3
2011
Sandy Alderson On If Jose Reyes Is A Franchise Player
An article by 
On Thursday, Sandy Alderson hosted a conference call with a few Mets bloggers that was by far the best one I ever participated in. We had some great questions from everyone and Sandy, who was very cordial, took his time and answered all of our questions concisely and proficiently. The tone of the call was kind of upbeat and it was interesting to hear how passionate everyone was about their concerns. Amazin Avenue was good enough to transcribe the entire call which you can read here.
My question to Sandy was regarding Jose Reyes (of course), but it started out kind of funny when when he responded to Shannon of the Mets about Shannon of Mets Police just as I was introduced.
Shannon Forde, Mets Media Relations: Shannon [Shark] really wants to know if you watch the Walking Dead.
Alderson: The Walking Dead, by the way, was a Marine battalion in Vietnam, I don’t know what it’s referring to now, probably Vampires or something..
Joe DeCaro: Actually the Walking Dead is about zombies.
Sandy Alderson: Oh is that what it is? Zombies? Thanks. (laughing)
Joe DeCaro: When the season ended, you met with reporters at Citi Field, and at that time you said there would no preemptive offer to Jose Reyes and that you were going to let other teams set the market.
A few weeks later it was reported that you had an understanding with Jose that he would meet with you after he was done shopping and that you would have substantive negotiations with him at that time.
There’s been so much information and mis-information circulating about Jose Reyes that it’s become such a huge blur for Mets fans right now. I don’t know if you’ve kept up with the latest gossip, but apparently there’s a report generating some buzz about a potential Mets offer worth five years and $80 million for Jose Reyes.
Forget whether or not it’s fact or fiction — I’m leaning towards the latter — hypothetically speaking, if Jose Reyes came back to you with a five-year, $80 million offer from another team, could you and would you beat that offer if that’s what it took to re-sign him?
Also, does your front office consider Jose Reyes a franchise player?
Alderson: Let me start with your last question first: Do I consider him a franchise player? Yes. But a franchise player is only valuable as such if he is contributing to a winning franchise as opposed to simply acting as eye wash for a team that is not very good. So for me, franchise players are critically important — this goes back to the bonding that takes place with a handful of players on each team — you need those kinds of players to win. But ultimately, even a franchise player has to make a contribution to a winning team.
Now with respect to what we would do or not do with Jose, that’s hypothetical and it would be speculative for me to respond to that, and also very public, and I would prefer not to do that {laughing}. It’s fair to say that, in light of his status, at least in my mind, as a franchise player, that there’s a number that we would find acceptable. We’re very interested in retaining Jose.
As far as his coming back, it has never been my understanding that we would not negotiate until he had made all his rounds, until he got a good offer from somebody else, and then we got a chance to match it or get a discount from it. That’s never been my understanding. I do believe that if Jose really wants to be in New York after everything is said and done, he’ll talk to us. But I don’t know that we can rely on that. So our inactivity at this point, or the fact that we haven’t given him an offer, is not based on our confidence that when everything is said and done, he’s going to come back to us. I think it’s a combination of a lot of other things.
Right now, it’s not clear where his market will be. We’ve never wanted to be a stalking horse for somebody else. We’re sincere in our desire to have him back. But we’re just going to have to see what develops for him. Now the fact that nothing has materialized to date, doesn’t mean that something won’t tomorrow or the next day, I’m realistic enough to know that. But I also have a sense of what we can do and what would be beyond our ability to do.
And when I say beyond our ability, this doesn’t have anything to do with Bernie Madoff. This really has to do with our vision of where the team can be and what we need to be able to do over the next two-to-four years to create a sustainable, winning roster. I have said on many occasions, that what we need is some roster flexibility eventually that allows us the freedom from a roster standpoint to make some of these decisions that are going to be costly, but to be able to do them in a way that enables us to rationalize the overall roster and the overall payroll.
There’s so much that came out of my question I don’t know where to begin, but lets start with this and I’ll disect the rest of his reply to me throughout the day:
“A franchise player is only valuable as such if he is contributing to a winning franchise as opposed to simply acting as eye wash for a team that is not very good. “
Obviously I asked him whether Reyes was a franchise player based on the comment he made the day before while speaking to season ticket holders: “We want to have franchise players.”
Well first off, there was no hesitation when he said yes, that Reyes was a franchise player, but he didn’t stop there and threw in the eyewash line, which kind of reminds me of the old standby of “we didn’t win with him, so we can just as soon lose without him”.
What did you take out of his comment?
I’ve never been a proponent of that sort of argument because it hangs the blame for losing on one player – the best player – when losing and winning is actually a team effort. You can’t blame the star for being a star if all you surround him with is below average players and nobody to compliment him. Am I right or wrong here?
Don’t most championship caliber team build around their core players – by complimenting them with role players to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle?
Anyway, I’ll have more to say later on.
Other sites that participated and blogged about the call were On the Black, Mets Police, and MetsBlog. There were a few other blogs as well, but as of this writing they hadn’t yet posted on it. I’ll try to update this as they do.
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.
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This question ended up being my backup question. The question I wanted to ask him about was regarding payroll – what’s been reported and what the reality of the situation is. By the time he got to me there were already two payroll related questions asked and I didn’t want to hit him with another one even though I wanted to know things like if this current payroll was what he originally signed up for or something different hearkening back to “the Moneyball with money” comment.
JOE, I’M UNCERTAIN WHAT PAYROLL CONCERNS U ENVISION AS I SEE IT THERE’S LIKELY 2 NUMBERS TO BE ACHIEVED IN ’12. EITHER 100M INCL. REYES OR 75-80M SANS REYES.
CURRENLY 2012 COMMITMENTS ACCOUNT FOR 61M TO SANTANA,BAY,WRIGHT, DICKEY, CARRASCO, BYRDAK(HIGH TO LOW[24M-1.5M] COMMITMENT LEVEL).
WITHY THE REMAINING MAJORITY OF THE 19 ROSTER SPOTS TO BE FILLED WITH MINIMUM WAGERS LIKE TEJADA,DAVIS,MURPHY,DUDA, PARNELL…
CERTAINLY HIS PRE,LIMINARY NUMBERS ANTICIPATING A BUDGET BETWEEN 100M-110M IS EASILY ATTAINABLE.
ALDERSON’S ALREADY “ON THE RECORD” THAT REYES IS THE LONE ‘TOP SHELF’ TARGET & FAILURE WILL NOT REASSIGN ACQUISITION $$$ TO AN ALTERNATE TARGET.
