Dec
5
2011

Morning Grind: Don’t Blame Reyes, Blame Alderson

With Jose Reyes now taking his talents to South Beach, a question now rises; How do Mets fans respond to the sparkplug of Flushing jumping ship for the bigger and better? Is he the epitome of evil like Lebron James in Cleveland? Or simply a franchise player that was let go? Personally, I am going to go with the latter.

Sandy Alderson was right in not offering the 28-year old speedster six years or more;his health is too much of a concern for that kind of commitment. I don’t believe Reyes will even finish out this deal healthy due to his hamstring issues. Despite the health problems, Alderson did an awful job when it came to Jose Reyes.

Alderson did not even offer Reyes a contract! It was purely the Marlins making a run for him. For a guy like Reyes, who has been one of the core members of this franchise since 2003; he deserved a bit more respect than that. I know the Mets couldn’t afford $100 million or 6-years, but out of common courtesy at least make him an offer! The Mets were supposedly willing to go for 5-years and $80 million. Although that wouldn’t have been nearly enough, at least you put the ball in Reyes’ court to decide. He can’t re-sign with the Mets if they never made him an offer!

It is obvious Alderson was not even trying to bring back Reyes. He had a low price ceiling on the shortstop and once the Marlins surpassed it, the Mets folded. But what I still cannot wrap my head around, is that if Alderson knew Reyes was a goner, why didn’t he trade him when he had a chance in late June or when he returned from the DL shortly before the deadline? After trading K-Rod and Beltran, it was clear the season was lost, so what was the point of half of a year more of Reyes?

Now instead of possible top-tier prospects from the Rays or Angels, the Mets will merely get a sandwich pick and a 3rd round pick from the Marlins. Paul DePodesta better get his magic computer working again to get some future stars in this draft. For if he doesn’t, letting Reyes leave with virtually no compensation can, and verywell will, cripple this franchise for the next 3-4 years; bottom line.

Whenever you let a superstar simply depart without getting anything in return, the ripple effects are devastating.

Alderson better hope Ruben Tejada comes through, because if not, last night will go down as the Midnight Massacre: Part Deux, if it hasn’t already.

So don’t blame Reyes for leaving, because Sandy Alderson basically pushed him out the door.

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About the Author: Clayton Collier

Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com

77 Comments + Add Comment

  • Clayton, great article, but here, i will tell you what i think of certain of your points:

    Paul DePodesta better get his magic computer working again to get some future stars in this draft”
    Good luck with that, the man has been short of AWFUL in terms of scouting talent.. AWFUL..
    if Alderson knew Reyes was a goner, why didn’t he trade him when he had a chance in late June or when he returned from the DL shortly before the deadline?”
    Because he’s sandy alderson and his arrogant ego makes him smarter than you.. there’s no other explanation..

    The Worst GM in franchise history…

    • No. That honor still goes to M. Donal Grant.

      • Sorry, but he was the Chairman of the Board, not GM.

        • Point taken. However, Grant was directly responsible for the Seaver trade.

      • Well, alderson is closing the gap REAL QUICK!!!!!

    • ALEX, CLAYTON… DO EITHER OF U REMEMBER WHAT FRANCHISE WE’RE DISCUSSING & WHO OWNS THAT FRANCHISE? ONLY A FOOL PUTS THIS @ ALDESON’S FEET, IMO, ALDERSON LIKELY WANTED TO DEAL HIM; BUT WAS PUT OFF BY OWBERSHIP (WISHING TO MILK EVER LST CENT OUT OF FANS’ POCKETS IN ’11) MISLEADING HIM INTO THINKING HE;D GET FUNDED FOR A DECENT OFFER; UNFORTUNATELY ALDERSON WAS NOT PAYING MUCH ATTENTION TO THE HAPPENINGS AROUND THIS FRANCHISE SINCE 2002, & WHY SHOULD HE HAVE?

      CLAYTON… THIS SENTIMENT COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE MORE INANE OR INACCURATE…
      “I know the Mets couldn’t afford $100 million or 6-years, but out of common courtesy at least make him an offer! The Mets were supposedly willing to go for 5-years and $80 million.” SAY WHAT?
      CLAYTON PLEASE DO THE MATH IN REVIEWING THE CURRENT “ACTIVE” ROSTER LISTED ON THE METS’ MLB SITE U WILL FIND THAT AT THIS VERY MONENT THEY ARE COMMITTED TO ONLY $80.53M BROKEN INTO THESE INVESTMENT CATEGORIES:

      PITCHING: 50.65M*
      CATCHING: .96M(THOLE & NICKEAS @! 480K EA.)
      INFIELD: 16.92M(WRIGHT @ 15M, REST(1B,2B,SS) AT 480K
      OUTFIELD:22M*

      CLAYTON, THERE ARE ONLY 6 PLAYERS UNDER CONTRACT @ APPROX 61M FOR ’12 + 2 ARBI CASES (PELFREY(10M?), PAGAN(5M?) + 19 RESIDUAL @ MLB MINIMUM WAGE($480,000)
      * MAX ARBITRATION AWARD GUESTIMATES OF 10M FOR PELFREY & 5M FOR PAGAN INCLUDED

      NB. NEW CBA MINIMUM WAGE OF 480,000 USED IN CALCULATING THOSE LIKELY @ THAT LEVEL.

      AS MY THIRD GRADE MATH LESSONS TAUGHT ME THAT OVERALL COMMITMENT LEVEL OF $80.53M IS BETWEEN 19.47M & 29.47M BELOW ALDERSON’S ESTIMATED BUDGET BETWEEN 100-110M FOR 2011. EASILY I CAN FIT A 20M ADDITIONAL COMMITMENT; HOWEVER SINCE LAST APRIL’S MINDLESS WILPON RANT I BELIEVE 20M WAS A LINE CONVERTED INTO A NYM THIRD RAIL.

