27
2011
One Week Until The 2011 Baseball Winter Meetings, Can I Get A Hell Yeah?
An article by 
Wow, how time flies…
In just one week from tomorrow, the 2011 MLB Winter Meetings will kick off in Dallas, Texas. The four day event will run from December 5-8 and it’s expected to draw over 3,000 people including the GM and key front office people from all 30 Major League Baseball organizations. Also in attendance will be countless free agent players and player agents – not to mention hundreds of sports journalists and beat writers trolling the lobbies and tweeting everything from what they had for lunch and to who’s talking to who. The rumor mill will churn around-the-clock mostly with fanciful fabrications and wild speculations. However, every now and then a real deal or signing actually goes down, and as always we’ll try to separate the wheat from the chaff for you on MMO.
For Sandy Alderson and company, this was supposed to be the offseason where things were going to happen. You may remember that before the last Winter Meetings, we were forewarned not to expect anything significant because there was “too little flexibility to do anything substantial.” Once the Mets divested themselves of over $65 million dollars in contracts after the 2011 season, “the Mets would be in a position to add the types of players that will improve the team and make them more competitive.”
Well, here we are – one year later and I can’t wait to see what significant changes we will see in the next two weeks… How exciting… Right?
Wrong…
Those words of comfort we got last year from Mr. Alderson were solely intended to keep most of us sedated for at least a year before the true magnitude of the Mets’ dire circumstances became well known. However, don’t blame Sandy. He’s only doing his job which is to put a happy and positive spin on all things no matter how bleak. Sometimes that means stretching the truth or telling the masses whatever it takes to keep them at bay. The last thing the Mets want is an Occupy Citi Field protest at that $750 million dollar ballpark largely financed by the full backing of “pie-in-the-sky”, fictitious earnings from dear old Uncle Bernie’s investment funds.
The truth is that this offseason will most likely have even less flexibility than the last one.
Sure, Sandy Alderson confirmed that the payroll budget will be $110 million bucks for the 2012 season, but how much do you want to bet that the payroll number will be closer to $85 million? Any takers out there?
When the Mets get back on that plane from Dallas to La Guardia Airport in ten days, they will return much in the same way as they did last year – with a haul that will include two players from the Rule 5 Draft and not much else. In fact they already pared the 40 man roster down to 38 just to make room for them.
These two players will soon become the talk of the town. Words like “genius”, “jackpot” and “phenom” will be tossed around and fuel the Mets blogosphere with countless posts for about two-weeks or longer. Some sites will even re-do their Top 10 Prospect Lists to include one or both of these players just like they did with Brad Emaus last year. Remember him? Fun times.
We may also get another memorable quote from Sandy telling us that while the Mets weren’t able to complete any trades at the Winter Meetings, they did “engage in some conversations to discuss the potential framework and parameters of some deals.” That line was borrowed from last December. It turned out the framework was for the deal that eventually brought Chin-Lung Hu to the Mets two weeks later. <fist pump>
Face it Mets fans, it’s going to be another lackluster Winter Meetings for the Mets this year – and don’t be surprised if this is when we’ll all find out the lucky team that Jose Reyes will sign his $100 million dollar deal with…
I can already see Jose flashing his big white smile and standing on a podium flanked by a few front office executives. I can see him slipping on his brand new jersey for the very first time over his $4000 dollar Italian suit in front of a mob of reporters waving their recorders as a sea of photographers are flashing away. I can see Matt Cerrone writing about how “this really, really, really hurts”. I can see Mets fans being tormented at work by Yankee fans at the water cooler.
We’ll bring it all to you right here on MMO.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
17 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
Recent Comments
- Joe D: on Wilmer Flores: It’s Time For Another MLB Debut: Matt's a tremendous asset to our team...
- Mikie A: on Atlanta Braves Broadcaster Shows Little Class During Matt Harvey At Bat: The Braves ANNOUNCERS ARE NOTORIOUS FOR THAT,,,BEEN...
- Connor O'Brien: on Wilmer Flores: It’s Time For Another MLB Debut: “Maybe if we actually ranked Prospects based...
- ReturnoftheKing: on Last Night We Saw A Big Chunk Of “The Plan”: Oh great. You're back. This will be...
- BadBadLeroyBrown: on Wilmer Flores: It’s Time For Another MLB Debut: Metsie "Comment on what JoeD said: Wilmer Flores toppled...
Latest From Mets Minors
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1333 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
The Wilpons have ruined this team. If I were Sandy I’d quit.
1st player to be signed… Endy Chavez
Can Sandy perform some sort of nerve strike on the Wilpons to take them out?
