28
2011
I Praise Sandy & Co.’s Stance
An article by 
Today’s rumor mill is spinning regarding the Mets plan’s to pursue Jose Reyes.
According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, the Mets front office plans to let the market set itself for Reyes.
Sandy Alderson knows Reyes wants to test the free agent waters. It would be stupid to make an offer now. The Mets WILL SPEND to bring Reyes back. But WHY would Sandy Alderson make a huge offer now before seeing what other teams are offering. Other teams could be wary of his injuries just like the Mets. It’s possible other teams will prefer 5 year deals, which I think Alderson already assumes. I doubt Alderson has any problem giving Reyes 5 years with options. It’s when the discussion jumps to 6 or 7 years that the thought process tends to think 2 draft picks.
At 5 years the Mets can spend like any other MLB team. How many teams are going to go above the 100 million threshold if 5 years is the table-setter? But when the discussion starts increasing to 21-22 million a year or more, I could see the Mets back off and take the draft picks. Sandy Alderson is not going to spend more then he thinks Jose Reyes is worth. Who knows if he even values Jose Reyes as a 5/100 player? He may set the limit per year closer to the 18 per range.
It’s all a mystery at this point. But I PRAISE the stance the front office is taking. For all they know their offer could be the best on the table. Why “overspend” dare I say if the market hasn’t even set itself yet. Jose Reyes clearly wants to get the Free Agent attention. The guy is like a giddy school kid on the diamond. He is going to eat up all the attention.
So just like when you find a girl worth keeping, set her free and let her make sure what she really wants is waiting for her back home. If he wants to be a Met and continue his life in Long Island then God Bless. I will be a lot happier with him hitting leadoff and playing SS for the Mets in 2012. But if he should chase a crazy contract from *shield your eyes* the Phillies, then he is not the person I always thought he was. I’m still in the small % of Mets fans who thinks Reyes will be back.
P.S. how about that game last night? Best World Series game I’ve ever seen.
About the Author: Benjamin Yoel
Graduate of St. John's University. Majored in Sports Management. Torn on where career will take me next. Considering Baseball Operations, Scouting, and Journalism. Writer for Metsmerized Online & StLucieToFlushing.com. Devout #Mets fan.
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There’s one person that hopes another team blows Reyes away with an offer and his name is Fred Wilpon.
Interesting conjecture. Is Joe Diaz clairvoyant?
No! Just knowing the Wilpons,they would rather not pay big bucks for another player.They want to cut payroll in order to keep from having to sell the team.Winning has never been in the forefront with that family.
Maybe. Maybe not.
It looks like the federal judge is disallowing most of Irving Picard’s main positions. In the end, if the case goes completely against Picard, the Mets will have a lot of money to spend. They spent in the past and there’s no reason in my view to think they won’t spend again. In any case, the Wilpons will not be forced to sell the team.
“Winning has never been in the forefront with that family.” Even Omar Minaya would disagree with you. Look back five years or so to the original signings of Pedro and Carlos. They refute your claim.
Thank You Des for reminding everyone the Wilpons haven’t lost a penny of their wealth yet and may not lose all that much if the trial goes the way it appears to be going!
The loss of funds the TEAM has had the last two years has nothing to do with the Wilpons and EVERYTHING to do with US not going to see the team play!
If the fans want to blame SOMEONE for the payroll cuts they should get themselves a mirror and point!
It’s not lack of Wilpon money nor is it even the impending trial that is to blame it is our lack of going to see the team enough even WITH a high payroll that makes cutting payroll seem like a good idea!
The problem is that cutting Payroll is not going to solve the CAUSE of the problem, it’s only going to make it worse. And if we cut EVERY salary (Bay, Wright, Reyes and Santana) all that means is even FEWER people will go and then they will lose money WITHOUT any method of cutting left to stay under that budget!
Because Crickets get into the park for FREE!
“Winning has never been in the forefront with that family.” Even Omar Minaya would disagree with you. Look back five years or so to the original signings of Pedro and Carlos. They refute your claim.
REALLY? DES? ARE YOU SURE ABOUIT THAT? IF WINNING WAS OF PARAMOUNT IMPOORTANCE WOULDN’T SOME MEASURE TO BULLWALK THE PEDRO ABSENCES FOR ’07 HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN, OR SANTANA’S RECENT SIMILAR MALFUNCTIONINGS?