HOW MANY WAYS DO U WANT TO SEE HIM DANCE AROUND “REBUILDING” ADMISSION. AS IT IS HE’S SOMEWHERE BETWEEN GENE KELLY & FRED ASTAIR
THE LAST TIME I CAN RECALL THE USE OF THE REBUILDING WORD Re.NYM WAS BACK IN 1997 DURING STEVE PHILLIPS’ ANNOUNCEMENT SPEECH WHEN HE METERED OUT WHAT HE FORESAW AS HIS 5Y PLAN(LASTING APPROX 6 MOS OF REALITY TIME MORE OR LESS)
SHOULD U GET ANOTHER OPORTUNITY WITH HIM, I’D LOVE TO KNOW IF HIS ASSESSMENT THAT 2 $20M/YR PLAYERS PER ROSTER AS AN AVERAGE ACCEPTABLE # WAS APPLICABLE TO NYM OR NOT. AT PRESENT WE’RE @ 1.
Some key points from what he said:
(I’ll start with the quote you talked about first joe…)
1 – “Do I consider him a franchise player? Yes. But a franchise player is only valuable as such if he is contributing to a winning franchise as opposed to simply acting as eye wash for a team that is not very good.”
This says to me that Sandy believes 2012 and probably a few years beyond we are going to have a “NOT VERY GOOD” team! This statement seems to suggest that Reyes while a franchise player would be EYE WASH if resigned the next 5 years which implies we are going to be NOT VERY GOOD for at least 5 years! I wonder how the apologists feel about that note?
2 – “I do believe that if Jose really wants to be in New York after everything is said and done, he’ll talk to us. But I don’t know that we can rely on that. So our inactivity at this point, or the fact that we haven’t given him an offer, is not based on our confidence that when everything is said and done, he’s going to come back to us.”
This shows that they are not negotiating , have no guarantee that Reyes will even give them a chance to match, Do not intend to do anything to GET themselves into the game, are merely going to sit on thier hands and if Reyes comes to them and offers a discount they might listen to him. But he seems content to just let reyes go without even trying! Much different than what we were led to believe before this!
3 – “And when I say beyond our ability, this doesn’t have anything to do with Bernie Madoff. This really has to do with our vision of where the team can be and what we need to be able to do over the next two-to-four years to create a sustainable, winning roster”
So much for those who want to pin this all on the Wilpons and the financial problems they have. It seems pretty clear from this statement that Sandy has decided we spent too much and is cutting the payroll based on his idea of team building and not an edict of budget from above!
I’m glad you asked the questiion you did joe!
This says to me that Sandy believes 2012 and probably a few years beyond we are going to have a “NOT VERY GOOD” team! This statement seems to suggest that Reyes while a franchise player would be EYE WASH if resigned the next 5 years which implies we are going to be NOT VERY GOOD for at least 5 years! I wonder how the apologists feel about that note?
That’s a very good insight into that comment and it does seem to fit. Nice job.
It goes right along with what I have been saying about Sandy’s approach Joe…
Sandy is going to tread water, hoard draft picks and hope something good happens before he is going to lift a finger to TRY and fix this team.
It is the Lets just sit tight, make no commitment, buy at K-Mart and hope we can draft our way out of our problems.
Thats a 5-10 year plan! Which is completely opposite from what the apologitsts have suggested is the actual tact here.
That Sandy is here to make a WINNING team and that we are going to IMPROVE the team in the next 2 or 3 years.
If that were true then he would lock up Reyes (a franchise player) so he had one to help him win in years 3,4 and 5!
Sandy doesn’t expect us to be winning by then. And he SHOULD know since he is the guy charged with making us winners!
The same excuse for not signing Reyes can and probably will be used when he trades Wright!
I mean he is a franchise player is he not?
He is going to get the same money Reyes is roughly going to get, and the team won’t be any closer to being good without reyes will it?
That makes Wright the next Eye Wash and the next purge in the payroll!
The snowball is building steam, the attendance is going to drop even more and that will give even MORE excuse to not sign, not improve, not have franchise players and to be more like the pirates!
Just goes to show how Met fans will read between the lines differently….
1. I believe he’s saying they’re not going to be that franchise that overpays for Reyes. Some other GM might do it, but it’s not going to be the Mets.
2. Have no idea how you made the leap to what you did, based on what he said here. He’s quoted as saying ‘We’re sincere in our desire to have him back. But we’re just going to have to see what develops for him.’
I highly doubt that means ‘seems content to just let reyes go without even trying.’ Refer to #1. They want to bring him back but they’re not going to overpay to do it.
3. Come on…the Wilpons just asked for a 4 month extension to pay back MLB. They’re also the increased debt ceiling. If you still believe that Madoff has nothing to do with operating expenses going forward, then you’re ignoring all evidence. ‘When Fred Wilpon pushes back, presumably that has some impact.’
I agree with you srt. At the end of the day Sandy Alderson’s boss is Fred and Jeff, and it is in no way in his best interest to say publically “we are strapped for cash because our owners have no money.”
And Metsie, I’m not sure how you don’t think you’re reading between the lines when you rephrase his entire statement? You’re coming up with ways to turn his statements into your view of the him rather than taking what he says.
Here’s what he actually said.
“We’re sincere in our desire to have him back. But we’re just going to have to see what develops for him. Now the fact that nothing has materialized to date, doesn’t mean that something won’t tomorrow or the next day, I’m realistic enough to know that. But I also have a sense of what we can do and what would be beyond our ability to do.”
Whether you like it as a fan or not, players have value. And the fact Jose Reyes supposedly only has 1 offer and its from the Marlins tells an unbias person that Reyes’ value is NOT as high as you’d like to think it is.
If Alderson was playing this as a Mets fan he would have signed Reyes to a Crawford deal and been done with it. As of now, he’s done thebest thing for the future of the franchise.
You can’t let a player or the fans dictate the market. The people spending the $ dictate the market and right now the market is working in Alderson’s favor.
Well Srt I wasn’t readin between the lines but you apparantly are trying to INSERT between the lines here.
1 – Sandy said nothing about the OVERPAY in that statement not word one! What he said was if your not going to be a good team then no sense in spending on a good player if he is not going to change the team from NOT VERY GOOD to GOOD! Which would suggest we aren’t going to sign any good FRANCHISE type players until such time as we don’t really need them because the team is already good! Kind of like saying I’m not going totry to win just wait till it happens before I then put effort into making it happen!
2 – He is sincere in wanting him back, just not going to lift a finger to get him back! If Reyes WANTS to play here and offers a discount All Sandy agreed to do was LISTEN to his offer IF he actually brings one back to Sandy. Sandy stated he has NO GUARANTEE reyes will bring him anything, not even a phone call to say goodbye!
