5
2011
It’s Official: Mets Are Now A Moneyball Team
An article by Former Writers
Last night it became official, the Mets, a baseball team playing in the sports capital that is New York, lost the best shortstop they ever had to the small market Miami Marlins.
The Miami Marlins as we all know signed the National League Batting Champion to a six-ear deal worth $102 million dollars with a team option for a 7th year which is a great deal for both sides. I know some bloggers and authors won’t agree because Sandy can do no wrong but he has lost us Reyes because of his a Moneyball philosophy. In fact Sandy Alderson did not even try to top nor match this offer – he never made any offer at all. This was admitted when he was talking with reporters when he arrived in Dallas last night.
I’m not shocked, it was always reported that Jose Reyes wasn’t an Alderson guy and last night that became crystal clear. With Reyes now officially a former New York Met the Mets have officially embraced Moneyball. Last year’s acquisitions of cheap players that no other team wanted like Boyer, Buccholz, Carrasco, Hairston, Harris, Paulino and Young were just a preview into what was to come and the future that awaits this franchise. These players did nothing to help the team and the other general managers knew that and stayed away.
Now that the Mets are playing Moneyball this is going to be the norm and we should get used to it with Sandy Alderson as the general manager. As we have seen with other Moneyball teams when they’re homegrown star players become free agents they let them walk to the teams that see how special these players are and are willing to pay for their talents.
We shouldn’t be surprised that Jose Reyes was allowed to walk with no offer from the great and powerful Sandy Alderson, that’s the Moneyball way after all. Sandy made it known from day one that he had no interest in having Jose Reyes on his team. It started on the dark day when Bud Selig got him the job and days after assuming control Alderson said there would be no talks of an extension with Jose Reyes before the 2011 season started – even after Reyes said he’d be willing to negotiate a deal up until the season started. But Alderson’s mind was made up.
As it became clear that Reyes was having a great year in 2011, Sandy and his friends in the front office made a token gesture to try and trick the fans that he wanted to talk about a possible extension with Jose Reyes, knowing fully well that Reyes and his agents made clear that once the 2011 season started there would be no extension talks during the season. Reyes wanted concentrate on baseball during the baseball season, and talk contract during the offseason as many players prefer and do.
Alderson then went on SNY and said he was dedicating the entire of month of October to re-signing Jose Reyes. Naturally October came and went there was no offer made to Jose Reyes. So much for sign Jose Reyes month. In fact he made clear there would be “no preemptive offer for Jose Reyes”, and that he would “let other teams set the market.”
We’ve seen this with many other teams, but I never imagined a big market team especially one in New York would ever have a general manger that would allow this to happen.
Instead of having Jose Reyes at short for the next six years we will have 21-year old Ruben Tejada. A player who cannot field, throw, hit and run nearly as good as Jose Reyes . He also brings zero energy to the team and the fanbase the way Jose Reyes can do. Tejada is cheap and that is all that matters when it comes to Moneyball. That is all that matters to Sandy Alderson and his guys in the front office.
You know how Moneyball teams like the Oakland A’s only draw crowds when teams like the Yankees or former star players come to town? Well that is what will happen with Citi Field. There will be crowds to see the Yankees and the return of Jose Reyes and as has been the case for a couple of seasons now, Phillies fans will outnumber Mets fans when those two get together.. Other than that we won’t be seeing crowds at Citi FIeld. It will be a as quiet as tomb, Alderson’s Tomb.
For those that wanted the Mets to be a Moneyball team, rejoice – you got it. Enjoy seeing the Moneyball Mets in last place, because they’re going to be there for a considerable time.
About the Author: Former Writers
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This post is just ridiculous and idiotic. Just because the Mets did not resign Jose, does not make them a moneyball team. Signing Reyes to a 6 year deal would have been a HUGE mistake for this club to make! There are too many wholes in this roster to just dump all your available payroll into one position. The entire team’s payroll is just to darn high, and look forward to more future cuts.
The tradition of over-paying for players at the end of their prime is OVER!!!
The Mets drew a line in the sand with 5 years $90mil (or something like that). If Reyes got more, than they were going to have to pass. I respect Mets management for sticking to their guns and not throwing away their philosophy just because of fan pressure.