      MANY,MANY TIMES I HAVE RAILED AGAINST THIS BS EXCUSE OF INJURY CONCERNS SINCE OFREYES’ 3 MOST RECENT YEAR’S ISSUES:
      2009: HAMSTRING “TENDON”
      2010 THYROID & OBLIQUE
      2011: HAMSTRING “MUSCLE”

      BOTH ’09 * ’10 ISSUES ARE CLASSIFIED AS NON-RECURRING ISSUES AS TENDON WAS SURGICALLY REMOVED FROM ’09 ISSUE & THYROID WAS A 1 TIME DIETARY ISSUE & NOT ONE OF OF “NATURAL” CAUSES aka GRAVES DISEASE.
      THE 2011 D/L STINTS WERE BOTH MINIMUM 2- 15 DAY STAYS(126G PLAYED OUT OF 162), OVERCOME WITH A BATTING TITLE IN SPITE OF LOSING 36G PLAYED.

      CLAYTON, I BELIEVE IT’S THE MET FAN’S, SELF DESTRUCTIVE WILLINGNESS TO AACEPT THE INEVITABLE “BAD” NEWS AS JUSTIFYINGLY AGREEING THAT REYES WAS A BAD SIGNING @ 20M; HOW ABSOLUTELY REDICULOUS AS IF TEJADA @ 480,000 WILL BE MUCH MORE THAN A HARRELSON,WEISS,SANTANA, ORDONEZ, MINIMUM OFFENSIVE CLONE.

      ACTUALLY, THE PROBLEMS OF TE PAST 6 YRS’ FRUSTRATIONS WAS ONLY EPITOMIZED BY REYES; NOT CAUSED BY HIM AS THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANY PLAUSABLE ANSWER AS TO HOW A BASEBALL FRANCHISE SERVICED MEDICALLY BY ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST RENOWNED ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALTY HOSPITALS COULD SUFFER THROUGH 6 CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF CRIPPLING LEVEL INJURIES TO NEARLY EVERY SUBSTANTIAL PLAYER ACQUIRED:
      PERDO MARTINEZ
      ORLANDO(el DUQUE) HERNANDEZ
      JOHAN SANTANA
      DUANER SANCHEZ
      CARLOS DELGADO
      CARLOS BELTRAN
      BILLY WAGNER
      JOSE REYES
      DAVID WRIGHT
      RYAN CHURCH
      WHEREBY, CONSISTANTLY INACCURATE PROGNOSIS WAS PRONOUNCED ON EACH AND EVERY ONE REGARDLESS OF INJURY ISSUE OR CAUSATION.

      NO ONE WAS EVER BROUGHT TO TASK DESPITE A SUPPOSEDLY ENTIRE OFFSEASON ’09-’10 SPENT ANALYZING & STUDYING THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE CAUSING THIS TEAM’S CONTINUED FRUSTRATUIONS EXCEPT FOR A FEW PLATITUDE BEARING POSTERS HUNG IN CONSPICUOUS PRESS ACCESS AREAS.
      IT’S LIKELYALSO MOST NOTEWORTHY TO REALIZE THIS CRITICAL INVESTIGTIVE EFFORT WAS HEADED BY JEFF WILPON, NOT AN INDEPENDENT MEDICAL OR ATHLETIC TRAINING EXPERT, THE EXACT SAME JEFF WILPON WHO IN 2002 SAID HIS BIGGEST CONCERN WAS THE PLAYER’S OBVIOUSLY NOT PLAYING THROUGH INJURIES! WAS THE ‘FOX’ INSPECTING THE HEN HOUSE?

      CLAYTON, OBVIOUSLY REYES’ INJURIES WERE PART OF A PROBLEM; BUT CERTAINLY WERE NOT’ T H E’ PROBLEM

      AS FAR AS I CAN RECALL, DECEMBER 4th’s LOSS OF REYES MARKS THE VERY FIRST LOSS OF A KEY ASSET LEVEL PLAYER JUST EMBARKING UPON HIS PRIME BY ANY UBER-MARKET TEAM THIS WAS A ‘FUBAR’ AKIN TO KC’s DEPARTURE FROM BELTRAN IN ’05; BUT AT LEAST THEY WERE INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO HAVE GARNERED SOME RETURN GREATER THAN AN ANONYMOUS THIRD ROUND AMATEUR.(FISH COMPENSATION)

      WAS THE AVOIDANCE OF A $20M OUTLAY AT THE BEHEST OF FRED OR HIS LOANSHARK, BUD? WHO HAS BEEN GUNNING TO “DESTROY” A BIG MARKET SPENDER FOR HIS ENTIRE TENURE AS COMMISIONER.

      • Can someone read this and translate it for me?

        • TRS86, mets62 have to write in caps because of a heart attack, you didn’t know, but please, don’t start being the same jerk you were before. you started nice, don’t become a donal or a jesseP here ok.

          • I apologize and retract my comment.

          • Heart attack? I thought it was a vision impairment and this is just how his talk-n-type worked.

            • DONAL, PLEASE DO ME A FAVOR, TRY FOLLOWING THE HIPPAA LAWS; AND IF MY CAPSLOCK REALLY OFFENDS U TYHAT MUCH, DON’T BOTHER READING THEM!

              TRUTH IS I SUFFERED A PROMISING CAREER ENDING [PERM DISABILITY] POST SURGICAL RIGHT HEMI CVA @ AGE 42, 19.5 YRS AGO. CVA CAUSED BY A FLUKE COINCIDENTAL CRIMPING OF ONE OF MY JUGULARS AS I SLEPT IF U BELIEVE U ARE ENTITLED TO MORE DETAILED INFORMATION; SUCK ON IT!

              • I didn’t say I was offended, I merely said that I thought the reason for your typing is because you had a vision impairment and this was a bye-product of how you compensate for it.