3 – Hey Sandy said it straight out this isn’t about the finances it is about BASEBALL BUILDING! And you forgot to mention that the Mets just paid off their share of revenue sharing for this year which is what that original 25 Mil loanwas given to cover in the first place! You can spin it as the Wilpons causing this financial difficulty but Sandy said otherwise!
“This really has to do with our vision of where the team can be and what we need to be able to do over the next two-to-four years to create a sustainable, winning roster”
Bayonne, you’re forgetting that the people asking these questions generally get ONE question. While asking “Are you planning to go after any starting pitching?” seems like a good question to you, it’d be a waste of time and opportunity for any of these folks asking questions.
What you need to realize is this is a chance to get into more deeper subjects for the most part and finding out what is happening for the overall health of this franchise, not whether or not the Mets can sign Jon Garland.
I think people need to read the whole transcript. You can retype his answers however you want, but he answered every question with great detail in my view and as somebody asking a question you gotta be very pleased with that. Plus, he’s not a dumb man. He’s speaking like a very smart baseball man and people can spin his answers however you want, but he does not come off as a guy doing things for the sake of doing them.
Since some of us are reading his answer to Joe’s question and then assuming everything else was said here are some other interesting quotes from Alderson
“Defensively, we need to improve. If we keep Jose Reyes and Pagan in center field, we’ve probably got the speed that we’d like to have. If we lose Jose, that will not be a strength. I’d like to think we’re headed in the right direction, both next year and in the longer term.”
“I think what I’ve said is that we’re going to start with a payroll number, and if we re-sign Jose, we’ll figure out how to accommodate that within the payroll number. If we don’t re-sign him, that payroll will not expand, but it won’t necessarily contract. We’ll just make different player decisions. I know the next question is, ‘well, what about David Wright?’
Don’t assume there’s a direct connection between David and Jose, but I think the point I’m trying to make with what we pay Jose and the overall payroll is that the payroll’s going to be the same whether we have Jose or not, at least conceptually, that’s what we’ll have. There are a number of different variables here, but that’s the intent.”
Follow up: “So that allocated money doesn’t necessarily then get applied to other areas of the organization? You’re just going to use it for other major league talent? Is that what you’re saying?”
Reply: “Yep.”
“This CBA is going to change the game as dramatically as any CBA has in my history in baseball.”
” First of all, a payroll of $143 million doesn’t guarantee an attendance of 3 million, nor does $100 million payroll ensure that you won’t reach 3 million in attendance. I realize there’s some correlation between winning and spending, but it’s not an absolute correlation. From our standpoint, if you look at the dead money that we had last year [laughs], it was quite a significant portion of our overall payroll.”
“Let’s face it, in order to grow our attendance and grow our revenues – because basically that’s our variable source of revenue, everything else is kind of plugged in, television contracts and those types of things – to improve our live gate revenue, we have to put a better product on the field. At the same time, we have to be conscious of our expense, and I think it’s important that we bring those things into equilibrium.”
“If we want to grow revenues, we’ve got to put a better product on the field, but at the same time, we’ve got to make sure that we’re not wildly outspending the revenues that we have. If we bring our payroll down to what we’ve talked about, it’s still very possible we will lose money as a franchise, but we have to figure out a way to stabilize our expense side, and then allow the expense side to grow at the same time that our revenues grow. Granted, this is going to be a significant adjustment from last year, but not one that needs to be permanent if we can do what I’m here to do, and others that are here currently and have been here, and that is to put a better product on the field – better and more entertaining, that’s what we’re seeking to do.”
“What is that more entertaining product? Does that have franchise players that people identify with? Yes, it needs those players. We can’t have ten players making $15 million a year, but we need to be cognizant that fans do identify with and bond with a number of players, and you have to be careful about disturbing that bond or relationship, but at some point given the business proposition, it’s necessary”
“And what is that we’re trying to achieve? Basically it’s to be a good team currently, while at the same time keeping our eye on the future, as well. And some of the things we did last year were with that in mind. Some of the things we do this year will be with that in mind.”
” I think for example, if we’d kept Frankie Rodriguez, we would have finished well over .500. I think that the lack of a closer cost us a number of games. But, the overall perception did change. I think that there is some greater confidence in the future for the Mets and that was an important thing to accomplish. I think the way we finished detracted from that somewhat, I think we were able to move people’s thinking in that direction.”
Seems to me next time joe D should Send you to do the interview (Roll eyes)
His first question would be Can I kiss you? and the second would be lube or no lube!
Stay classy over there Metsie
His first question would be Can I kiss you? and the second would be lube or no lube!”
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This stuff is exactly what, even though the community is full of knowledgeable fans with diverse opinions, gives this place a bad name.
LMAO, Metsie, The CORE salutes you…. that sheetet was funny as hell.. by the way, for those who don’t know TRS86, he’s the JesseP version of metsblog back in the days, except he’s not as bad as jess is and more knowledgable.. other than that, similar guys..
I knew I liked TRS for a reason.
So you still have not matured enough to realize how that stuff insults your own intelligence and degrades every logical point you have?
I do not come to Mets blogs to read the same opinion as mine, that would be boring as hell. But I do need intelligent conversation to keep me interested. Comments like the one above actually drive off the readers that you enjoy debating with so much, not to mention as I said above they take away from your actual intelligence.
TRS86, you must not be here long enugh, everyone and their mother know that i do not like JesseP and what i think of him as well.. just as in mets blog stop trying to be all phylosofical here ok..
i like you over there and we used to debate like crazy, you still owe me an apology for david wright UNCLUTCHNESS and how omar minaya was WAY IN OVER HIS HEAD AS A GM.. so, anytime..
Can’t agree on Wright’s “un-clutchness” when we are debating giving Jose Reyes 100M.
As for Omar, interesting that on the other thread you are singing his praises compared to what we have…
I too can change my opinions on things as more facts become clear. I still say that Omar’s biggest problem was that the Mets became good too quickly. 2006 was never supposed to happen. If you look that entire team, almost, had career years. So getting so close and really over achieving lead to a series of bad decisions and straying from the initial plan.
Alex, You were right and i was wrong.. just copy and paste if you like…
‘I actually believe that New York fans are as sophisticated as any in baseball, anywhere in the United States, more so in fact than in most places, and certainly more so than any place I’ve been. I do believe they understand the business proposition.’
‘we need to be cognizant that fans do identify with and bond with a number of players, and you have to be careful about disturbing that bond or relationship, but at some point given the business proposition, it’s necessary. I do believe that many of our fans, most of our fans, understand that. Not all do, not all will accept that there’s any sort of business element to the game, particularly here in New York, but from my point of view, there does need to be. I think that that’s where we are at this point, but it’s very important for us for fans to understand what we’re trying to achieve.’
