23
2011
Francesa On Jose Reyes, David Wright, Mets Reputation
An article by Craig Lerner
Moments ago on WFAN, Mike Francesa said the following about comments Jeff Wilpon made regarding Reyes not getting a Carl Crawford type deal.
“Jose Reyes sat right there in that chair and looked me in the eye and told me he was looking for the same deal Carl Crawford signed. He sat right there in that chair. He said it on the air loud and clear, that he expects to get paid like Carl Crawford. This isn’t speculation, this isn’t from some blogger, this is from Jose Reyes himself who sat right there and said it to me. Now, is he gonna get a Carl Crawford type deal? Who knows, I don’t know. We’ll find out.”
“Reyes is playing for a big Crawford deal…He’s playing his heart out. That said, the Mets won’t sign him. Alderson is a different breed. Forget Jose Reyes, Mets fans. He’s gone. You have a new GM who believes in having a team full of $4-5 million dollar players…that’s it. The days of the Mets signing and having 2 or 3 big money guys on the roster is over. It’s done.”
“When the Mets do something it is always perceived as being bad because they never do anything right. I mean he slighted David Wright – his best player. These are the Mets. They deserve their bad reputation, they work very hard at being bad. Players should be all for themselves when they play for the Mets. Get the most money that you can because you’re signing up for misery.”
Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Fred. Thanks, Baseball Gods.
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
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So, not that I don’t believe Mike Francesa, it’s not like he hasn’t been caught lying, stretching the truth or just plain wrong and many many occassions but…
Anybody got a recording of that? Perhaps Mike himself would like to emphasize his point by playing that Reyes interview.
I listen to Francesa every day for years. That said, until 15 minutes ago, I have never heard him mention that Jose Reyes wanted Crawford money before today. Anybody ever hear Francesa say that before?
I’ve heard Francesa say that Reyes told him this on numerous occasions.
However, I do not remember Reyes saying it.
I will say this… I don’t think Fred Wilpon would blurt out blogger/reporter speculation. I don’t think its a mistake that he referenced Crawford type money. I’m sure it has been talked about
Thanks. Now if he knew he was going to spend the first hour of his show on this, why didnt he get the audio of these comments he kept repeating again and again? He does that all the time with other clips in the past, why not something as important as the Reyes clip? He could asked any intern at WFAN to dig this audio up. It would have made his rant more credible.
Now Francesa has a lot of credibility but he can also be dead wrong. He also said the Yanks said signing Jeter would be an easy thing and whatever he wanted they’d give him.
I think Francesa is saying Reyes said it off the air. I’m not totally sure though
If that is true, then Reyes said it in confidentiality and Francesa decided to just blurt it now. Sounds fishy.
I honestly don’t know. Did Reyes sit in studio with Mike this winter? I know he did pre-2010 but did he this year? If he did, we just need to find that clip.
All I know is, for a fact I’ve heard Francesa reference this many times
easy solution, somebody call and ask for the audio
Not even sure if it matters if Jose did or didn’t say that. What bothers me is Francesa’s stupid “I know everything there is to know is sports” attitude. If your view differs from his you’re not just wrong (even if your right) but you’re stupid too. How the **** does he know know for certain that Jose is gone? I understand that Alderson has a bit of a track record and a certain method of doing things but he himself has gone on the record as saying that the fan attachment to Jose is HUGE and that it is a factor in his decision. That and the quality of player Jose obviously is! Yes Alderson’s past points to more of a bargain type and hardly ever the big ticket guys but he is an inteligent man and I’m sure he takes these matters on a case by case deal.
I recall a few years ago all the Sabermetric/Money Ball Geeks swore that closers where over rated and not really even needed to succeed in baseball. Theo Epstein (If Sandy is the Sabermetric King than Theo may be the Prince) tried a few time to build a team without one than realized the theory was wrong and signed Keith Foulke and won it all the very next year. Then all the Sabermetric guys changed their thinking on closers. I for one like several aspects of what Sandy is attempting to do, he has a vision and a plan and while he may tweak and slight shift a bit here and there he’s not going to completely reverse his field because he knows what it takes to field a good club.
That and the simple fact that he’s never run a big market club. I know the Mets are in a strange perdicament in that they are a big market club that is broke right now but that could change, especially with a new partner.