                Have I ever chastised you for it? No. I’ve never said one word about until now because I FIGURED IT WAS DUE TO A MEDICAL ISSUE. turns out, I was right about that but wrong about what exactly it was.

                And I’m very familiar with HIPAA regulations.

          • ALEX, NO HEART ATTACK; NUT POST SURGICAL STROKE INCURRED WHILE RECOVERING FROM A CERVICAL LAMENECTOMY RESOLVING 2 HERNIATED DISCS FUSING MY C5,C6,C7 VERTABRAE STROKE RESULTED IN SEVERELY IMPEEDING MY LH WHICH REDUCES ME TO 1 HANDED TYPING & CAUSES SUBSEQUENT EYE-TRACKING ISSUES.WHICH CREATES READING DIFFICULTIES WITH LOWER CASE. AGAIN THANKS, PERHAPS SOMEDAY PEOPLE WILL STICK TO CONTEXT & CONCEPTS SORTA JUDGING A LAMORGHINI BY THE SIZE OF THE NUTS & BOLTS USED.

            • Wow thats scary 62.I had the same surgery on my lumbar L1,L2,L3,L4,L5 laminectomy,discectomy.To think that could happen is scary.

              • JOE, IS WAS VERY FREAKISH CONFLUENCE OF A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC RARE ISSUES, ONE OF WHICH, MY BEING ONE OF 2% OF POPULATION BORN SANS THE ANTERIOR ARTERIES DESIGNED TO SUPPLY BLOOD TO THE BRAIN. RESULTING IN 50% BLOOD SUPPLY TRAVELING THROUGH EACH JUGULAR INSTEAD OF 25% FOR NORMAL PHYSIOLOGY. DUE TO 24HR NECK BRACES FOR 4 MOS. NECK MUSCLE ATROPHY OCCURRED ALLOWING MY PREFERRED SLEEP POSITION TO COMPRESS UPON ONE JUGULAR TO THE POINT OF CRIMPING, ONCE AWAKE ALL EVIDENCE OF ISSUE ERASED JUST AS A GARDEN HOSE RELASED FROM CRIMPING REFLECTS NO EVIDENCE OF FLOW RESTRICTION, THUS SUBSEQUENT MRIs WERE USELESS AS NO CLOTS OR OBSTRUCTIONS COULD BE DETECTED. BIRTH DEFECT OF MISSING ARTERIES MENTIONED IN ONE EARLY DIAGNOSTIC PRESURGICAL MRI EVALUATION.

                BTW. TOP NOTCH CARE REC’D AT HIGHLY REGARDED HOSPITALS AS SURGERY PERFORMED @ SANTA MONICA HOSPITAL BY RENOWNED NEUROSURGEON, SM HOSPITAL IS A MEMBER OF UCLA SYSTEM; POST STROKE REHAB PERFORMED @ CEDARS SINAI HOSPITAL, LOS ANGELES. LESS THAN A YR AFTER MY DISCHARGE FROM CEDARS THE “NORTHRIDGE QUAKE COMPLETELY DESTROYED THE HOSPITAL BUILDING USED FOR PATIENTS REHABING FROM STROKES(MY BUILDING). SURE I’VE BEEN FORTUNATE TO COUNTERBALANCE MY MISFORTUNES, THAT’S LIFE, THAT’S WHAT IT ENTAILS .

                IMO, IT WAS NOBODY’;S FAULT; IT WAS GOD’S DESIGN FOR ME AND MY REIDUAL IMPAIRMENTS ARE LITTLE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT AS I’VE DEVELOPED SPECIFIC COPING MECHANISMS SIMILAR TO MY CAPSLOCK USAGE. IT COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN MUCH,MUCH WORSE. MY SON WAS A 7 MOS INFANT @ THE TIME OF THE STROKE & IS PRESENTLY A SUCCESSFUL SOPHOMORE @ EAST CAROLINA UNIVERASITY(ECU) COMPLETING HIIS THIRD STRAIGHT SEMESTER ON THE HONOR ROLE DESPITE A DOCUMENTED LEARNING DISABILITY. HE IS ALSO AN OCCASIONAL RESPONDER HERE UNDER THE MONIKER “REYESFAN”

                THOSE INTOLERANT BAFFOONS WHO PREFER TO CRITICIZE MY POSTS FOR TYPEFACE OVER CONTEXTUAL CONTENT SHOULD HOPE TO NEVER NEED TO FIGHT DESPERATELY TYO MAINTAIN THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE. EVER! SINCE THE WORDS “AP WHAT YOU SEW” WOULD CERTAINLY SCARE THE LIVIN CRAP OUTA ME IF I EWERE THEM. PEOPLE LIKE DONAL ILLEGALLY PARK IN HANDICAP SPOTS

      • Excellent points 62.

  • Don’t blame Alderson. Blame the Wilpons for making a major market franchise into a small market team with there horrible business decisions.

    • Of course blame alderson Mike. Alderson didn’t trade Reyes when he was the hottest thing in baseball. ALDERSON FAILED!!!!!! Of course blame Alderson. He took the job. He claimed he knew everything. If he wanted to builda winner he should have gone elsewhere. ALDERSON IS OUT OF DATE…. …ALDERSON IS A PUPPET…ALDERSON IS A FAILURE.

      • Ah revisionist history.

        Pretty much create an unwinnable scenario and yell at the guy for not winning. And then lie about what he said.

        And yell. Make sure you yell. When you don’t have facts, use volume.

    • DOES ANYONE ELSE FEEL AS I THE WILPONS HAVE MADOFF’ED THE FANS?
      RESULTS PROMISED; BUT ZERO ACTIVITY

      • Only if fans were dumb enough to not read between the lines the same as the Wilpons were with Madoff?

        Did we honestly think that with the shape Omar left the Mets in with all the terrible contracts and poor farm system that there was an easy fix? Or that the Wilpons, regardless of Madoff, could continue to bail out a team losing money?