******************************
Raise your right hand if you’re that sophisticated Met fan.
Raise your left hand if you’re that Met fan that doesn’t accept there’s any sort of business element to the game.
Yes baseball is a business!
It is an ENTERTAINMENT business!
It is a STAR DRIVEN Business!
It is dependent on people wanting to go see them play!
You need to have STARS to draw people into the stands!
If Sandy was truly focused on the BUSINESS side he would be working to put people or at minimum KEEPING people in the stands so that he will not have to cut more salary next year just to get back in black!
People pay to see a winner, not just stars. What he’s saying is he’d rather not trick fans into buying tickets simply because of names on the back of a jersey. I’m not sure why that’s a bad thing.
The LA Angels sold 3.1 million tickets, who is their big time stars that set them apart from the Mets?
People in big markets will pay to see a winner. It’s a winning driven business, not a star driven business. The NBA is a star driven business.
I just love how you spin what he said into something totally unrelated when what he said is up there in plain black and white!
He said we are not a very good team, and won’t be for the duration of reyes’ contract!
Nothing about tricking the fans…
Nothing about the Wilpons forcing his hand in fact he says the opposite!
Nothing about him actually spending any money just that it doesn’t pay to spend money if your not a good team!
And he didn’t say a word about how he intended to MAKE it a good team!
Baseball isn’t star driven. At least, not in the way the NBA is. You can be an above average player on a team that wins and sell lots of jerseys.
Baseball is in that medium area between the NBA and NFL.
Yeah you go right on believing that my poor little kindergartener!
So, when Alex Rodriguez was the best player in all of baseball and signed that quarter billion dollar deal with the Rangers, how did they do?
How well did the Yankees do since trading for him?
And Texas got what they paid for in HRs! He even won MVP in 2003 for them!
And they had great attendance because of the signing.
Attendance in 2000 before A-Rod signed was 2,588,401
After signing A-Rod it went up 2,831,021
Up nearly a quarter million more tickets sold!
Stick that in your finger paints and smear!
And then in 2002 it dropped to 2.3 and the year Arod won the MVP their attendance was just over 2.0.
Guess he lost his star power in 02 and 03
Yep because the nice and shiny wore off!
They didn’t go and get him someone else to root for!
The PERCEPTION during the offseason in 2002 and 2003 was A-Rod didn’t help them and they got no one TO help him so lets not buy season tickets!
He wasn’t enough!
Attendance is all about the perception of what the fans think during the offseason when it’s time to buy season tickets!
Not what they did during the season because they lost just as much in 2001 and attendance still went up didn’t it?
“The PERCEPTION during the offseason in 2002 and 2003 was A-Rod didn’t help them and they got no one TO help him so lets not buy season tickets!”
So, in other words, a winning team does more to consistently sell than a superstar?
Nope a winning team does more to SELL OUT what your perception did not sell in the offseason.
But the majority of ticket sales are made before a game is even played!
So how could winning or losing affect that?
Winning might help the perception for the following year but signing another good player would do that and maybe more!
Tickets are sold BEFORE the game is played not after the results are in.
But you never were ever any good at temporal mechanics!
Yes, a free agent might sell more tickets in April his first year with the team. But, playoffs sell tickets for that October plus more tickets the following year.
And this again illustrates one of your many problems. you only think for the immediate. You never look long term. That maybe the exciting press conference you have today isn’t going to help you tomorrow.
Yep and those tickets sold in April are what pay the bills not the few “day of sale tickets” that you got because that player helped you get to the playoffs!
And are you trying to suggest we got a better shot at the playoffs without Reyes next season?
Really is that what the story they read you at bedtime last night said?
I’m off for 10 days for a job, so feel free to embarass yourself without my help during that time!
It shouldn’t be too hard considering what you say on a daily basis!
“Yep and those tickets sold in April are what pay the bills not the few “day of sale tickets” that you got because that player helped you get to the playoffs!”
No, the entire regular season pays the bills. Not just tickets in April. And playoff ticket sales are worth way more than regular season sales since they are more expensive and aren’t subject to the revenue sharing rules. And, even you agree you need more than one super star to make the playoffs.
Again, you’re too focused on the short term.
“And are you trying to suggest we got a better shot at the playoffs without Reyes next season?”
No, I’m saying a well rounded team has a better shot than a team that puts it all on one player. Which you agree with.
And when are those regular season tickets sold for the most part?
As SEASON TICKETS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY!
Not October, Not April, Not June, Not after the all star breal…
Sold BEFORE THE FIRST WIN OR GAME HAS BEEN PLAYED!
So, you think people will buy more season tickets to see one super star even if the team finishes in last place with him?
Yep because the fans won’t know they are a last place team unti the season is over and their check has already been cashed by the mets!
Because season tickets are paid BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS!
And they make up the majority of attendance!
“How well did the Yankees do since trading for him?”
Pretty good, but I’m fairly certain guys like Texiera, Cano, and Sabbathia have a lot to do with that.
“And Texas got what they paid for in HRs! He even won MVP in 2003 for them!”
But, they didn’t win
“And they had great attendance because of the signing.”
For 1 year. He signed a 10 year deal.
“Attendance in 2000 before A-Rod signed was 2,588,401
After signing A-Rod it went up 2,831,021
Up nearly a quarter million more tickets sold!”
And what happened after?
Precisely why the Yankees attendance didn’t go down and Texas’ did!
A-Rod and then they sat on their hands waiting for something to happen!
Just Like Sandy is doing but he’s not even kleeping his one good Attendance draw!
A-Rod probably kept his draw and they lost the draw that was already there, sat through the lack of good team building and gave up DESPITE A-Rod.
If they had continued and got good players to fill AROUND A-Rod (like the yankees did) their Attendance would not have gone down!
the SIGNING did make it go up without winning more didn’t it!
Your point is exposed as WRONG by that fact!
The comments were actually very telling. The eyewash statement was not an accident. He is saying the team is not a very good team, there is no reason to chase after Reyes because in its current condition, this team is not capable of taking advantage of Jose’s capabilities. Add to that the need of roster flexibility, which is the second key statement. He is saying the team needs roster flexibility to work its way out of its current limitatations. Signing Reyes would restrict that ability. Conclusion: the Mets will not sign Reyes as he is now considered unaffordable and a luxury for a team that he is too good for. The Mets will sign little pieces to fill holes in some limited capacity, but not Jose’ who is too good a player for this team. This will not play out well as Jose’ will soon be gone. The quandary for Mets fans will worsen and attendance will plummet further. It will get worse, muich worse, before it starts to get better. Look to 2020 for any improvement with the Mets.
