27
2012
Fred Wilpon Speaks On Payroll, Finances, Says Reyes Was A Baseball Decision
An article by 
Fred Wilpon met with reporters this morning and took questions for about 20 minutes without ducking or avoiding any of them. Adam Rubin has the entire transcript, but here’s a few things that caught my attention:
You cut your payroll dramatically. How concerned should Mets fans be about the future and viability of you owning this franchise?
“Well, they shouldn’t be concerned about us owning the franchise, because we intend to own the franchise for a very long time. Whether they’re happy about that right now or not, I don’t know. Don’t forget, we cut a lot of payroll that wasn’t producing. If you look at the payroll now, it’s fluid. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what Sandy is going to do. Many of the people that weren’t producing are not here now. Terry just said, yeah, we didn’t make many major moves that Sandy and Terry wanted to make, but we’re pretty satisfied with some of the people that were coming back from injury, and pretty satisfied with some of the people whose career years were not great last year and they weren’t satisfied. They think they have a pretty good team. So do I.”
There’s been a lot of talk about David Wright’s future. Is your intention to try to lock him up and keep him here for good?
“My intention is always to follow what the baseball people [say]. In spite of what you all used to say that we were running the baseball department, Sandy Alderson has a great feel for this. So does Terry. And if it works out, I would be thrilled. I think there’s no finer guy. He’s just a very fine young man. Any of us who are old enough to have him as a son would be proud to have him as a son.”
When can you get payroll back to where it was a few years ago and where you can spend for big free agents?
“Well, that’s Sandy view. Sandy, he was the architect when he came in of saying, ‘I want to do some things, I want to have some flexibility and I want to have flexibility in the four or five areas that you can have flexibility in.’ And that’s what he’s doing. I don’t know whether there’s someone out there that he might want. I don’t remember a time that we’ve turned down when the general manager and the manager wanted certain people. Look at our history. For a long period of time, some of it wasn’t well-invested. And you criticized us for that, rightfully. So now you have a right to say, ‘OK, you’d like seven more stars here.’ But if some of these guys become stars then …”
Isn’t Sandy acting within your parameters though? Wouldn’t he have treated Jose Reyes differently, or pursued more high-end free agents, if the payroll was set higher?
“Listen, we certainly act in certain broad parameters. But the parameters always change. I think, I’m not sure of this, but I think Sandy made an offer of around $100 million that Jose could have earned if he were healthy. But Jose did what was best for Jose. Jose is a very nice young man and a very good player and we wish him well. I think we’ve got a very nice young player who will play shortstop this year.”
Is it fair to say the contract Reyes got from Miami was more or less a baseball decision as opposed to having anything to do with team finances?
“It was clearly a baseball decision. Are we a little leery of six-year, seven-year, eight-year contracts? Yes. Is Sandy leery of it? You bet. I’m big-time leery of it. So, listen, others have done it. I don’t want to criticize anybody else whose done something different. We did different also, and we were burned. That doesn’t mean there won’t be some player in the future that we think we would do something with longer term, but the history has not been very good.”
Read the rest of this at ESPN New York.
Much of what was said goes against what has been reported and validates much of what I’ve been saying now for a very long time.
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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I agree on the Reyes being a baseball decision. Even without the Madoff issue I believe it came down to the Mets not wanting to guarantee the 6th year or $100M.
Agreed, according to Fred the Mets had an offer proposed to the agent (Same thing Sandy said) that would approach 100M but would not guarantee that many years.
SA said all along that the issue with retaining Reyes was more about the years more so than the money. Kind of knew going into the off season we probably weren’t going to offer 6 years guaranteed – not for the amount Reyes was looking for. He wanted that 100 MIL guaranteed, from what I was reading.
Hey Joe D, so it looks as if when all is said and done the Mets will have about $240M with the 2 shares the Wilpons invested if everything goes down as been reported today.
It’s the shell game like you was saying.
Reyes was a baseball decision = Reyes was a Sandy Alderson decision. He was never in the equation as a few of us have noted since December of 2010. Didnt like his OBP, thought stolen bases were overrated, picked up option rather than negotiate, declined spring training deadline to negotiate, acted all interested mid season when he knew Reyes wouldnt negotiate during season, said he wouldn’t use exclusive negotiating window after World Series ended, said he wont make an offer because he wanted the market to set his value, ducked for cover after he accepted Marlins offer which they increased to get the deal done.