DID YANKEES STOP INVESTING IN PITCHING WHEN IGAWA,PAVANO,BROWN,JOHNSON ALL WENT BUST? DID THE CARDINALS STOP WHEN WAINRIGHT WENT DOWN THIS PAST ST? NO, ONLY THE WILPONS GET THEIR FINGERS BURNT & CHOOSE TO NOT REIGNITE THE FLAME NEEDED TO HEAT UP THE RESULTS.
Here is the issue as I see it 62…
Wilpon the Boss hires a guy to run his company. The company lost money two years running.
What does the boss tell him?
DO NOT SPEND?
Or does he merely say MAKE IT PROFITABLE?
I say the latter!
I know many would like it to seem like Wilpon is denying Sandy from spending money but I doubt Wilpon ever once has said CUT PAYROLL!
It makes a convenient excuse for those who WANT Sandy to cut and not get the blame for it as it’s simple scapegoating but the truth of the matter he could just as easily spend money and make the team profitable and probably more effectively than cutting will!
Cutting saves Wilpon money, no doubt!
How much is debateable, They don’t pay Reyes but they also lose his draw!
It could be a total wash and that means you didn’t save a penny!
Could be a total wash if spent as well no one denies that!
Getting a big draw who makes 20 Mil may not translate to 20 Mil more profits. Could be less but more than likely it is more money.
Even 5 Mil NET is better than -5 Mil net.
Does more to make the team profitable.
It’s a convenient excuse to sell a concept that spending less wins more which the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies have disproved in spades!
Many here want a spend less philosophy and seem interested enough in trying it and try and sell it to the masses.
They need an escape route though!
They like Sandy not for what he HAS done but for what they think he will do which is implement that philosophy!
And if he does and fails they will throw it all on Wilpon for holding Sandy back despite the fact they at this point are TAKING the “WILPON” position that we SHOULD save money!
It’s an attempt to have cake and eat it!
Do what I say and if it fails it will be Wilpon’s fault not mine!
Some others would love to see it fall apart so they can throw more darts at Wilpon and hope the team loses so much money he is forced to sell!
Their are a TON of forces at play that inspires people to want to cut salary and SAVE MONEY!
NONE of them have anything to do with the baseball on the field, Winning a championship or what is the best method of team building!
You CAN spend and Build. This is the PERFECT YEAR to go get a Type A as our picks are protected!
Ever hear the SPEND WISELY crowd mention that fact?
NOPE! Doesn’t fit the AGENDA!
Doesn’t paint Wilpon out to be a cheap bastard!
Doesn’t fit the good book moneyball!
Doesn’t involve Statistical analysis of SCRUBS in the hopes of finding a nugget of future gold in the turd pile!
And it fixes the attendance issues better than cutting Reyes does which will remove their excuses when they go after Wright next year!
All these suggestions on Saving money have NOTHING to do with baseball it’s all AGENDA and PHILOSOPHY!
And when it fails they will all point at Wilpon as the reason not the folks who wrote a post a week and 100 comments saying that spending money is DUMB!
All Wilpon said was to make the team profitable and fix the books!
Cutting salary is only one way of getting the books into black ink!
And in a star driven business thats the WORST way to do it!
But it will be all Wilpons fault!
Maybe if they worried LESS about Wilpons money and more about how to get fans in the stands they wouldn’t need a scapegoat to point to when it fails!
Maybe they would LEARN you have to SPEND MONEY to MAKE MONEY!
Thats why the rich get richer because threy have the money to spend to make more!