I don’t care how polite he says things, he’s a well educated man, trust me, i have worked and deal with top educated people, but the main thing is that he’s saying this team will suck without using those exact words..
I too believe we’ll be fighting to stay out of the cellar next year – and maybe beyond.
That ‘eyewash’ comment probably goes a long way towards saying with or without Jose, we’ll probably still be fighting to stay out of the cellar all year.
Doesn’t mean I don’t want Jose back patrolling SS for years to come ’cause I do.
I think when all is said and done though, this FO is not going to overpay for Reyes even if he is that franchise player. Sucks but this is probably what it boils down to.
oh of course,
I don’t buy into or care one bit about “how cordial” or humorous Sandy was. I look right past that stuff and could not care any less about the unimportant crap that this post opens with. No offense to Joe D of course but I always was skeptical about individuals who go off topic like that and go with it even though the subject at hand is much more serious. It’s like a diversion to all the awful things going on right now. And I read the entire transcript of the CC on AA and wasn’t impressed at all.
It read like a business economics class at a major university. They spent so much time trying to word their questions carefully as to not to appear the slightest bit antagonistic and to me there is nothing wrong with that. Was everybody afraid to hurt Sandy’s feelings? Was everybody afraid Sandy was gonna hop into the crowd and beat someone up?
Sometimes I felt that the CC read more like bloggers trying to come off as intellectual as possible than actually trying to find out how the team could become better and if they can contend in 2012.
Nowhere near the amount of relative questions that should have been asked like:
- Are you planning to go after any starting pitching?
- A lot of excellent defensive catchers that can help the pitching staff and help mentor Thole have already been signed at reasonable prices. Since that is exactly what the Mets need what is it exactly you are looking for? I think a guy like Pudge right now would be a good fit for the Mets regardless of his age – what say you?
- Sandy, your infield right now is Ike Davis a 1B, Ruben Tejada at 2B, David Wright at 3B now if you add Jose Reyes at SS there and add to that an OF of Jason Bay and Lucas Duda don’t you think adding Jose to that infield would be worth the extra effort seeing how the market for him is now and the possibility of signing him may be a little more possible than earlier?
And if you say Santana is healthy don’t you think that starting lineup with Jose and the Mets pitching staff is a good template to build on to try and compete in 2012?
- Do you think the nucleus of the Mets is good enough to compete for a post season birth in 2012?
- Do you read the blogs? And if so have you noticed, fair or unfair, that there is an increasing amount of agitation being expressed by large segments of the fan base about the pace you’re working at going back to last year and that your not doing your best to try and win with the roster you have. How do you address that?
Questions like that.
Oh, and i want to add that question by Metspolice was a compete waste of time because there were still many more important questions about the team that could’ve been asked. But that’s typical of the saber culture that’s more prevalent now. More stupid things being said and off topic jokes and less time dedicated to the real pertinent questions that should be asked
I agree that question was a bad job but te rest were very good
I just read that whole thing on Amazin too, but did you read those comments?
SuperT – I could listen to (read) Sandy all day long. I love him so much.
Hoydestroya85 – I almost had an orgasm when I read that.
We should chip in and buy AA a blow-up life size Sandy Alderson doll that they can take turns sleeping with.
LMAO, i was checking that out too, is pathetic, what i going on in that site!?!?! are some of this guys serious!?! do they not see what’s going on!?!? people in this site are dying to make statements like that but they know they’ll get ridicule here because WE don’t put up with that crap.. if they give me one day to run this site all these saberheads will be in trouble…
LOL some around here would appear to already have one!
What Sandy Alderson is saying is pretty simple: The Mets needs many new parts. If we spend too much on just one part, we can’t afford to upgrade at other key positions.
I don’t like it but it makes plenty of sense. The sad fact is the Mets don’t appear to have the funds to pay for Reyes AND whatever else they need to win.
His thinking is: You can have an A+ shortstop on a losing team or let him go to free up resources so you can improve at many key positions.
The main problem is here is the Mets ownership and front office BSing the fans.
They should just tell us, “Hey, we’re out of cash. We haven’t won anything. We want to win. We will rebuild this franchise with exciting young players. We promise to draft intelligently, sign key pieces, and play our butts off for you.
“To reward your loyalty we are cutting ticket prices. We welcome you to Citi Field to enjoy Mets baseball. If you can’t see say you were there in ’83 when a new era began, you can say you believed in 2012!”
That kind of honesty might play better than the current line, “Er um, maybe, perhaps, wait n see — oooh look, a new pretty blue wall!”
Hog,
How does it make any sense?
Why do we have money problems? Madoff? Sandy says no!
We have them because attendance is way down!
Is getting rid of reyes going to make attendance go UP or down?
So is he SOLVING the problem or making it worse?
You have to be the only Met fan that doesn’t believe that Madoff debacle hasn’t cost the Sterling Mets.
Teams that aren’t broke don’t go borrowing money from MLB and have to ask for a 4 month extension b/c they can’t pay it back on time.
While I agree the uncertainty has hurt them financially and the Wilpons are broke, I still also agree that the #1 reason payroll is down is that revenue is down. Not many owners out there invest 40-50 million of their own money every year to bail out an under performing team’s revenue.
Yup. Pretty much b/c when the Wilpons made that statement of ‘this Madoff debacle won’t hurt the Sterling Mets’, I’ll bet it’s b/c they banked on higher revenues then they actually got the last 2 years. They put all their eggs in the new field revenues, not counting on the fact that it wasn’t going to be a lock. Either way, they’re broke and I thought that was common knowledge among Met fans. Apparently not…..
Yeah me and Sandy seem to be the only ones I guess….
All Madoff did was cut off the Wilpons from EASY money they could invest in the Mets.
Madoff didn’t CAUSE us to lose money the past two years Attendance did!
If Attendance goes up there is no need for a madoff scheme to invest in the team or to buy free agents!
Is our Attendance going up or down if Reyes is a Marlin?
Well attendance 9 times a year would be up…
That being said of course it would go down if Reyes leaves, but to what percentage and does that percentage equal the amount you are overpaying for Reyes?
That percentage is not going to be very high either way unless they win baseball games. How do they do that? Put a quality team on the field using the resources they have. They can’t use any more resources that they don’t have, borrowed to the limit. Thus they have to decide re-signing Reyes and doing nothing else the best use of those resources.
Metsie, I agree with your frustrations. You’re right, losing Reyes will hurt attendance in the short-term. Now, unless that stadium is gonna be sold out every night to watch Reyes and the 4th Place Mets, I don’t see signing Reyes as a long term solution. Unless…
the Mets find some money to invest into OTHER KEY PLAYERS RIGHT NOW. But unfortunately, that ain’t happenin’.