        • I think most Met fans understand this.

        • Of course, omar is to blame… not the wilpons, not sandy… omar minaya, but hey, coming from you i expected this.. it’s your MO.

          • Of course the Wilpons are to blame as well. Omar could not make those deals without their permission.

            • But coming from you (you know your MO) how can you not blame Omar the most. He was your most hated (2nd most hated other than Wright) figure in Mets history. Yet now you seem to defend him at every corner.

        • TR86, HOW REALLY BAD DID OMAR LEAVE THE FARM WHEN IT WAS A DESERT AFTER PHILLIPS’ DUQUETTE WERE FINISHED LEAVING ONLY 1 RANKABLE PROSPECT(MILLEDGE) LIKE THEM OR NOT PELFREY, MURPHY, EVANS, DAVIS, DUDA, TEJADA, , FAMILIA, HARVEY NIESE, GEE, SCHWINDEN, THOLE, NICKEAS, FLORES , HAVENS, LUTZ, VALDESPIN, NIEUWENHUIS, PUELLO, MEJIA, PARNELL ARE ALL ON OMAR’S SIDE OF THE LEDGER. NO, THERE AREN’T ANY TRULY NOTEWORTHY STRASUSSBERGS; BUT WE’RE HEADING TOWARDS THAT FIRST PICK ALLOCATION AS THE COST OF ATTEMPTING TO REBUILD A MLB ROSTER QUICKLY WITH TOPNOTCH F/A WHILE SEWING BETTER THAN AVERAGE SEEDS ON THE FARM IS THE COST OF TOP QUALITY CAN’T MISS PROSPECTS WHILE SETTLING FOR GET BY LEVEL, BETTER THAN AVG.

          OMAR HAD HIS DISTINCT FAULTS LIKE PISSPOOR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS; IGNORING THE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM ENTIRELY IS A PRESS CREATED MYTH,IMO. AS PERSONALLY, I HOLD JEFF WILPON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BERIFT CIONDITION OF OUR DEVELOPMENT LEBVELS.
          FROM 1998-2003 STEVE PHILLIPS PUBLICLY DENOUNCED “REBUILDING/DEVELOPMENT IN NY MARKET BELIEVING VETERAN ACQUISITIONS VIA F/A OR TRADE WAS HIS PREFERRED IMPROVEMENT PATH TO WHICH GOAL, BELIEVING PITCHING @ ANY CAPABILITY LEVEL WAS “COIN OF THE REALM” IN MLB; PHILLIPS CHOSE TO USE THE AMATEUR DRAFT TO COLLECT ALL MANNER OF PITCHING BASED UPON CHEAP SIGNABILITY, NOT CAPABILITY AS HE BYUILT, TO HIM, A TREASURE TROVER OF PACKAGEABLE PITCHERS AS A BLIND PIG STUMBLES UPON THE OCCASIONAL TRUFFLE, SO DID PHILLIPS FIND SCOTT KAZMIR AMONGST HIS TATTERED COLLECTION,
          SO HOW IS IT, I FOCUS UPON JEFF WUILPON? AS ITY CAME TO PASS JEFF BECAMEDESIROUS OF MORE CONTROL WISJHING TO BE RID OF PHILLIPS, TO WHICH END JEFF HIRED A PERSONAL PITCHING ASSISTANT TO WORK DIRECTLY FOR HIM AS C.O.O. NICKNAMED BY THE PRESS AS THE “PICHING GURU” JEF ANNOUNCED THIS NEW ASSISTANT TO THE COO AS THE FRANCHISE PITCHING COORDINATOR, WITH SUPREME POWERS OVER ALL LEVELS OF PITCHING WITH THE GOAL OF WEEDING OUT THE UNWORTHY & UNDESIROUS FROM THE PITCHING RANS, IN DOING SO THE ‘GURU’, RICK PETERSON, ADVOCATED THE LOSS OF ANY PITCHER WHO WOULD NOT ACOLYTE TO HIS PROGRAM SHELVING CURVEBALLS FOR SLIDERS AMONGST OTHER CONSIDERATRIONS. THE MOST INTRACTABLE NON-CONFORMING FARM PITCHERS TO THE PETERSONIZED PROGRAM WERE KAZMIR & BELL AS PETERSON USED HIS INFLUENCE WITH JEFF TO ENSURE THEIR DEPARTURES WHILE, AS GMs, DUQUETE & MINAYA, TOOK THE FLACK FROM PRESS & FANS. JEFF WILPON, LONG KNOWN TO PREFER DEFUSION & OBFISCATION ENSURED THE TEAM DISFUNCTIONALLY RAN WITH A TITLED OVERALL GM ALONGSIDE AN EQUALLY POWERFUL SEPARATE “PITCHING GM”

          PERSONASLLY, I’VE XERO DIFFICULTY ASSIGNING ALL OF THIS FRANCHISE’S WOES DIRECTLY TO THE JEFF EXPERIENCE. SINCE IT WAS JEFF WHO INTODUCED HIS PARENTS TOTHE MAIDOFFS & SUPPOSEDLY IT WAS JEFF WHO CONVENCED HIS DAD TO ATTEND A BERNIE MADOFF PROSPECTIVE CLIENT SALES PITCH. CAN ANYONE NAME ANY MULTIMILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS BEING CONTOLLED BY A COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATE WITH ZERO PRIOR INDUSTRY EXPERINENCE BEFORE GIVEN CONTROL? I’M CERTAINLY UNSURE WHICH PRODIGY HAS BEEN WORSE FOR THIS TEAM WE LOVE, JEFF OR LORINDA?

          • I think Omar was only partially to blame of course. However, the straying from the strategy after the stars aligning too quickly in 2006 is what tanked the franchise. Going all in on past their prime oft injured players as quick fixes instead of trying to develop those players from within or spreading that money around to fill all the holes instead of making big splashes. I just felt like the entire Omar tenure the Mets in general were too concerned with fan approval and reaction. Something the new regime does not seem to be as enamored with.