Maniac, and yet there’s still people here who defend that as******… lies about franchise player and let one go like nothing…
Some people can read events and circumstances and make an informed opinion, while others cannot and need bloggers and journalists to guide their opinions for them.
He didn’t let him go like nothing. he let him go like 100+mill for the next 6 years.
Yeah, and a box of chocolates.
And eventually we will find out if that baseball decision was the right decision. Just because we love some Jose Reyes does not mean that it was a bad decision.
so now you predict the future too??????? how do you know that decision was the right desicion? based on what???? that your boy sandy alderson is never wrong no matter what?
READ buddy READ…..
I said IF. I have no idea if it will be the right decision but again you go right back to your insults and grouping me into the yiiiiipppppiiieee Sandy club just because I am willing to be patient.
And the current Mets team to be a 69 win team… we all make predictions but here I for sure did not.
Personally if we could have gotten Reyes for 5 years at 15-16M each I would have welcomed him back. 6 years 100M+? I wanted no part in that. Again, right now if we take both parties at their word, the Mets wanted no part of that either.
5/85 or 5/90 would have been great. Too bad Reyes came out and said he wanted 100 mil. He forced the Mets to say bye to him.
I know “the Core” is going to flame me here but if the Mets wouldnt(or couldnt) go 6/100 why bother offering a contract? Its not like Jose said ” ok Mets, Ill take a hometown discount and accept a 5/90 offer”.
becuase until the Marlins (and apparently only the Marlins) put one on the table, they had no way of knowing if he would be able to get one.
First of all, the mets NEVER offered him a contract, it was clear to me and many of the mets fans who are not saber bias that sandy alderson NEVER wanted reyes here, he started taking shots at him from day one, SB’s are overrated, OBP, we’ll see how he does, etc… he has a small market mentality and that is why he is here, again, how do you know that if the offered was that he wouldn’t have take it? it’s gotta be there in order to see whether he wanted the money or not, but the marlins neeeded him and went the extra mile to get him, this as***** never even attempted to meet up with reyes, he had a 5 day window and didn’t even call him, it’s a shame because reyes not only was a great player but a good guy, fun guy in the clubhouse, energetic, feed off the fans, homegrown, everything you want in a player and all it took to lose him was to have the WORST GM in mets history to screw that up… he even took a shot at him and mock the fans with his snarky as* remark of “perhaps i should’ve sent him a box of chocolate”, this man thiinks that just because he went to an ivy league school he can make a fool out of us real fans??
Here is the flipside to that Alex.
You say,
“First of all, the mets NEVER offered him a contract”
I say,
The agent himself said that Alderson and him had discussed the parameters of a deal where at one point the agent told Alderson the parameters of said deal “were not competitive” with the Marlins offer.
You say Alderson,
he started taking shots at him from day one, SB’s are overrated, OBP, we’ll see how he does, etc…
I say,
he also said, “What we need in the future, lots of Jose Reyes if we want to be a good team. ”
You say,
“how do you know that if the offered was that he wouldn’t have take it?”
I say,
Again, Reyes agent told Alderson that the parameters of what the Mets were talking “were not competitive” with the Marlins’ offer.
You say,
“he even took a shot at him and mock the fans with his snarky as* remark of “perhaps i should’ve sent him a box of chocolate””
I say,
I agree as far as it would of been better to take the high road but at the same token this was in reply to Reyes talking about how he felt loved when as far as I am concerned and based on the quote so does Alderson it was about giving him a guaranteed 6 years $100M.
The point is there are many ways to look at this and not to take away anything from how you feel I’m pretty sure that just because you feel the way you do doesn’t mean your any less of a “real fan” than me for feeling the way I do. Agreed?
Again, what was the contract then? noone knows. Either reyes’ agent was lying or reyes, because they said no offered from the mets were made, they kept saying with incentives of the deal he’ll get to 100$ million, then why not just say we have 5-90 5-85 on the table with incentives that can make him up to $100 million player.. again, you have your views on that and i have mines, i think alderson botched the negotiation from day one, also, if i recall, he did say that about reyes when he realized the man was on fire and he knew how wrong he was..
look at what alderson has done and how he’s handle himself, with the twittering and his snark remarks, taking shots at other teams becuse they actually SPEND money… how can anyone like the direction of this team? i did not know getting a single A pitcher means this much to a guy’s reputation and recognition…
The parameters of the contract was one that was not competitive with the Marlins offer. This was not in dispute by either side. Greenberg waited to hear from the Mets to see if they would come back with something that would be competitive and they never did.