So while Wilpon is an absolute ass for saying what he did. There is no excuse for it and I hope he mans up and just appologizes without trying to sugar coat it, it doesn’t guarantee Jose departure.
The 9th inning closer is still a stupid concept. GMs still do it because fans and the media demand it. Boston’s closer by committee actually worked pretty well. The problem is, if works 9 straight times, all anyone remembers is #10 when it didn’t work and you get crucified. In 2003, the Red Sox only lost 2 games when leading in the 9th inning.
That said, you are right. Francesa is a dope who doesn’t know what Reyes is actually seeking nor can you say Sandy is going to do exactly what he did in Oakland and SD (keep in mind, the As of the late 80s had a pretty high payroll).
Francesa is just struggling to stay relevant. His problem is, fans are getting smarter and have more information instantly at their reach.
Like it or not the 9th inning closer is here to stay because as long as teams are willing to pay a relief pitcher to be a closer, the best crossover relievers are going there rather than being just another cog in the pen.
Of all the guys that CAN shut down a 3,4,5 of either handedness, the best 10 are going to the team that will call them a closer and pay them like one too so if your going to restrict your self to, at the very best, the 11th best option among other guys your not going to have anywhere near the best pen.
So true regarding your last point. He’s still sitting there with the morning paper were as with the advent of twitter we the regular joe fans at times even scoop him. The funny thing is he’s such an ego maniac that even when he gets scooped by a caller he’ll say something like, “We’ll we’re still waiting confirmation on that!” Guess what Mikey this morning’s edition of the Post isn’t going to have confirmation for you. At least when the Dog was with him he had a bit of a much needed buffer.
Francesa made a big point today that all Wilpon’s commnets had no damaging effect on the Mets. He stated that all Wilpon’s comments regarding Wright, Reyes and Beltran were objective fact, not a surprise to anyone and not damaging to the team. Unfortunately, none of that is true. These comments do have a negative affect on the Mets on 2 counts. First of all, these comments deteriorate the relationships of the players to the team. It is never good to find out that your boss thinks less of you than he has told you directly. The spirit of all 3 players in performing for the Mets is inevitably undermined by this. Francesa would say this doesn’t matter because they are playing for money not pats on the back. However, they are human and as humans it must hurt and undermine your desire to perform for your boss. Second, these comments reduces the value of the players in the marketplace, and this will come back to bite, if the Mets strive to make a trade of one or more of them as the season progresses. How is Alderson to broker a trade of Beltran if the owner of the player has openly stated he is only 65% of his former self and he was stupid to sign him? How is Alderson to broker a trade of Reyes if the owner has openly stated he is not worth Crawford money? How is Alderson to get full vale for Wright with the owner openly stating that he is not a superstar? This was a stupid interview by a Wilpon who must be approaching senility and a cover-up by Francesa in disclaiming the potential impact.
He didnt say it had no damaging effect on the Mets, he said it may not have any damaging effect on Wright because he’s stil signed until the winter of 2013. He said it tarnished their already bad reputation and that the theory things got better around Flushing was just a myth.
Because other baseball executives have the ability to make their own opinion and in all likelihood don’t think Wright is a superstar?
No baseball GM is gonna read this article and think Wright is terrible. His value is what they see it as and what Sandy Alderson accepts for him, for Reyes for Beltran etc.
Not what is printed in an article about an owner watching a game.
For all anyone knows Reyes could have been asked if he would like to get a deal like Crawford and said what everyone on the planet would say, excepting Albert Pujols.
But in all reality why wouldn’t Jose want to get the most money possible? The only reason not to is to exchange some of it for a reasonable guarantee inorder to safeguard against injury or decline. Those days are past. He’s 4 months away. Maybe if he truly wants to stay here take 90% of what he believes will be the best offer if both sides are willing but no more than that. 6/120. IF both sides are willing. IF he truly wants to stay here. 6/120 is real iffy right now. That’s leaving 30 M dollars on the table. That 30 M alone would pay a lot of the taxes due on his deal. How many people here would take a 15% pay cut?