I cant stand this front office and these owners anymore. They are a pack of liars who just want to use us for our money. Why should we support them when all they do is strip the roster of it’s stars and replaces them with AA players who arent ready or sign old players no other teams want? The way they are running this team and dragging it through the mud is despicable. We’re probably the worst team in the division now and they couldn’t give a rat’s ass about it. I feel bad for the players mostly because some fans will take it out on them, but it’s the owners and front office who deserve our anger and resentment not the players.
Just as I predicted last year …. Reyes gone and nothing but a repeat of last year’s winter meetings and off-season. The Wilpon’s are NOT getting any of my money in 2012. I’ll just watch the games on TV or listen to the radio.
Me too! If and when Reyes doesn’t sign with the Mets, the BOYCOTT should begin!
i won’t just boycott the ballpark, i’ll will no longer buy nor wear team merchandise. it will be sad to look at all of my mets hats and just leave home without them. i will no longer watch their games on tv nor listen on the radio. their sponsors will eventually realize they are overpaying for advertising to a shrinking market. i have loved this team for 40 years. they have given me heartache but also much joy. they were my loveable “bums” just the old dodgers were for their fans in brooklyn. but the coupons have taken all of that away. there will be no more hope in queens until the coupons sell and leave town. i say the BOYCOTT should include tv, radio, stadium attendance and mets merchandise purchases both in retail stores and online. the coupons have no problems doing NOTHING for the fans of their team (including selling the team to someone who can afford to properly run a big market team) so i think it’s fair to do NOTHING to help the coupons. all in favor,.. say I,…
Better to stay away from ESPN and MLB Network during the winter meetings. Who need sthe aggravation of watching other teams get better while we do nothing.
Hey, this article is a bit unfair to the Mets. When you pull yourself back, you can see all the good they are doing, all for the benefit of the team and the fans. In fact, I’d say they are doing a lot this offseasn! The big “free agent” acquisition consists of the new walls in the outfield. Tell me what other team out there is willing to go to mat for their fans like this. Can’t, can ya? Brand new uniforms are being ushered in, too. And let’s face it, those 50th anniversary logos don’t design themselves — that costs money. Gotta look nice for those brand new walls after all. So what they can’t find decent talent and won’t make the playoffs anytime soon, no matter how many wildcards are added. In the grand scheme of things, that’s just detail-oriented stuff, guaranteed to be lost in the shuffle. Go Team Wilpon!!!
I’m sensing just a smidge of sarcasm.
I could see Fred Wilponzi hanging outside the Hotel by the dumpster offering scrap heap players minor league contracts.
I could also see him signing Jose Reyes to a minor league contract. Not the Shortstop but a hotel Employee named Jose Reyes.
[...] are in eight days, which means… well it just means the front office has the big stage… to drive us even more insane. [...]
I agree with Joe D. I see Sandy drafting 2 players in the ML portion of the Rule 5 draft- a catcher and a relief pitcher. I also see Sandy at some point this offseason releasing Paulino and Carrasco and outrighting Josh Satin to create some room on the Mets 40 man roster for the couple of new players he’s going to bring in- some sort of a closer, a 4th or 5th OF like Endy Chavez and some sort of back-up middle infielder.
The last thing Mets fans would want is an Occupy Citi Field movement!
You want an empty Citifield, empty parking lot, empty 7 trains, no tolls paid.
This way the City of New York will get on the Wilpons case too.
lol occupy citi field.
hope they don’t have pepper spray
” I can see Mets fans being tormented at work by Yankee fans at the water cooler.”
Some of us have been dealing with that for a long time. Another season or 2 isn’t going to make a difference.
Oh, and for all of you who think the Wilpons are getting forced out because they are violating MLB’s debt rules and Alderson is just here to facilitate that and then take Selig’s job…
Guess what else got restructured with the new CBA.
and by the way, for all mets fans worried about hearing it from yankee fans,… i personally have alot of respect for the way they handled cc sabathia. they did’nt even let him get into free agent waters. they put their arms around him (not an easy feat) and said thanks for last year cc,.. here’s your money cause u are family and we want u to stay around. BAM ! $122 MILLION ! and for those who say that the yankees can afford it, i say that the had the mets approached reyes before spring training ended and treated him like family (which he is,.. or was) they could have probably had him for under $100 mil or even less than $90 mil. but NOOOOOOOOO !!!! ,…… …… and here we are,… BOOOOOOYYYYYYYCOOOOOOOOTTTTTT !!!!!!!!!!!