METSIE, IF THE MAIN REASON FOR OUR FAILURES OF ’07 THRU ’10 WAS TALRNT LEVEL BEING PAID; THE CUTTUING BRIGADE WOULD HAVE A VIABLE ARGUEMENT; HOWEVER IMO, THE PRIMARY CAUSE FOR FAILURE HAS BEEN A MISERABLE RUN WHERE MORE TYHAN HALF THE PAYROLL IS INACTIVE, UNAVAILABLE, BE IT BELTRAN,REYES,SANTANA, BAY, DELGADO OR WRIGHT. THE SIMPLR FACT THAT WERE FIELDING A PRIMARILY MINIMUM WAGED TEAM WHILE PAYING A TOP 5 PAYROLL IS THE ISSUE WHEREBY REGARDLESS OF PAYROLL LEVEL TOP 5, MID 5 OR CELLAR 5, FIELDING MINIMUM SCALE EARNERS IS STILL A FAILING FORMULA. UNFORTUNATELY I CAN ONLY CITE KARMA AS THE MOST LIKELY CULPRIT AS NO IMPROVED TRAINING FORMULA COULD’VE AVOIDED WRIGHT’S HBP, DELGADO’S SLIDE @ 3B, BAY’S GATE CRASHING OR SANTANA’S 4 SUCCESSIVE SURGERIES OR EVEN REYES’ THYROID OR HAMSTRING TENDON.(THAT SAW A HEALTHY REYES BOARD A TRANSCONTINENTAL FLIGHT & A HOBLED REYES DISEMBARK IN SF) AS TED KENNEDY PROVED THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO A CONDEMNED FATE IS SEVERELY ALTERING YOUR DESTINY AS HE AVOIDED HIS BROTHERS’ FATE BY AVOIDING SERIOUS PRESEDENTIAL BIDS, PERHAPS THE WILPONS SHOULD HEED THAT EXAMPLE BY ONCE & FOR ALL THROWING CAUTION TO THE WIND PREPARING TO REPLACE QUALITY WITH QUALITY NOT QUALITRY WITH “GET BY GRADE” THEY FORCED THE ’07 TEAM TO GO ACELESS WITHOUT REPLACING PEDRO JUSTR AS THEY ARE STILL FORCING FOR THE 3rd STRAIGHT SEASON THE FRANCHISE TO TOIL ACELESS WITHOUT SANTANA.
UNFORTUNATELY FOR US FANS, THE WILPONS APPROACH TO TEAM IMPROVEMENT IS TOO SIMILAR TO THEIR APPROACH TO REAL ESTATE IMPROVEMENT OF ONE & DONE!
I agree the problem wasn’t signing players the problem was keeping them healthy!
and THAT is the real failure of the Minaya Mets!
If you look at the bad contracts you see only Perez and Bay were truly horrible deals. Thye failed to give you what you thought you were getting when you signed them.
The rest were all fine when they played, they just could not stay on the field to give it to us!
Pedro was doing just fine before he got hurt. He was the one HIGH INJURY risk signing but he was also the “CREDIBILITY MAKER” signing that helped to get Beltran to believe in us enough to come here!
Beltran earned every penny he got. Yes he missed one season across two but if the team had let him get the operation the first year he would not have missed the second!
We resigned Glavine in 2006 and he went 15-7 with a 3.82 ERA (Dickey is the only guy on our current squad who is better!)
Orlando Hernandez had a lot of quality starts when he was healthy. he was our #3 pitcher in the rotation. His performance would make him 2nd best on our current squad behind again only Dickey!)
Wagner got 40 saves in 2006 and 201 during his tenure here. Yes he got hurt. He was overused as was our entire Pen!
Delgado hit 100 HRs in 3 seasons despite his on again off again back troubles that eventually cost him the final year of his contract!
They point to Castillo (and his lowly 8 Mil per contract) as a bad signing. His career met numbers? .274 BA, .366 OBP (it’s all about the OBP isn’t it?) but he had injury issues and couldn’t play every game. He played 10 times more games than Chris Young did at only 8 times the price! So where is this BANG FOR THE BUCK excuse for him? (aimed at others not you 62!)
Santana – is 40-25 as a Met, never lost more than 9 games in any season, has a 2.85 ERA but missed 10 games in 09,10 and all of the 2011 season. Has the highest contract on the team and is STILL our best pitcher over the last 4 years even with the missed time! We will see if he’s done or if his issues continue. But for the first couple of years he was worth every penny he got!
K-Rod – making around 13-15 Mil per. His Met numbers? 3.05 ERA, 83 Saves over 3 years! Worth every cent in fact he is an example of one of their best deals made.
Alou – Signed to platoon in the OF and provide Vet leadership got hurt year 2. Played more than half (platoon?) in year one. Over two years his numbers are: .342 BA, .391 OBP, .507 SLG for the lowly sum of 8 Mil! He did precisely what he was signed to do beat up on Left Handed pitching that used to beat up on us!
I won’t even mention the Valentines and LoDucas we signed that NONE wants to talk about!
Yet it is played out here on MMO by many that every signed contract we made from 2005-2010 was a deadbeat who wasn’t worth a penny!
The problems with this team is not who we signed, how much we signed but a general mismanagement by the medical staff and strength and conditioning regimen!