      • Agree totally. Wilpon, Alderson and Madoff are the villians…Failing to keep Reyes ranks with the Seaver disaster…That’s it for me. For the 20 games I go to during a season, I’m now taking the train to Boston to see Bobby V’s Red Sox.

  • Can’t keep players when you have to spend 40 mil on a wall.

  • It is a sad day that we all knew was coming. Jose’ is the second greatest homegrown player in Mets history and it is just that now – all history! What a travesty that he is gone (to a better place) without even an offer from trhe Mets. WHAT A DISGRACE! No Mets games for me for at least several years. When in Florida, I will try to catch some Marlins games to root for Jose’. Citifield can burn down as much as I care.

    Our self-appointed genius GM labeled Jose’ as eyewash for a team that is not good enough to obtain value from his talents. What an insult! That alone should have convinced Jose’ to walk. Thanks SA for nothing. Why don’t you take a hike off a cliff. I will drive you there personally if you wish.

    Next up – David. SA should be starting his campaign shortly to insult him so he can sign with an aggressive team somewhere outside of NY. Let’s continue to flush out the eyewash and see how far into the cellar we can bury ourselves.

    My prediction stands, it will be at least 2020 before the rebuilding begins. We are still in self-destruction mode now and rebuilding is far off in the future.

    There is no crying in BB, but this brings you pretty darn close!

    As I said this is all on the self-appointed GM currenly in our FO. Instead of courting our star franchise player, he insulted him. I believe that was more deliberate than stupid. The Mets never wanted Jose’ back. Any words to the contrary from the Genius was just that only words and all BS to trick the fans. There was no offer made and that was no accident. They in essence tarred and feathered Jose’ and sent him out of town on a rail. Jose’ signed without asking questions of the Mets because he knew the answers he would receive.

    SA is simply a trraitor to Mets fans and a low-life who deserves our scorn.

    Congratulations to Jose’ and wishes for a succesful career in his new home.

    For Mets fans, we can look forward to the start of the rebuilding process somewhere around 2020. We don’t deserve this.

  • Paul Depodesta doesn’t have a magic computer, what magic computer??

    • I am referencing the computer he supposedly put all the stats into in Moneyball to find the best college players at inexpensive prices. He supposedly picked Kevin Youkilis and a few others as guys that they should draft, and went ignored.

  • Here it is…do as I did. I said that I wouldn’t give the Mets any of my hard earned cash for the inferior product that they were putting on the field. I have not been to a Met game for about 3 years. The Wilponzi’s are low rent owners and deserve to see empty seats this year. Show them that we deserve better. Show them that you can’t operate like the KC Royals in New York. Beg them to SELL THIS TEAM to someone who cares about winning and not worrying about how Madoff made off with their cash. Don’t buy their “new” old jersey’s. Don’t pay top dollar to park your car to see a bottom feeder team. Don’t buy $10 beer and $6.00 hot dogs (I assume they’re that cheap since I haven’t been there in a while). Don’t call WFAN and complain and still give the Wilponzi’s your cash. Draw a line in the sand. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Mets and alway’s will, I just can’t stand the owners anymore. BRING BACK DOUBLEDAY. Look at how badly things have changed since he sold his stake to Wilpon. The Mets only got Piazza because Doubleday put his foot down despite Wilpons objection.

    • Couldn’t agree more. I haven’t gone to a game since 2009. I hope it gets like 1979 all over again when they drew less than 1 million fans. People need to stop feeding these d-bags pockets.

  • Maybe they didn’t know Reyes was going to walk. Perhaps the situation was fluid enough where trading him for some scrap (which is what they would have gotten) was not the best looking proposition at the time.

    Alderson didn’t think there was going to be a huge rush for him. Guess what, he was right. One other team actually contacted Reyes: The Marlins.

    Think about it, why would they finalize a deal before the Winter Meetings if Reyes was so excited about hitting the open market? Because Reyes and his reps knew that what the Marlins offered was way beyond the scope of what anyone else was going to most likely bid.

    Otherwise, Reyes and Greenburg would be schmoozing with execs from all over the league right now in Dallas.

    • Congratulations donal on the most pathetic defense of lord Alderson ever. Maybe they didn’t know he would walk. That would be funny if not so utterly pathetic. Next you’ll tell us that for a guy ripping up baseball Alderson couldn’t have find a better deal than a sandwich pick and a 3rd round pick. Don’t defend Alderson unless he pays your salary. He has shown nothing but scorn for fans and players. As a matter of fact except for the fired gms he hired as his stoolies and his master wilponzi .he has shown scorn for everyone else in the world. He is a horrid gm and an even worse human being. On the other hand I have all this free money now so we can thank him for that.

      • “he has shown scorn for everyone else in the world. He is a horrid gm and an even worse human being.”

        Oh, stop. All this does is show how yo’re against the man, not the actual events. If Reyes had walked on the watch of someone who wasn’t mentioned in a book most of you will never read, we wouldn’t be seeing this reaction.

        Look at how far some of you have to bend to go fter him. “He didn’t take eyes to dinner. He didn’t say he appreciated Reyes(which is bunk by the way). He didn’t send Reyes a Valentine last February.”

  • If we can’t keep Reyes, then Wright is next, then Davis, then Duda, then Tejada, then Harvey,…Wheeler…, Nimmo. Sell Wilpons, SELL.

    • You’ve gone from making a good point to the ludicrous. Duda and Tejada have yet to prove their worth and the seasons are long and twisting. The Mets wouldn’t get much more than AAAA players for these guys.

      • Sorry, I am talking about down the line if the Wilpons keep team and we have to let them go as they make more money. NOT talking about this year.