5/100 I’m on board with but 6/120 is just too much to allocate for one player and I don’t think Reyes is an injury risk or will slow down appreciably over five years. I think he’ll live up to the deal. Live up to it far better than so many past their prime guys we’ve brought in here over the last two decades but six is stretching it for me.
The time to have gotten something done we both could have lived with was July 1st last year up to the end of this April when he had shown his legs were healthy.
After using up the time the guaranteed dollars would have insured him for why would he take a discount?
Fatcessa is a lard ass with no credibilty who gets called out ten times a day for the idiotic and untrue things he says on YES/SNY. All he cares about is the Yankees and he loves to stick a fork into the Mets every chance he gets. Unfortuately mornons like Fred Wilponzi feeds him more crap as if there wasnt already bad stuff circulating about the Mets. Bettre for everyone to not tune into and of the talkning heads on SNY today because you know what a circus that is going to be like. I respect the YES network in that they never knock their team or put them in a bad light like SNY and WFAN does to the Mets. And again Wilpon could have done something about it as owner of SNY and with the hammer over WFAN and instead he lets it go on and then cries about ticket sales.
No, one of the reasons I like SNY is that they aren’t the company mouthpiece YES is. And WFAN is a CBS property, not theirs. Nobody out there is being too nice to the Mets right now, so its not like they can pull up stakes and find a new radio carrier.
When a guy has the kind of injury history that Reyes has had, I do not see how you can project out the next five years and say you are unconcerned. Jimmy Rollins has lost speed and been hurt over the last two years. Leg injury histories do not get better with age.
[...] today’s show, WFAN’s Mike Francesa quoted Jeff Wilpon as saying Jose Reyes told him he wants “Carl Crawford type” money. He went on to say that Sandy [...]
David Wright is a top 10 player when healthy point blank period. All the stats back it up. So what if he is not “clutch”. He is still capable of going 30/30 every season for the next 5 years.
The trouble with all this is that Reyes indeed deserves ‘Crawford type money’. As Reyes goes so goes the offense – it’s been that way since Reyes has come up.
Now you can make an argument that you don’t want to build a team around a guy who gets injured often – but you can’t argue that Reyes is the most exciting Mets offensive player over the past decade – maybe ever.
As far as David Wright not being a superstar – well, he is what he is – not what Fred says he is.
I read the article – it surprised me that he said those things – but , lte’s face it, he’s an old man now. He under a great deal of pressure. He can’t put a cent into the team. And he has a complete moron for a son.
Amazin’. Your father owns a baseball team, he lets you run it, and instead of baseball memorabilia you have models of airplanes in your office. A dozen of them!
Man, if that doesn’t say it all.
Hey TA – I’m sure he has one of those chilren’s mobiles with airplanes hanging over his crib at home.
Does he build them himself or does a secretary or aide do that for him?
How do you think Bobby Bonilla is earning those pay checks?
I’ll bet your right TL. Probably like the the baby in the E trade commercial, but not as savy of an investor.
Just as a follow up, I called into Mike’d up this evening. I’m not really an anti-Mike guy but he danced around my question.
I asked him if Reyes said “Crawford money” and he said he did and I asked if it was on the air and he said it was. He also said he and his agent say it all the time and that his agent said it last week.
Now I do not know how accurate his memory is because Reyes was in studio December 09, which is a full year prior to Crawford signing… and Reyes was interviewed by Mike on Feb 17, but that was in St Lucie and no mention of Crawford contract made.
I did ask if his team could pull the audio.
He’s trying to keep the Met Fan’s ire going to drive up ratings and satisfy his own depraved glee over our plight.
reyes may have said he was looking for crawford type money before crawford signed. crawford ended up getting about 20 mil more than most people expected.
and really, given reyes’ age and position played, he’s worth as much as crawford.
crawford will basically give you an extra 15 hrs and 25 rbi, but he plays left field.
reyes plays short and is 3 or 4 years younger.
For the METS to succeed Wilpon now has to sell the team. He has now alienated not only his own players but any player available. Who wants to work for a man like that. Word will spread. Now on trades how can the METS get the true worth of the players,now that he has trashed them. This is an implorable situation for a MET fan. We are going to lose these players and now not get the value we should have. Thank you Wilpon!! Please sell the team and hopefully we can get a championship caliber team.
Rich