I have accepted the situation but I have NOT accepted the line of bull hooey that Anderson (probably on order from the Wilpons) is feeding us. Just tell us the truth. It’s rebuild time.
I would love it if they resign Reyes and then somehow find money to keep improving the club. Reyes is a big attraction.
But on a non-playoff team, he’s not enough. Now excuse me while I weep and blow my nose into my blue and orange handkerchief.
Hog remember good old fashioned creative trades? Is Saber Sandy even capable of that?
- If U feel Murphy (if recovered) is a better 3B choice than Wright (like I do) than u can tray and move Wright for major league ready young starting pitching and maybe throw a prospect like Valdespin, Vaughn, Kirk, or whoever to help make a deal – or even a 3-way deal
- Can Sandy even pull of a 3-way deal?
- If you disagree and rather keep Wright that’s fine too. You can see if there’s a taker for Murphy in the AL (and we don’t know that do we?) and package Murph w/a prospect or 2 and a pitcher
- You can maybe non-tender Pagan and/or Pelfrey if you are researching takers for them
- Maybe Gee or Niese can be packaged with Wright or Murph. Not saying I’d like that I’m just saying there are possibilities.
Remember trades? Steve Phillips, like him or not, pulled off a LOT of good creative trades that helped build those Bobby V led teams.
Hey Bayonne, how’s it going? Question for you
You said “If U feel Murphy (if recovered) is a better 3B choice than Wright (like I do)”
So I was wondering you’ve seen with your own 2 eyes Daniel Murphy play 3B how many times? Less than 30?
So you’ve seen him play 30 games or so and you can tell me he’d be a better choice at 3B over David Wright? Wright who has won 2 gold glvoes there, Murphy who has driven in 69 runs and was on pace for 69 RBI before injury this year over Wright who has driven in 100+ 5 times?
I love Murph. He’s a great depth guy, but to say he’d be a better fit at 3B over Wright is just dumb.
I was really hoping I’d get an answer here. Guess it’s just another one of those times people say things without them having merit and hope somebody believes them
It seems like we’ve lost the art and fun of talking trades here and during the conference call.
More people prefer to discuss the budget and try to sound clever and intellectual like an NYU graduate while discussing the budget instead of coming up with interesting baseball trade proposals. It’s a disgrace.
Bayonne, you’re forgetting something, Phillips and minaya took those risk because they wanted to win.. yes, second guessing now is irrelevant but at least those 2 made the teams better and went to the playoffs.. on the other hand, sandy does not care about winning or the fans.. he cares about how much money he’ll save and his paycheck… not even his legacy matters, as he continues to lose as a GM of teams, 7 straight losing seasons and counting…
Hog the question should not be can Jose reyes by himself on an island solve the revenue problem!
The issue should be is it easier to fix the problem by keeping Reyes and trying to maintain the little attendance you have and then finding ways to get players who can get you the rest of the way!
Pehaps a guy like Ike Davis becomes a draw that gets the rest you need.
Perhaps Murphy does!
Perhaps Harvey and Familia do in two years!
Maybe even someone you sign on the cheap does well and inspires more sales!
But to start off and say attendance is down lets make it lower does not solve the problem of low attendance it only makes it worse!
Like handing a person with a cold a tissue, Yep it is good to wipe your nose with but does nothing to cure the cause of the cold.
They lost 70 Mil last year with a 140 Mil payroll.
In order to cut enough to not lose money they have to get payroll down to 70 Mil AND maintain the same exact attendance.
They won’t maintain it if Reyes goes so cutting to 70 mil still loses money!
They solved nothing in that case!
The first rule of any good doctor is DO NO HARM when treating a problem.
The problem is attendance and if reyes goes we will do HARM to the patient!
Better to fix the attendance issues by fixing what is AROUND reyes cause at least he might maintain the attendance from last year!
Then you don’t have as far to go or have to spend as much to reverse the issue that is causing Reyes’ payroll to be a hardship!
Getting another group of the Buchholtz’ and Carrascos certainly is not going to help us draw more fans nor win more games!
Reyes might do both!
You can;t fix this mess by letting the good players go and filling in with cheap crap.
And that is the point people seem to miss when talking about fixing the problem here.
It’s attendance and if you fix the attendance the Payroll is not an issue!
Yanks spent 200+ mil and didn’t lose a penny!
If you build it they will come!
If you tear it down there is nothing left to see!
For those who think paying for Reyes when you’re not winning does not make sense think about this for the moment.
Remember as a kid you you going to the ballpark to see those few stars you have that are the face of the the franchise. In my, time, the seaver, koosman, kingman, mazzilli etc. and getting a kick out of just watching them perform and hoping one day that management can finally get those other stars that you read about or saw in the all star game to help your favorite team. That’s why I went to the games. And who says you don’t go to see stars? Remember when Gooden pitched?
“And who says you don’t go to see stars?”
People who see the attendance numbers.
I don’t belive that’s true. Stars create the buzz that produces attendances and winning sustains it. To me there is no better way to determine the effects of a star on attendance more than a star starting pitcher pitching on any particular day as opposed to days he is not pitching. Show me those stats and I’ll believe it.
To me the eyewash comment goes back to what I said a long time ago in terms of Reyes. If signing Reyes to a big contract forbids us from fixing other holes in the rotation, bullpen and lineup then what good did the contract do? It is not necessarily saying we will not compete with or without, however, next year that is most likely true regardless. What it is saying is that the budget is limited and if they overpay for Reyes then that’s all they get and they will again be stuck without roster flexibility thus producing similar results.
Correct. He’s saying 1 Reyes and not being able to fill in several bullpen holes, bench depth, C, maybe a SP as well as OF depth probably is not worth it. If Reyes’ price was too high, signing him just to sign him doesn’t do anybody any good.
If he’s out of your price range to do other things but having Tejada there and being able to fix other areas isn’t the worst thing in the world.
And thanks to Jessep above with the following quote backs up this opinion:
“I think what I’ve said is that we’re going to start with a payroll number, and if we re-sign Jose, we’ll figure out how to accommodate that within the payroll number. If we don’t re-sign him, that payroll will not expand, but it won’t necessarily contract. We’ll just make different player decisions. I know the next question is, ‘well, what about David Wright?’
Don’t assume there’s a direct connection between David and Jose, but I think the point I’m trying to make with what we pay Jose and the overall payroll is that the payroll’s going to be the same whether we have Jose or not, at least conceptually, that’s what we’ll have. There are a number of different variables here, but that’s the intent.”