  • Alderson working in the confines of the Wilpons smaller market budget did the right thing. However where did all the money go? $25million in naming rights a year. $227 million reported in revenue for SNY in 2010. 2.1 million tickets at exhorbant prices (go to another city like Denver to see the difference). Ridiculous concession prices. So despite all of this the payroll drops 45 million in a few months and we are doling out as much as the big market Brewers.

  • I agree that Alderson should have traded Reyes, when he know there was no way the Mets could afford him given the Wilpons situation. However, sole blame for Reyes leaving and the sad state of the NY Mets rests on Fred Wilpon. He made those jackass comments and invested with a crook who was his friend. MLB should be putting major pressure on the Mets owners to sell the team, as they did with Frank McCourt and the Dodgers.

    When Wilpon bought out Nelson Doubleday, I thought it was a good thing. He is a native NY guy and was grooming his son Jeff to keep the team in the family for decades. They set-up a minor league team in Brooklyn, it all looked good. Then I started reading how Doubleday was the guy who really got things together for the Mets after purchasing the majority of the team in the early ’80s. Nelson Doubleday was also the one who strongly pushed to trade for Mike Piazza. In hindsight, the Mets would have been better off with Doubleday as the sole owner.

    If the Wilpons can not afford to have a playoff bound team every year being in NY, they have no right to own the Mets. Its time for MLB to step in and tell the Wilpons to pay up or sell the team!!!

  • I am still trying to figure out, at 2.1 million fans in attendance, plus $25 million from citi for stadium rights, how did the wilpons lost $70 million?

    • a huge, ridiculous, out of line debt load on citi field (and whatever else they could borrow on).

      I don’t think anyone really knows how leveraged the operation is, but from the pieces reported, the Mets are like a house in Vegas where the owner has 3 mortgages totalling 1mill, and canonly sell the place for 200K.

      probably plenty of creative accounting going on too, but with the giant loans/bonds to be covered, they legitimately probably are short of cash flow to pay the bills.

      • If this is the case, the Wilpons need to be foreclosed on.

      • creative accounting? YOu live an die by the calculator – you’re on the wrong board man.

        How about Alderson’s TERRIBLE off season last year in which he gave a token attempt to compete. How about SPENDING a couple million more to make the Mets relevant longer into the season and into September. How about a BETTER JOB evaluating talent? How about a BETTER JOB pulling off some trades like Steve Phillips did? To HELL with your creative accounting already

        • I forgot to mention that Alderson’s TERRIBLE off season last year could be a major factor to that 70 million lost dollars. That’s what I mean by terrible baseball decisions. Maybe make some SMARTER baseball decisions than you won’t have to rely as much on “creative accounting” smh

        • 3 Gm’s in office and can’t even come up with a good trade to put good players on the team.. amazing.. is funny how alderson mention “franchise” players is what he will acquire, unless pujols and felix hernandez are coming to citi, i don’t see why it was necessary to lie to us like that… he’s savvy with the media, fans are far less forgiving..

  • If Alderson sticks to form you’ll have a guy like Cesar Izturis playing SS next year. You know the type…coming off an injury, low dollar, low risk, high reward (yeah right) one year loser!

  • I am as sorry that we have lost Jose Reyes as any Mets fan out there but it is obvious that Sandy Alderson had decided just how far he would go in terms of giving Jose a long term contract. He was not going to match 6 YEAR offer as Jose has proven to be a risk health wise.

    It remains to be seen that Jose can stay healthy or not. Despite, everything that we all know about Jose’s remarkable talents, do we need to have any more players on the payroll that have long since gone or whose injuries forced retirement.

    The only anger I have is for ownership’s financial failures that are a major part of our problems.

  • Its time the Wilpons knew that Enough is Enough:

    http://nomorewilpon.weebly.com

    No More Wilpon. If you want them gone, support the movement and let them know we will not fund their franchise as long as they are in control.

    • An “Occupy Citi Field” in the parking lot or surrounding area would help. I’d go but don’t expect me to bring a tent, lol

      • I love it, Bayonne! The only problem in similarity is that the comps wont kick anybody out because the Wilons can’t afford the manpower.

        This is an oldie but goodie: What if it was the employER telling the employEE what to say?

        Let’s say it was true that Selig put Alderson in the chair so that he can save his buddy Wilpon’s bacon. His job, therefore, is to save this company money! What riles me is the lack of honesty, not from Alderson, but from the Wilpons. Alderson IS a puppet,but why? BECAUSE THE WILPONS OWN THE TEAM! Anybody who has a job, I’d like you to have the stones to walk into your bosses office (if you have an incompetent one) and tell him that he’s a tool and you know how to run the company best. Do you know what happens? You’re out on the street with no job.

        I don’t like being lied to and what Alderson said in the conference at the hotel sounds like lies to me, but not HIS lies. It’s the lies of his boss. We can hypothesize all we want about whether Alderson would employ the same tactic if he was given a $145M payroll, but the fact are that these guys were brought in by MLB under the guise of a hiring search by the Wilpons for their (here’s the term) “Skill sets”: Minor league scouting, payroll slashing and IFA’s.

        But the Wilpon’s used the “buddy system” in hiring from within (see: Steve Phillips, Jim Duquette, Omar Minaya) and when they did go outside of the organization (see: Bobby V, Willie Randolph, Jerry Manuel) those guys were embarrassed before being run out on a rail. Anybody who does not conform and ride the BS Train (read: Wally Backman) is pigeonholed into minor roles with the organization.

        Are you seeing the trend yet? The Wilpons and Bud Selig, not Alderson, are to blame for not having the finances to keep Jose Reyes. I bet if Fred’s last name was McCourt, he would have been gone a long time ago. I feel like I have to qualify that statement by saying that I don’t know Alderson enough to like him or be one of his “disciples” but it’s like being caught between “Iraq” and a hard place SO WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE GUY TO DO?.