Couple that with an overuse of the Pitchers and the Pen leads to these kinds of problems!
Spending didn’t kill this team not PROTECTING our investments from a conditioning standpoint did!
We can blame that on Minaya but the same thing happened this year as well!
Chris Young, Ike Davis, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, and Daniel Murphy.
Those things happen. You can’t blame the GM who can’t possibly predict the physical condition of all his players.
If someone wants to then the current FOP is just as at fault for not changing the medical staff that is supposed to overlook and find these potential injuries and treat them properly and in a timely manner so they don’t have to take a whole season to rehabilitate!
And THIS is the faliure of the organization, not who they signed or for how much!
Exactly. This option takes everyone off the hook. “We want Jose to stay, we really did, but we couldn’t compete with that offer…” Everyone is off the hook, Jose looks money hungry, etc. etc.
same thing philly did with Werth. they gave lip service to an offer, but really did not seem to want him. Nats took care of the issue for them.
Yeah big difference though…
Phillies gave Lip Service…
We are giving Reyes a STANCE!
At least PRETEND you really want the guy like the Phillies did with Werth in case his top offer IS worth matching so the player will come back to you and give you that option!
Elsewhere you said there should be no stances. Isn’t pretending a stance? Or are you saying that some stances are better than other stances?
I’m referring to your 10:49am post.
P.S.: Having a stance is really a negotiating strategy. I have no trouble with it.
SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN LOVELY SPIN WONDERFUL SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN….
A Stance is the attitude your not willing to negotiate!
A stance is a RIGOUROUS position. Something that will not be moved!
By pretending at least your not giving the other side the notion that you actually IN a stance!
But lets try a little experiment there…
I say Havens sucks…Thats my STANCE!
Want to discuss it with me and I’ll show you what a stance is?
Or knowing that my stance is that do you just move on and never bother to broach the subject with me again because you know I am in a STANCE not a negotiation?
the Mets (Sandy) are on record as saying they want reyes back, and that it is a priority for them. So how do you get lip service out of that, or not being clear that his agent should come ack to them?
Yeah I’m on record for wanting a Porchse 911 but only if I can pay $2 for it!
They may be ON RECORD for wanting Reyes but they would appear to not be ON BOARD with the notion!
They want him if they can give him a nominal raise not what the market says he is worth!
And they might actually GET him below market value if they would stop STANCING and start negotiating with him before the Market can come into raise the bar!
You know all it would take is some sense to reyes that they REALLY want to sign him, Tell hey we can’t afford the Crawford money and be able to also get what we need to win will you take less so we can still have the flexability to get you a ring?
You might be surprised by the answer you get from Reyes and his Agent!
But we are STANCING not talking!
keep in mind that we know nothing about the conversations Sandy and his agent have been having. nothing.
given that, as best that I can interpret what you are saying is, that the only way for the mets to shw they really, really want him is to start bidding against themselves now, or make him a Godfather (10/200?) offer that just blows them away.
Neither of which faintly resembles smart negotiating.
so making him a modest offer just to say they did (or making a best but not good take it or leave it one) doesn’t seem like it is going to accomplish anything toward getting him signed.
Because there haven’t been any!
I agree that Sandy should take a wait-and-see approach with re-signing Jose Reyes. Let’s see if he really wants to be a lifelong Met.
If the Mets allowed him to sign elsewhere, then I think they should simply rebuild and trade Wright to Colorado for catcher Wilin Rosario & pitcher Drew Pomeranz.
Our big year would then be 2014, when Santana & Bay come off the books and guys like Harvey, Wheeler, Pomeranz, Familia & Mejia would truly be major league ready.
On the Farm, we would have guys like Nimmo & this years draft picks (2 first rounders and a supplemental pick) simmering somewhere b/w high A & AA. I’d like to see some of that currency return someone like Baltimore’s Adam Jones or Toronto’s Mirasnick. Our line-up needs intimidators.
2-Cat
That trade would be great tommy2cat but Dan O’Dowd is not trading a future number one starter in Pomeranz who he traded for by giving up his ace Ubaldo Jiminez just to get Wright for one season.Honestly I would do the trade for Rosario and Arenado and if he can get a pitcher too like Alex White,that would be icing on the cake.
I’m not sure Baltimore is willing to shop Adam Jones right now.He’s their best player.He’d be a great pickup though.