TRS86 he’s also said that if the lose reyes the payroll will go even lower, noone has the exact number of what the payroll will be or how much they will spend, is like a puzzle game he has going on, plus, is he waiting on reyes to sign so he can see how much he has left? he should worry about putting a team that’s decent on the field instead of worrying about zombies don’t you think??? he’s got the WORST offseason a GM of the mets had ever had, and he “PROMISED” mets fans this year won’t be a wash, yet he’s contemplating about having a sorry team on the field!?!? come on man, wake up, and please tell me you’re not buying th ebullsheeet he’s throwing out there..
Guess you missed this quote:
‘I think what I’ve said is that we’re going to start with a payroll number, and if we re-sign Jose, we’ll figure out how to accommodate that within the payroll number. If we don’t re-sign him, that payroll will not expand, but it won’t necessarily contract’
Pretty much think he’s saying the payroll will be just about the same with or without Reyes.
Payroll will be the same with or without reyes… so payroll will be $110?? or $95 million??? which one? he’s not given any indication of what the payroll will be, but i do believe he’ll sign a bunch of rejects and see and hope to have one pan out so his butt kissers can come out and say what a great offseason he had because he gave us that one player.. same thing last year and the excuse was he didn’t have the money and no matter what happened it was gonna be omar’s fault, this year is going on the same pathetic direction and now is the wilpons’ fault..
I don’t know what the final payroll limit is, none of us do.
I was just commenting on your quoting Anderson that if they don’t sign Reyes, the payroll will go down. None of his quotes indicating that.
Whose he goin to get with the money?
Thats the question no one seems to think about!
They get the put the first foot forward but have no clue and no prospects for that second step!
So you want me not to buy his but buy yours
“I think the point I’m trying to make with what we pay Jose and the overall payroll is that the payroll’s going to be the same whether we have Jose or not, at least conceptually, that’s what we’ll have. There are a number of different variables here, but that’s the intent.”
For now I take him at his word. He is in a difficult situation for sure but blaming him instead of the Wipons would be incredibly foolish.
Isn’t it better to save the money on the OTHER fixes while keeping Reyes so if you fix it you have a chance to win?
And pray tell who actually thinks that not signing Reyes means we are going to sign someone else?
WHo is that going to be?
And Why hasn’t Sandy just come out and signed them and say sorry Reyes we need other things and can’t afford you?
It’s one thing to say you can’t sign Reyes to sign other things…Well if that is true then SIGN THOSE THINGS ALREADY and say Sorry Reyes we aren’t interested!
So far all we are doing is not paying Reyes and nothing else!
Nice to say we will fix other holes but so far how many holes have we actually fixed?
And who is going to be signed to fix them?
How can you fill holes if you keep making more?
Do I consider him a franchise player? Yes. But a franchise player is only valuable as such if he is contributing to a winning franchise as opposed to simply acting as eye wash for a team that is not very good.”
I read that as if you have a “franchise (Reyes) player” but the rest of the team surrounding him is not good enough where even with the “franchise (Reyes) player’s” help the team is not good enough to contribute toward a winning franchise then having a “franchise (Reyes) player” loses it’s purpose/value if you can’t/don’t surround him with more good players.
In other words the Mets would like to sign Reyes but not to the point where doing so leaves them where they can’t or greatly diminish other moves to make the team better overall or else then signing Reyes will have no value cause the team will still not be good.
Hey NJ, amazing how we see this exactly the same and it seems so clear… I really don’t get how you could read it any other way.
MNJ, isn’t SANDY ALDERSON’S job to surround that franchise player with talent!?!?!!?!?!?!?!
am i missing something here?
Yes it is but the job in doing so may be affected by how much is committed to Reyes.
Obviously. What am I missing here? Besides the Yankees, whose budget is not dictated by a high priced FA signing? Think the Cards payroll is not affected by Pujols? They have not done much of anything with holes in important areas. Why? Because they are waiting on Pujols.
Yeah, at least the cards put an offer on the table for pujols unlike sandy to reyes, also, if the cards don’t get pujols they will invest the money on good players, the mets most likely will pocket the money and get crap..
Alex, what good players are out there to replace Albert friggin Pujols? Cards are in a bind there for sure.
Alderson made an attempt, but Reyes and his camp wanted to test the market, so lets put it out there, not just what is convenient for the immature hate agenda.
It is not a hate agenda. It is speaking the facts, the guy has done nothing since stepping in the door besides set the franchise back 50 years. the sny rating and the empty ballpark prove that. your blind love is pathetic, when sandy does something besides talk i am sure “the haters” will rejoice. we want results not excuses as your breed consistently makeup.
Another childish response. Contrary to what you think I don’t have blind love for the guy, I have patience because I have been a fan for the majority of that 50 years you claim he set the team back, proving what little you know about the NY Mets and their history.
I don’t know if he’s going to be a good GM, he may in hindsight be one of the awful ones, the point is AT THIS STAGE you don’t know anymore than I do………….5 mons until Opening Day, the jury is out, despite your know it all attitude.
funny you called me a hater and i am the childish one. again u ignore the facts i speak. sandy has done nothing for the franchise besides hold press conferences to get the bloggers on his side, yet he is great to some. it’s no wonder the mets cannot build a winner because some like yourself will love anything regardless of results. gms don’t leave more holes than swiss cheese in their roster and then go on to say we will compete this year. only jessep’s will buy that. the citi stands back me up, you have nothing to back up your claim he is helping the franchise.
I have never used the word hater – but continue making up things.
You are not stating facts – you are stating opinion – learn the difference
My favorite lie is how infer that it’s my fault the Mets never building winner because someone like me will love anything regardless of the results.
I love people like you that think they can speak for me and know what I like and don’t.
Sandy also wanted to see how reyes played before his almighty eyes before signing him.. it goes both ways you know.. he said he wanted to “evaluate” reyes before offering a contract instead of just taking advantage of him at that point.. but, since he’s been out of baseball since 2008 i am sure noone were texting him about what reyes and the mets were doing while checking for steroids in DR.. he’s the Worst GM i have seen in the mets organization, but, by some here he’s a genius, he’s had a great start to his GM career as a met etc, last i checked the man has a streak of 7 straight losing season as a GM of a franchise.. now THAT must mean he’s not as genius as we all think he is
There isn’t a GM in ANY sport, that would have walked in the door and signed a guy to an extension, knowing the injury history of said player the three years prior to him arriving.
3 yrs?? 2009 and 2010 was more like fluky injuries like the thyroid and oblique, nothing to do with his hamstrings… get your facts straight before commenting ok.. this is the reason why almost nobody wanna debate or even talk to you, not only cuz you are a baiter but because you bring nothing to a discusssion but pure fictiticious comment..