        By the way, don’t think all of this has escaped David Wright either. Expect him to demand a trade by June. Think about it: the owner just told him he’s not a superstar, they just traded his best friend on the team and now they will make him the pitchman/scapegoat for the season. So, everybody who comments on this site, if you had a boss like the Wilpons and an edict from the MLB front office to save this company, what would YOU do?

        And be honest, because no one likes to be lied to.

  • You could tell that Alderson never was in on Reyes as soon as he started saying that the Reyes signing was lobby rumor and speculation.

    How do you not know that your “#1 priority” was signing a deal elsewhere?

    If you lost $70mil last year, just watch how much you’ll lose this year…

    Funny how Alderson said that the Mets will a favored going into Spring Training! WTF is he smoking?

    And don’t expect the “money” set aside for Reyes is now going to be spent of FA’s…Alderson already said that he’s not going to do that.

  • This is going to be a rough couple months of finger pointing and blame shifting.

    I never would have imagined that Jose would sign prior to the meetings. I’m thinking that the lack of interest shown by most teams and the 6 years + an option is what sold Jose.

    • Hell, the lack of interest shown by the GM of the team he loved drove him off…

  • Sniffle, sniffle, :(

    LOL, wow this place should try out for the next Broadway play. Maybe Les Metsrables?

    Get over it. Mets decided not to give 6 years 110+ Million to an oft injured lead-off hitter. Oh well.

    • Well, NOW this is the TRS86 i got to know.. had this been wright i am sure you’d be waiting outside of citi field for sandy and the wilpons to come out…

      • Actually while I do agree that a successful Wright means more to the team than Reyes (stats back that up), I am content that if they do trade Wright it is because they feel it is the right move to get the Mets back to relevance in the long run. I do not root for the Mets because of players. Hell I was a Greg Jefferies fan growing up, see how that turned out. I will have just as much fun cheering on Tejada, Davis and Familia. It has nothing to do with race to me. The Reyes that I saw after the injury had me scared to death that the Mets would panic into a bad contract and cripple themselves even more long-term. Seriously 4 doubles, no triples and something like 4 SB in 125 PA. Wonder why he would not attempt to push those singles into doubles or doubles into triples? Wonder what happen to the SB? The guy was in full protection mode.

        • Good post.

        • Lmao!!! knowing you from way back then, this comment “It has nothing to do with race to me” you made is bs. you and i know you see past colors, is always been you’re MO. wright is a big time choker, you can sit here and give me all his numbers, but remember those numbers were when delgado, beltran or reyes were in the lineup, without them we all saw who he was. he’s nothing but a stat padder that has proven what i’ve been saying for years, he’s not the player you wanna build around, he’s somebody you acquire when you got your heavy hitters in place to help produce.. see his 2009 season and come talk to me..

          • I am confused… do you think I do look at color or do not? LOL.

            As for Wright, not here to debate that today. We know we disagree there and no reason to start that up again. All I can say is that if the Mets indeed get a deal for Wright that betters the team then sure, unfortunately for you… now will not be that time. Good thing is for that to happen we both have to be on the same team, both of us hoping like hell that Wright rebounds to MVP levels.

        • Please don’t use Wright’s stats to back ANYTHING UP.

          Wright’s stats are more about window dressing than anything else. GIve me a break! The guy has made a CAREER out of disappearing when needed the most and is one of the reason for the collapses of 07 & 08. Sure Reyes choked too in 07 and didn’t help much in Sept of 08 too but I don’t want to hear anything about Wright’s “empty number’s accumulating stats”

          I would have rather the Mets do everything they could to try and MOVE Wright and keep Reyes. We don’t know what would have happened if they went that route. That’s the route I would have taken and it’s also the route I think would have been better to make this team more competitive NOW and build at the same time.

          Reyes offers a LOT more to the Mets than Wright. What Wright does can be more easily replaced than what Reyes offers.

          The allegiance some fans have towards Wright is mystifying and makes me wonder

          • bayonne, no wonders there, me and this guy used to go at it big time because of that, and it was obvious that he liked wright over beltran, reyes and delgado had nothing to do with numbers, more like he was enamored with him, the butt kissing he had for wright was beyond me, that is why the CORE was form, which was a few of us who basically saw wright for what he was. a stat padder who benefitted for having great players around him to take pressure away from him, we could not say anything wrong about the almighty one otherwise we were gonna get banned, why you think a lot of us left metsblog? this guy is a JesseP/donal/tlagee clone all in one, that tells you ALL you need to know

            • Sniffle, sniffle sniffle……

              My Reyes, My Reyes, Where have you gone? LOL.

              Actually I liked all of those players you mentioned but it’s much more fun to watch you react just like you did above. Above all else, I like the name on the jersey. You should try that sometime, it’s much more fun and allows you to handle “traumatic moments” like this.

            • right alex,

              I can’t believe people would even consider Wright more important than Reyes and you hit the nail right on the head about Wright performing his best when there are better players around him. Even this year that was the case! Remember when Wright came back from DL and how hot he was hitting 5th behind Beltran? And as soon as Beltran was moved Wright FOLDED faster than a lawn chair. It was incredible how instantaneous that happened.

              I always maintained the correct way to go about competing in 2012 and building was doing your BEST to keep Reyes, and doing your BEST to move or package Wright for young starting pitching/catching and/or CF. There were many creative ways to go about (NOT ‘any’s- proposed creative accounting either – that comment made me bust out, lol)

              Steve Phillips made some creative trades to help turn the Mets into a contender – can Alderson do that?

          • As much as I wanted Reyes to stay, it’s only fair to point out that his abysmal numbers in Sep ’07 and ’08 didn’t help the cause either.

            • Like I said – Wright AND Reyes BOTH contributed to those collapses. I remember them like yesterday and I remember Wright getting hits (especially in 2008) but whenever there was a big spot in the game he FOLDED so don’t tell me that Wright did not CHOKE both of those years because HE DID.