2-Cat
Have another cup of Madoff Kool-Aid, will ya?
I don’t want to hear about any contracts ‘coming off the books’. We had a few this year and the Wilpons are keeping the money.
I applaud the FO approach as well. Patience, not desperation, should be the driving force.
I’m just resigned though to the fact that not all GMs are of the same mold and you just know they’ll be at least 1 if not a couple that throw more years and $$ at Reyes than the rest.
What a bunch of bull. Sandy Alderson is all set to tell the media “We did not want to overpay for Jose Reyes”; that line and scenario is already being rehearsed on 126th Street. The Wilpons brought Sandy in here to make the Mets a team with an 80 to 100 million dollar payroll while the battle with Picard continues in the courts. Alderson’s “patient approach” is a sham. Both Reyes and Wright will be gone by opening day. Jason Bay is untradable, so the Mets are stuck with his salary. Wake up, Mets fans… the Wilpons vetoed the Yankees temporarily moving their Triple A franchise to Newark because Fred, Saul and Jeff figured if there is to be a Triple A team in the area, let it be The Mets!!!
Sandy and the front office now guide our beloved Mets. I support them is all decisions, even those I would not personally make. It’s really mostly up to Jose, not the writers or the fans.
Looking back a few years, the mass media bullied Omar over the dollars Willie was worth — it was a terrible mistake. The front office and Jeff didn’t want him so it greased the skids for his midnight departure. I hope nothing like that happens again.
Yes, I praise his holy name. We should start calling Sandy “his holiness” from now on.
Let me add a little prayer to help us praise his holy name:
Our Genius, who art in Flushing,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy slashing come, thy cost-cutting be done.
In New York, as it is in Oakland.
Give us the picks, instead of Jose, and forgive us for asking.
As we forgive those who constantly bash you.
And lead us not into post seasons, but deliver us from winning.
Amen
AWESOME!! LOL
Look i don’t blame Alderson for waiting & seeing what the market bears for Jose and I think it would be prudent to make a fair offer to him during the Mets exclusive window for negotiation…
…..but to say you “PRAISE” Alderson for making a normal decision that any GM can make, a basic decision that’s done every year by GMs all over baseball is over the top. But that’s another reason to hate this new culture. They act more like a cult than just baseball fans.
Well I guessl they aren’t. They are fans more of a so-called philosophy than the game itself.
Why wouldn’t I praise Sandy Alderson?
Everything he has done thus far has been great…
If you didn’t think we were headed in the right direction when Sandy was hired, how could you not think so after he traded Carlos Beltran (who nets you 0 draft picks as a FA) for a top SP prospect…?
Everything he has done thus far has been great? Most of his signings last year were either ineffective or were injured – Like Young, Harris, Paulino, Hu, Emaus, Bucholz, Carrasco, Bonser, Boyer, Hairston(hit .235, and spent over a month on the DL).
And all the others were mediocre – Like Capuano(4.55 ERA, 1.35WHIP), Beato(4.30 ERA, 1.28 WHIP), Izzy(4.05 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), Byrdak(3.82ERA, 1.41 WHIP).
So I don’t even see ONE siging that was great…..And we did get a VERY good prospect back for Beltran, but if you trade CARLOS BELTRAN, you BETTER get a very good prospect back.
Sorry, I’m not going to PRAISE a GM, who signed nobody great in the offseason, and traded a terrific hitter, for a good prospect – He has done nothing “great” as GM for the New York Mets.
Everything he’s done has been great?
Are you INSANE? I’m not gonna bother to even respond to such a ridiculously blind statement like that.
You know, when the very first minor leaguer that was developed under Alderson’s regime does come up and be as good as advertised only THAN i will say maybe he is starting to do a good job. And that’s not even taking into account if he does any SMART signings or trades yet this off season.
But to say everything he’s done has been great NOW? I think even people who think along the same lines you do are embarrassed for you.
What happened to MMO???? We used to have such knowledgeable writers baseball wise on this site.
This is an embarrassment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAsWR4qU
There should be no STANCES here!
Thats not negotiating it is quite the opposite!
Sandy does not have to make an offer to negotiate with Reyes.
Does not have to set the bar on where Reyes will start when he deals with other teams.
All Sandy should be doing right now is talking to Reyes’ Agent and say what will it take to resign Jose.
Let Jose set the number and if the price is right you say OK we will do that!