Reyes is a Marlin now, get over with it. Now what is important is how the Mets use that payroll they could have given to Reyes to better this ball club for the 2012 season and beyond.
scottyOBVIOUSLYdon’tknow, the mets NEVER even made an offer, the great alderson said it himself. there was no line drawn or anything.. and yes, the mets are a moneyball team, as long as alderson is here you won’t be seeing anything other than crap they hope becomes somewhat decent ala capuano so they can gloat and say see, we got this guy, while not bringing up the fact they also got carrasco, thayer, boyer, eamus, hu, chris young, byrdak, etc…
You are missing the point Alex, it doesn’t matter whether Sandy gave Reyes and offer first, or Reyes came back with and offer, or the Mets chose not to negotiate with Reyes from the start; the fact of the matter is that Jose Reyes commanded a 6 year $106 million dollar contract which was more than the Mets could have offered him. That kind of contract is a big mistake, so it is irrevelant what went on between the end of the season and now, the fact is that Reyes was going to be to expensive to retain!
Sandy may have done a dance and made it appear as they were negotiating, but that was to just get the fans off the front office backs. The bottom line was, Reyes was gone from day one, the club just had to make it appear as if they were going to try and do whatever they could to appease the fans.
If people had and degree of intellegence, you would have seen this from day one, instead of after the fact.
i think too many people are hung up on this “make an offer” point.
they did talk to the agents. and pretty much told them what they could go to. So in effect, they made their offer.
Th post is not ridiculous. The post accurately describes Alderson’s desire to get rid of Reyes. And it also documents for all the few reamining kool aide drinkers that Sandy Alderson is an out an out liar and fraud.
Greg, The CORE salutes you for this article. what you missed besides this was the fact the sandy manipulated the media and flip the script by throwing out the “when a team loses $70 million in revenue” bombshell, it drove the media from asking questions about him as a GM but him as a mediator to the wilpon, i thought it was as savvy of a move as i have ever since a GM portrait. he had an ace up his sleeve in case this happened and he pulled it out last night, he knew he wasn’t gonnna be given a pass by the NY media in dallas so he put the sole blame on money lost by the team because the fans didn’t go to see the crap he put on the field last year, other than capuano there was nothing else you can say he did a good job on, he’s been TERRIBLE as a GM for the mets, imo the WORST GM in the history of the franchise, he’s a liar and a good manpulator, he knows how to work the crowd in order to get a pass, is a real shame what these franchise have come to. i just wish the wilpons would sell and take these sabermetric/moneyballin goons out of here. to not even offer a contract to the best player in the franchise speaks volume, and yet, there’s a band of 3 losers in this blog who applaud what he did, as if he was gonna use the money towards reyes to get free agents, watch him come up with nothing from the meetings in dallas and still some idiots here will be saying how alderson has a plan, etc.. is pathetic what the fans of this franchise have to put up with..
It is hard to bring good players to the team when the Onwers hand-cuff you to one year contracts…
The owners didn’t hand cuff Alderson to aone contract. Alderson is an ivy league guy who can’t stand the fact that uneducated guys like Reyes are worth more than he is. He is a snob and the ones punished are the fans.
yah i complitely agree with this. the only reason why OLDerson didnt sign reyes is because he is a educated snob. look at who he did sine – Chris Young who went to an ivy league school! exactly. Mets are moneyballs now people, and OLDerson is just a snob who wants to pay for cheap college kids and lawyers instead of shorts stops.
Of course the core does. The core is a hypocrite who can’t keep his BS straight. Why wouldn’t the wh–err core get behind this nonsense.
If this is nonsense why come into the article and comment??? it makes you look even more stupid than what you are wouldn’t you say?? but then again, is you so.. what can one expect..
Didn’t you come into the article that was the polar opposite of this one and basically call it garbage as well? If you thought that why did you bother to comment?
I just find it interesting when you and certain others tried to play the race card are now lining up like circus seals for Pomes.
is one thing to have an article about race, is a whole nother topic to talk about moneyball and the damage its causing to this franchise to have sandy alderson as the GM.
HAHA! Seriously, you and your “core” turned this site into shit.
donal i think u got the meaning of core confused with who sandy and his followers are.
Wow, is that what you bring? “I know you are but what am I”?
No wonder the wh—damn again…the core salutes you.
lol, and Francesa just called Moneyball a “Farce” when some caller started talking about and saying the usual “build from the farm”, “wait” , “draft picks” and all that yadda, yadda, yadda. You know, the people who read that’s how you do it but never experienced baseball in their entire lives
Francesa said the team will lose 70 million a YEAR waiting 5 years for something that may never happen. Nobody is coming to the park at those prices to watch a AA team
Right on.
I seem to have missed Francesa’s major league career.
What is mildly amusing about that is the fact that the current Yankee dynasty we’ve been living through since 1996 was built on Jeter/Bernie/Posada/Pettitte/Mariano, all homegrown. Seems building from the farm jump started their success
Ya, people seem to forget that whole Steinbrenner suspension, actual GM running their team thing that happened.
seriosly,noother free agents helped the yanks win, come on,you conveniently leave all those guys out.