Ya, Kay, get your facts straight. His most recent injuries were hamstring related.
Ya, it was only this year he had the injury that kept him out for a month and prevented him from utilizing his speed when he returned.
oblique injuries are flukey?
First alex… suddenly you’re replicating Bayonne in this theory that you’re the only person who ever figured out their two feet could help them run a mile.
Second of all. A thyroid injury is a fluke injury. Cutting yourself when you’re opening a box is a fluke injury. Crashing head first into Carlos Beltran is a fluke injury.
Straining a hamstring or oblique injury is not a fluke injury. The oblique muscles are used in practically every motion a baseball player uses. Every Pitcher, every fielder throwing and every hitter swinging is stretching their oblique muscle.
Did you know that there are reports that suggest almost a third of all oblique muscle injuries since 1991 occur in April? Because people believe the muscle isn’t prepared for the day to day uses.
Some believe dietary supplements are responsible, like creatine.
Here’s some light reading for you… http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/creatine-a-legal-dietary-supplement-banned-leagues-linked-oblique-injury-epidemic-article-1.110410
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/24/mlbs-oblique-injury-epidemic-may-be-traced-to-creatine/
If players like Longoria, Granderson, Pagan, Arod, Bay, Happ, Paulino, Garland, Hardy as an example have all missed time for 1 specific injury, that injury is not a fluke.
YES they are, since you never ever play baseball let me explain something to you, when you take a bad swing, fielding a grounder you can mess up your oblique. to avoid this type of injuries is best to do a lot of abs exercise because even though oblique is a rib cage is consider part of the abdomen area, where if strong enough this type of injury almost never happened, is not the same as a pitcher having elbow or shoulder injuries, or a hitter having a wrist injury, exercising is really good for a baseball player, legs and a lot of cardio as well as strenghten your abs muscles is very recommended by trainers, stretching etc, but i am sure you wouldn’t know this because i am sure you never play baseball, just learn it by reading a book about numbers… for once, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, take the high road…
Funny how you tell me to get my facts straight, and call me a baiter (once again you are not using the word in the correct context), Tell me oh powerful and all knowing, was it not a calf injury that kept him out the majority of 09 how many games did he play? 30 something??????? You are clueless
Don’t worry, I enjoy discussing and debating with grown ups and people that actually know the game, hence you have no interest in doing so with me. Good thing there are some of those grown ups still left here at MMO.
Uhhh TRS they just won the WS with wha they have and are waiting for Pujols to KEEP winning those WS…
They don’t have attendance issues. They didn’t lose money because no one showed up!
Yanks spent 200+ Mil and didn’t lose money!
We spent 140 Mil and did!
Maybe if we had the stars the Yankees had we WOULD win for one and we would have enough attendance to not have to let Franchise players go!
Bingo.
Well MNJ considering it’s a 5 year contract Sandy has basically said Reyes wopuldn’t be worth having because we won’t be good anytime in the next 5 years!
If we were then Reyes WOULD be worth having no?
It just shows that Sandy thinks we are not going to be a team worth having a franchise player for the next 5 years!
If we were then Reyes would be worth having!
I wouldn’t interpret it as that.
You might not interpret it but thats what he said…
Having a franchise player isn’t worth it unless your team is going to be good.
Reyes is looking for a 4 or 5 year deal.
Sandy is saying he isn’t worth having which basically means we are not good for the next 4 or 5 years!
You really don’t need to INTERPRET that it was said pretty much in plain english!
We are not good enough to really make signing Reyes worth it. And won’t be during the course of that contract!
How does that comment say that at all?
Only thing it does say is that if they spend all their money on Reyes and do not fill the other holes they will still suck either way.
reyes isn’t worth having if we are not very good!
Reyes wants 5 years!
If he is not worth having in the next 5 years then obviously Sandy thinks we won’t be good at anypoint in the next 5 years!
It’s english folks you should have learned all these words and what they mean in grade school!
If reyes is not worth having on a not very good team.
And reyes is not worth signing to a 5 year deal then the stement clearly says we will not be a very good team in the next 5 years!
Especially without Reyes to make us a good team!
Metsie, do you not understand the overall fact that until revenues go up the Mets payroll will be around 100M? IF the Mets spend all their money on Reyes then it might very well take 5 years for them to become good because they will not have the money to spend to fix other holes and will have to rely on their farm system for those players? However, if they do not spend all their money on Reyes and get him for a good price they will be able to supplement him with other talent. IF they are unable to sign him at all then those resources will eventually be put into other areas of need. It’s not hard to figure out what he is saying. He is not saying at all that the Mets will not be good for 5 years. He is saying the budget will not allow more than just Reyes if they overspend.
And you do not understand without Jose Reyesinspiring people ti buy tickets those revenues are going DOWN not UP!
If the goal,is to make revenues go up then the goal should be to keep the players who sustaing what you have and THEN go get someone who makes them go up!
All Sandy is doing is making revenue go down if he lets Reyes go!
So is he solving the revenue issue or making it worse?
It’s like putting killer rims on a Ford Focus. It’s still a Ford Focus.
I can’t recall in detail many of the questions asked last year during the bloggers conference call but I feel like yesterday’s conference call was the best by far. Taking nothing away from Rusty who asked a good question I felt that Joe D, Howard Megdal and Mike Silva’s questions garnered the most insight into the team’s thought process.
I stopped reading when he said this has nothing to do with Madoff.
He wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for Madoff.
Jayson Stark
Chris Capuano has agreed to deal with #Dodgers, sources say. @JimBowdenESPNxm reports it’s 2 yrs, $10M. More to come at
Great job Joe.
Sandy said this, which I feel was the most important part of the answer – not because it answered the question but really – how gullible does he think we are:
“And when I say beyond our ability, this doesn’t have anything to do with Bernie Madoff. This really has to do with our vision of where the team can be and what we need to be able to do over the next two-to-four years to create a sustainable, winning roster. I have said on many occasions, that what we need is some roster flexibility eventually that allows us the freedom from a roster standpoint to make some of these decisions that are going to be costly, but to be able to do them in a way that enables us to rationalize the overall roster and the overall payroll.”
This is NOT about roster flexibility – if it was – with tens of millions of dollars coming off the books – we have the roster flexibility right now. We also have a dreadful bullpen, holes in the starting pitching, a ‘franchise player that may hit the bricks because we are not competitive. And we have needs at catching, the outfield and second base.
This is all about Madoff. I don’t mind Sandy staying away from the obvious 800 pound gorilla but please – don’t bring his name up and deny that it has an effect.