If the number is too high then say so, tell him sorry but not sure we can afford that, test the market, see what you get offered and if you get one you like give us a call and leave us the option of matching it before you sign cause maybe we will find a way to get the money via other deals to pay it by then.
But if you take the STANCE that we won’t be able to afford him or that Reyes wants too much before you ever hear the number all your saying to the guy is we don’t care what you want we don’t even want to hear what it is because we don’t really want you!
And he will sign elsewhere if thats the case and maybe even for a price that IS worth it to us because we showed him we really didn’t want to negotiate or hear his desires in the first place!
Stop preaching common sense this instance! This thread is only for praising Sandy Alderson. If you can’t do that than I suggest walking down to the next nearest house of worship.
Sponge Bob,
but didn’t you see what the kid who wrote this piece said? Everything Sandy has done so far has been GREAT!
I wonder where this kid wrote this from? Maybe in his dorm, in front of his pc with his fantasy baseball website loaded on his screen?
not sure I followed your issue with this “stance”. Of course it is negotiations.
there is an old saying in sales (often applied to cars and houses) that “whoever makes the first offer loses”. ANd as best as I can tell all this post is saying is they agree that since Reyes seems 100% committed to testing the market, there is no reason to make a first offer.
what he should do is ask them what they are looking for (in the car sale analogy, the old line “what would it take to put you in this baby today”). Let them set the floor. Then if you like it, go for it. Otherwise, they likely troll it around and come back to the Mets later with a meet or beat option.
Besides, at this point, the only way you are getting a player to sign is to make a huge offer, with a serious (and believeable) to the agent take it or leave it, good until Wednesday, clause.
otherwise, all you are doing is giving them a floor number to take to other teams to beat.
so as long as Sandy is telling them they are serious about wanting Reyes back, and to not do anything without coming back to the mets first, I don’t see where you could have a problem.
Me, I wanted them to do this last off season when there was a better shot at getting a decent compromise (good for both sides) deal in place.
A stance is not a negotiation. a stance is a SET position that is meant to be INFLEXIBLE, UNCHANGING and able to withstand any attempts at moving you off it!
It is POSTURING not NEGOTIATING!
Both sides in the NFL strike (and now NBA) took a STANCE and refused to budge!
It wasn’t until nothing happened and the season was in jeopardy that they both BACKED DOWN from their stance and actually started talking to each other!
by TAKING a stance on Reyes your pretty much saying I don’t want to hear what you have to say or what you want.
Your leaving Reyes NO CHOICE but to negotiate with somone who DOES want to hear what he wants! And since you didn’t want to hear what he had to say in the beginning he is totally correct to assume that why should I tell you what I got later? You already told me you didn’t want to hear what I had to say!
So why bother!
and the problem is if the Market proves to be below what we ARE willing to pay Reyes will never give us the chance to match it just take the money and leave Sandy STANCING there!
As the M Donald Grant of the new Millenium!
It’s really up to Sandy what he does. But I tell you this, If Reyes goes he had better win something soon or he is the one who is going to have to deal with the STANCE of the Fans and Media that he is the problem not the solution!
And should get fired!
let’s just leave it at I think you are reading way too much into his use of the word stance. WOuld it make you happier to call it a position?
from the net: NOUN
1. attitude toward something: an attitude or view that somebody takes about something
sounds like a position to me, and nothing about being set in stone, inflexible, etc.
ne•go•ti•ate (n -g sh – t )
v. ne•go•ti•at•ed, ne•go•ti•at•ing, ne•go•ti•ates
v.intr.
To confer with another or others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement: “It is difficult to negotiate where neither will trust” (Samuel Johnson).
v.tr.
1. To arrange or settle by discussion and mutual agreement
A link about how to best Negotiate
http://www.imanageperformance.com/pdf/How42.pdf
STAGE 1 – “Set the scene: Initial impressions will significantly impact the outcome so plan opening words and
styles of approach very carefully. Make sure that you aim high, outlining expectations whilst controlling the opening. Agree the agenda and any rules that you want to introduce for the meeting and take time to condition the expectations of your opponent.”