              And as for the future of the Mets I would have held onto Reyes and try to move Wright for pitching/cf/catcher or whatever type of package that can be done. Replacing what Wright offers this team is much easier than replacing what Reyes offers.

          • So, Wright’s stats are just window dressing, but Reyes’ batting title (for which he at out most of August and then took himself out of the first inning of the last game after a bunt single) is sacred.

  • Bye Jose we gone miss you…..The next step for the Mets it Sell the team to M. Cuban. Mr. Wilpon it empty…No Money not players, not win…Remember this New York the capital of the world….

    • I agree. If Wilpons can’t afford HIS best players now, he won’t be able to afford them down the line either. Not even to make an offer. They need to SELL.

  • “but out of common courtesy at least make him an offer!”

    My thought on this is that for me it does very little to say well Reyes signed with Miami but at least the Mets made an offer.

    I have seen past GM’s make offers for free agents that didn’t get it done only to see it then turned into complaints on how they made a low ball offer. So for me at least a common courtesy offer just to say they did does very little.

  • 100% of the blame goes to the Wilpons and years of incompetent spending and incurring debt to the point we’re at today. We don’t really know whether the Mets made an offer or not. If they did not, then shame on them. But the way Alderson operates keeping his cards close to the vest, as they say, it is possible an offer of some sort might have been made. Doesn’t matter now, does it?

    Now we can get excited about a Sandwich pick and 3rd round pick next June!! Yippeeee!!!! And, of course, a full season of, well not exactly “small ball”, but more like “no ball” from Reuben Tejeda. Can’t believe they’ll entrust SS to this punchless wonder who can have the bat knocked out of his hands by the most mediocre of fastballs. By June they’ll realize this kid is not a major league starter. But I suppose that’s why they’re interested in the veteran version of Tejada: Jack Wilson (great glove, worthless bat). So maybe we’ll have a Tejeda/Wilson time share in 2012! Again, YIPPPPEEEEEE!!!! LOL

    All in all I have to say: THANK YOU Fred, Jeff, and Saul for turning the NY Mets into the NY A’s / Pirates / Padres. Time for dem “Bums to get gone!

    • ’86, I’VE PERSONALLY HEARD ALDERSON STATE IN ONE INTERVIEW”WE NEVER MADE AN ACTUAL OFFER” AND IN ANOTHER “HE(REYES) COULD HAVE MADE 100M WITH OUR OFFER”

      TO ME, IT’S OBVIOUS THAT IF THE SECOND LASTER STATEMENT WERE TRUE, THEY EASILY COULD HAVE ANSWERED THE FISH’S COUNTER OF 106M WITH THE 100M+ A NO TRADE.

      NOTE, THE NO TRADE FROM THE METS IS MERE WINDOW DRESSING CHALLENGE FOR FL TO MEET OR FOLD SINCE, FROM THE METS IT ONLY COVERED 2Y EALIER THAN HE’D GET AS 10/5 PLAYER. REFERED TO “SLEEVES OUT OF THE VEST(NO-COST); BUT AS FISH ARE BALKING OVER A NO-TRADE TO PUJOLS, IT CERTAINLY MAY HAVE SWAYED JOSE BACK TOWARDS US WITH SO LITTLE(6M)
      DIFFERENCE

      TO ME THAT SPELLS, THERY DIDN’T REALY WANT HIM AFTER ALL. WITH THE DEALING OF PAGAN WE’RE NOW BEGINNING THE ’12 SEASON WITH APPROX. 75M PAYROLL ONE THIRD OF WHICH IS SANTANA.(FROM WHOM I’M FIGURING ON NO MORE THAN 9Ws)

      • Alderson said Friday night going into Sat they had discussed a deal with his agent that had a good shot. Come Saturday afternoon, the Marlins came right in and upped their bid. It was all over then. Apparently the tentative offer discussed included incentives for reaching 100 MIL, but was not guaranteed 100 MIL. No one knows how much the base salary offer was.

        Alderson actually said if the health of Reyes wasn’t a concern, he would have got his 100 MIL from the Mets. So at no time were they prepared to give that guaranteed type of money.

  • I’m like going crazy. for one i’m sorry but jose reyes should not be in a class of players making that kind of money. He’s a good player but not in the league of greatness. Yes jose did play us on the last game of the season, when he took him self out of the game, he sold out on us. I believe that was the game he made up his mind of leaving new york. Yes i will miss him, he was the type of player if he was healthy, maybe wright can get his act together, and jason bay, just maybe this year could have been the year. Now come on sandy now get it together, there’s still time now to make up for our loss. the money you were gonna put up for jose, what 80 million, so get 4 players that can make our 2012 something to shoot for. As a major mets fan, i can do better as a manager for the mets or run them. You need to really look at your talent before you let go, and with our history that usually happens. Wilpons do us a favor either you sell our team and show you care about our team, city, fans or get it together and prove to us as owners of our team that you can make a difference now to improve, put up or shut up and get lost, tell me and us mets fans what’s it gonna be.

  • There is one way, and only one way, to send the current ownership a message. Stay away from the ballpark. Season ticket sales have to drop off the charts and total gate attendance needs to drop below a million for the season. If they think losing $70 million last year was a problem, we need to make that number more like $150 million after 2012. The only way you force ownership out is to hit them where it hurts the most, on the balance sheet.

    While we’re at it can someone in the media just flat out tell Alderson that we don’t need a history lesson from him about “how the Diamondbacks did last year” or “look at what St. Louis did”, as he tries to divert attention from both his and ownerships failure to field anything that remotely looks competitive. Another season of bargain basement pickups, useless castoffs and AAA fill in’s might cut it in Pittsburgh or KC, but not here and not at the prices charged for everything from tickets to parking to concessions.

NL East Standings

TeamWLPct.GB
Braves4230.583 -
Phillies3537.4867.0
Nationals3436.4867.0
Mets2740.40312.5
Marlins2248.31419.0

Last updated: 06/19/2013

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