The days of drawing 3 million again are a few years away. The hemorrhage of money will continue and I will continue to contribute to that. Of course I haven’t given dollar one to the Mets since they forced Steve Phillips to call A-rod a 24 and 1 player after the 2000 pennant.
….
Intersting thing is I think the game of Moneyball is going to be MUCH HARDER to play. When Chris Capuano gets 2yrs/$10million who do they think they are going to get as free agenta to help team and at what cost ? The landscape is changing quickly, Reyes’s contract will not be regarded as expensive imo most don;t recognize that yet ….
zzzzzzzz……..
My response as well…. LOL>
offering someone 5/90 but refusing to go 6 years guaranteed is now the definition of moneyball?
OK then.
the mets made no offer to jose, wake up already
Yes they did. Sandy even said that he had conversations with the agent, and gave them parameters as to where they were prepared to go.
so in the world of MLB, they made an “offer”
no offering 90 millon is not moneyballs but OLDerson did not even make any offer at all! Jus because reyes tells him ok i am not going to accept doesnt not mean that he doesnt make the offer anyway. because who knows maybe reyes wants to sign because he loves the mets fans. Anyway thats not moneyballs. moneyballs is saying ok we have ike david at first so we are not going to buy fielder or pujols or delgado again. and moneyballs is saying that we will trade KRod even thgouh we do not have another closer, and moneyballs is letting yohan santana get injured every year.
i dont meen to suggest that omar minaya was better but look at what frank cashman did in the 80s. thats what we need, not this stupid moneyballs.
“moneyballs is saying ok we have ike david at first so we are not going to buy fielder or pujols or delgado again.”
And that is a bad thing because…
“and moneyballs is saying that we will trade KRod even thgouh we do not have another closer,”
Or any reliever. What good is a closer when there are no leads to close?
“and moneyballs is letting yohan santana get injured every year.”
I don’t even know what that means.
“i dont meen to suggest that omar minaya was better but look at what frank cashman did in the 80s. thats what we need, not this stupid moneyballs.”
you mean trade a popular, all star outfielder (Lee Mazzili) for a prospect (Darling)?
you mean build up and then utilize the farm to either fill in positions or acquire big league talent?
This is a fantastic article. Finally, someone brave enough to speak the truth! Greg Pomes Rules!
No DRWIGHT5RULES, YOU RULE!! and so does David Wright (#5)
and ill tell you something else about mister moneyballs OLDerson, if he wants to run a small market team that depends on numbers than he should join a fantasy baseball league lol
Dwright. don’t I know you from the other forum?
Anyway,it went downhill from the time they closed the forum.Just like the Mets,they tried to rescue the forum.
I enjoyed the guy in Oz.
It is absolutely Wilpon’s tomb, they need to GTFO
..and Alderson. They both need to GTFO. Alderson’s absolutely HORRIFIC off season last year helped contribute to the 70 million lost this year
why did we even hire this guy? i defended him when he was hired but now i agree with pomes #firedandysalderson
Have you even read Moneyball? The whole concept of the “moneyball” approach was not avoiding big ticket players, but exploiting market inefficiencies. The Red Sox have been using the moneyball concept for years on a massive payroll, focusing on defense and overspending on the draft. Moneyball has nothing to do with the amount of money a team spends, it has everything to do with spending it efficiently. I’d recommend reading the book next time you so at least understand the basics of the concept you’re accusing the Mets of following next time.
hey man, not to be disrepectful, but you cant learn baseball from reading books. Thats what people like you and OLDerson dont understand. Baseball is played by people, on a field, with sticks, gloves and balls. Not by nerds with books and calculators.
You know Alderson has a World Series ring, right? And that he has actually worked in baseball for nearly 30 years?
Kind of makes me think how the Wilpons suckered the fans with their enticement to buy season tickets at reduced prices after the season ended. Ah, they were suckered by Madoff and they returned the favor by suckering the season ticket holders. You know what may be the worst paying job in the world? Trying to scalp a couple of tickets to a Pirates/Mets game in late August outside Citi Field.
Perhaps an opening day boycott is in order…. If Saul, Fred and Jeff will continue to sap this franchise with their ineptitude, maybe we should drive them out of business. You lost 70 million in ’11? Let’s make it 110 million in ’12. Pathetic
“Perhaps an opening day boycott is in order…”
How about a complete season boycott. The quickest way to get Fred to sell is not to go.
To paraphrase an old saying: “You lost $70 million with us, you can lose $70 million without us” (and much more!).
Our Mets are a Moneypoor team!
I got an idea, Root for a different team
Yeah, I’m thinking of following Bobby Valentine to the Red Sox. Perfect solution for a Yankee hater.
Excellent article and RIGHT ON THE MONEY!