STAGE 2 – “Explore Possibilities: This stage is all about probing to understand your opponents limits, their willingness to move, discovering possible options and testing where future negotiation opportunities exist. A critical element of this stage is to get the full menu, that’s all the different options that will feature as sub agreements in the overall negotiation. It is vital that you find out all of these options now as you don’t want to concede and or agree on a point to later find that your opponent introduces a further unexpected area to agree. Often it sounds like this: “Thank you very much we can agree to that, but now lets discuss the payment terms”. The danger is that you will have traded all of your planned concessions to achieve the earlier agreement and find you are now being squeezed beyond your preferred limits. Preparation is going to be critical for this stage, so plan and use pre scripted questioning to make sure that you explore the scenario thoroughly. This stage is not just about questioning, listening must also play a major part. Best practice is to understand before you are understood. This places you in a position of slight advantage as you are able to respond to each situation with prior knowledge of the other persons view. Finally do not be too cautious at this stage, challenge your opponent and start to push so that you begin to understand their limits.”
STAGE 3 – “Influence: This is not yet the time to offer concessions, instead use logic and information to support your position. Exercise patience and try to focus on their interests. What would look attractive to them, what position might they accept? Use prepared facts and data to confirm the validity of your position, this makes a counter argument more difficult to justify. If appropriate use the impact of a competitive market to influence, bluff at this stage is risky it is always better to have real options at your disposal.
It is the stage during which you will set out clear proposals for each element of the scenario. You will have come to the meeting
having prepared your own position, but be ready to adjust these depending on what you discovered in stage 2 Exploring
Possibilities. Be ready to push for acceptance of your proposals. This may be too early depending on the negotiation stance of your opponent, but on occasions can prove surprisingly beneficial. If you find there is acceptance and no counter proposal positioned, you can move directly to stage 5 Finalize Agreement.”
Note there is no mention of STANCES until Stage 3 is in effect! Until that point you are not supposed to give away your position (or STANCE) but merely try and expose the other side’s position so that negotiations can begin! You set the ground rules for how to proceed, set parameters and rules for procession and try to get some sense of what they are asking for, what you can agree on and what needs to be negotiated further!
If you skip stage 1 and 2 you will never get to stage 3!
In the case of Jose Reyes I see people supporting the STANCE that we will not pay a lot to Reyes and will not even discuss it with him until the market comes to bear and sets the bar. But as Stage 1 says: “Initial impressions will significantly impact the outcome so plan opening words and styles of approach very carefully”
The initial impression we are giving Reyes is “We don’t really want to pay you what you want. And aren’t really interested in discussing it with you because whatever you say it’s too much!
It’s not a negotiation it’s an UNWILLINGNESS to negotiate!
it is only an unwillingness to negotiate if you won’t respond to an offer. And there have been no reports of his agent coming to the Mets with an offer (what they will take to pass on FA).
so by your definition, team Reyes is refusing to negotiate.
when really, neither side (for valid reasons) wants to make the first offer.
Rees made it clear that once he got to the end of the year, he was going to test the market. And Sandy made it clear that he wanted to sign him. So it is basic “get back to us to let us know what we have to beat” negotiations..
Funny you don’t see Reyes dropping quotes in the paper that it doesn’t look good for signing him do you?
Thats your FO’s STANCE!
Danny Krieger where you are please come back! I apologize! We need real baseball writers back on this site again!
The Mets have no interest in re-signing Reyes…if they did, their stance would be: “We love our SS, we want to keep him here, and we are going to show him this by working as hard as possible to come to terms on a deal as soon as possible.” Not: “We would like to keep him, but, we’ll let him see what else is available, and if he doesn’t find anything, then we’ll low ball him to the best of our ability.” Show the man some respect and give him a contract ASAP, or just tell him and the fans that you are not that interested in giving him a big deal, but would gladly welcome him back at a bargain price. Just another example of the front office giving the fans lip service.
i am just so tired of it all. the wilpons seem to be about ready to make the worst mistake of their tenure as owners of the mets. they are about to let reyes walk while “appearing” to care about his staying. they should have told jose “we really care about you here and want to keep you here, so how about 5 yrs at $100 mil before the world series even begins. if worse came to worse he could have asked for a year or two more at 21 mil or he might have appreciated a true sign of appreciation from management and taken less money than he will no doubt make on the open market. but this garbage the wilpons are feeding their fans is disgusting. if they lose reyes they will lose alot of fans and i am one of them. i have loved the mets since 71 but i can’t bear to see what the wilpons have done to the franchise. i will not continue to pay to see them nor watch them on tv and i know i am one of thousands. take that wilpons !