANTA AT LESS $.
They have to spend the same as this year.Omar has to learn from past mistakes.He has to add either Holliday,Bay,Abreu or trade for Fielder,or Crawford.Plus adding spare parts Barajas or Zaun behind the plate.I read Detroit might be a fit to trade Castillo too.We would have to pick up Bonderman or Willis,which i think would be a good gamble.That way they could sign Hudson to play 2nd till Reese Havens or Ruben Tejada are ready.Then the piching they have too sign Lackey,or trade for Halladay.Randy Wolf idont believe is better than Niese.
Lot’s of “have to’s” that might be “can not’s” if Uncle Bernie really ran his filet knife through the team’s finances. Time will tell, but the effect of the red ink bleeding is still not known.
I’ve already decided not to buy season tickets and instead purchase a lesser plan like a six pack. But if they do not spend any money this off season, I’m trough with them. I wont but another ticket next season and will only go if the tickets are free or minimal cost.
I am not buying another ticket untlil they put a real team on the field. That means a real SP along with at least one slugger for LF. I’ll let them wait for Ike to be ready for 1B and let best do with some kind of filler in the meantime. At least 2 real players this offseason or goodbye.
Personally, I’d wish they would just sell the team already. I think the Wilpon’s time has come and gone. In a way, I CAN understand their point: Maybe they are looking at it like, ‘We’ve spent this much and it’s gotten us nowhere.”
But on the other hand, this is like watching the team we love die a slow, long, drawn-out painful death.
A couple of things here. One, everyone wants the Wilpons to spend money on free agents this winter. That’s great, and I agree. But what about spending money to keep players HEALTHY! Remember way back in spring training when Santana had that elbow issue and they were going to send him for an MRI but didn’t? Of course, if you’re Omar you have NO recollection of this! Anyway, also what about Oliver Perez? The same knee problem that ended his season is the same one that put him on the DL earlier. Had they done something earlier about these two maybe we’d know what kind of shape our rotation will be in come spring. As it is, they waited until the end of the year and now both guys are recouping from surgery and who REALLY knows if they’ll actually be ready for training camp in Feb.? We’re talking about the ace AND likely #2 starter!
Secondly, why would Holliday or Bay or any other power hitter sign with this dysfunctional franchise and it’s HUMONGOUS, already falling apart new ballpark? Sorry, can’t see it happening unless they move the fences in just a bit. I mean, it says a lot (none of it good) that your #1 HR hitter with 2 weeks to go has 10, TEN! homeruns!!!!! I believe you win with pitching and defense, but you still need your 3,4,5, and maybe 6 hitters to be able to put 25 HR on the board to keep teams honest. Ain’t happening at Citi.
So maybe what they need to do is A-spend money FIXING the new park correctly, B-spend money when needed to keep players healthy, and C-spend on free agents to fill holes. The one GOOD thing about the Mets’ lousy record is that their 1st round amateur pick is protected next season so a premium FA won’t cost them in June.
“So maybe what they need to do is A-spend money FIXING the new park correctly, B-spend money when needed to keep players healthy, and C-spend on free agents to fill holes.” All good points and the reasons why the Wilpons need to sell the team, because they just ain’t spending money.
Feels like 1980 all over again. “The magic of mediocrity is back!”
If payroll is trimmed, then it will be a LONG time before I visit CitiField!
Cutting payroll, while locking up/overpaying a RF who makes an out 68.5 of every 100 plate appearances, is an extreme contradiction.
Matt F.,
Making an out 68.5 times in 100 PA’s gives a batting average of .315. What’s wrong with that??
Nope. It gives you an obp of .315. The figure I used was actually wOBA (weighted on base average).
Pagan’s career wOBA is higher than Frenchy’s, as is Church’s.
Steve, refer the Franceour extension post if you want to be bombarded with arguments over Frenchy’s worth.
I don’t mind him as our RF on a year to year basis. Locking him up and overpaying for his services, based on small sample size production, is a mistake.
Mets just bought out his arby years and 1 year of free agency. Common practice that savrs money in long run. Mets did same thing with Wright and Reyes.
Understandable but what is the total $ amount going to be?
He’d be sure to make 3.5-4mm in arb the next 2 years, and then 1 year of FA is probably closer to 5 mm? Am I wrong on this?
Are we talking 3 year 12 mil? or 3 year 18 mil?
I didnt hear financials, but I’d split the middle on your numbers and say $15MM. He’d easily win 4mm in arby this year, and 5 next.
When are the Wilpons going to SPEAK? Will they ever say anything again?
They’re going to tell us about the competitve games we’re having this September. After all, we did take a series from the Nats in a battle for 4th place. (In case anyone can’t tell, that’s sarcasm.)
If your right and the Wilpons are saying this to themselves,
“We’ve spent this much and it’s gotten us nowhere.”
Then they have Omar to blame for the waste in money and they should have reason to let him go. He clearly wasted a ton of their money with Perez, Scheinder, etc.
There is only one major thing that will determine whether the Mets will be active in the free agent market this offseason, just how much of a beating the Wilpons took in the Madoff scandal!
The fact that no one knows for sure at this point will be unmasked a bit by the events before and during the winter meetings. If we see a Carlos Beltran, a Pedro Feliciano dealt for good prospects and no interest in any of the quality free agents pitchers out there it would be an indication that the funds are not there to improve the team. If however, the losses have been overstated by stupid rumors and bull@*itting bloggers then we should see some positive action taken. Obviously, the team needs to have a healthy Reyes, Santana, Beltran and a bounce back year by David Wright RBI/HR wise. Looking carefully and honestly at our pitching situation we have a number one guy Santana. After that there are lots of questions. If John Maine is healthy he is a solid guy. Not a star, but solid. Pelfrey is on the edge….Oliver Perez should be euthanized but he has a big contract and will get another shot if healthy. Tim Redding will get a look too in spring training. he should be at least as effective as Livan Hernandez was. Without obtaining at least one solid starter this offseason our pitching will be a TOTAL CRAPSHOOT!