“We were still waiting on them,” Greenberg said.
Officially no offer was made that doesn’t mean the agent never spoke to the Mets and in fact the agent knew that the discussions they were having got to the point where the Mets discussions with the agent “were not competitive” with what the Marlins had offered. The agent waited to hear back until he knew the Mets were out of it.
Again 5/90 was competitive? maybe option for 6th year? at 6/10? but nope. alderson said go ahead, we’re not paying the money nor the years….
According to Greenberg it was not competitive. His words not Alderson. I agree with you that in the end the GM said he would not match the guaranteed money or years. In time we will know if this was a decision that will come back to haunt him. You know I always thought they would work something out despite the popular opinion that believed they wouldn’t but I didn’t think the Mets would give him the years I felt they would meet in the middle by way of option years. Reyes took the guaranteed years and money. I can’t blame him for that.
The Mets never intended to sign Reyes.
Maybe Jose really wanted to go to Florida.
Des,
I think it got to a point that he had no choice (though we should all be in such situations).
The Miami offer blew away all other competition. Wonder what other clubs that were interested would have offered.
‘alderson said go ahead, we’re not paying the money nor the years….’
I’ll agree with this. Because the Mets weren’t going to offer guaranteed 6 years/100.
Hi North,
The flip-side to your argument is that the Mets could have tried negotiating a contract with Jose’s agent a long time before the Marlins made the ridiculous offer. The Marlins came into the picture way after the door to the theater could have been closed.
How long a deal and for how much is up to debate and I don’t think many of us would have blamed Sandy for Jose taking a walk if there were offers on the table beginning last winter and Jose still wanted to play the FA market. But when an ownership won’t participate in any negotiations at any time, it was literally telling Jose to look for employment somewhere else.
Hi Joey D,
I agree the Mets could have tried to negotiate a contract long before the Marlins came into the picture. That said I am not of the opinion that a new GM coming in decided to take a wait and see approach with a player entering his final year to then mean they was literally telling Jose to look for employment somewhere else.
It is not unheard of for teams that have even an already established GM let alone a GM just walking in the door to take such a approach. Follow that with once the season got underway Reyes had said he just wanted to focus on baseball and the GM in June still reached out to Greenberg to initiate discussion to get a sense of what they may be seeking and Greenberg replied with Reyes earlier request that he still just wants to focus on baseball and not negotiate through the season.
Hi North,
What you say about the ways GM’s handle contract negotiations is, of course, true, but there are factors to consider that make the case of Jose unique and different from, lets say, the Cardinals waiting to begin re-negotiations with Puljos.
The Mets were talking about cutting payroll from the day Sandy came on board. Sandy then signed players who were cast-off by other teams or reclamation projects at bargain basement prices. The rumors were abundant regarding Jose being shipped off even before spring training began. As the players reported to Port. St. Lucie Sandy was non committal about even his desire to keep Jose. Then Fred came out and made disparaging remarks about both Jose and Wright.
But the signs were there even before Sandy came on board. In 2010, we bypassed the starting pitching available in the free agent market which was our main concern (Omar’s plan A), eventually signed Jason Bay and then went on pursuing the likes of a Gary Matthews Jr. a Mike Jacobs and even a R.A. Dickey (granted, a great surprise).
By early July we were still in second place only 1.5 games out when a slide began pushing us further away to 6.5 out by the end of the month while still hanging onto second place. That is the time general managers begin seeking out help to strengthen the team to mprove their chances – but Omar didn’t. His hands were already tied by that time. From a record that was at one point 46-36, the team fell apart, going 32-48 the rest of the way and though a lot had was due to injuries catching up to us, there was still non-movement on the part of the front office before that time when our chances appeared very good.
So we can see a pattern beginning after the 2009 season that I think eventually led to Jose being given his walking papers. And I don’t think it was Sandy’s call, either.
Wilpon really takes us all to be idiots. Slashing payroll opens up flexibility… yeah, and you’re supposed to use that flexibility to start fixing holes. We have a starting staff full of end-of-the rotation guys (Santana a change-up pitcher, needs a fastball to excel, until I see him hitting 93-94 again on the gun I’m going to be sold of a comeback), a weakening (from last year) defense, a weakening lineup without the batting champ, a bench full of AAA players… all in a division with most teams improving.
So Fred, stop with the PR, say what’s happening, you’re out of money but going to sell off a portion of the team to refinance and once everything stabilizes you’ll start spending just enough money so we can start crashing and burning in September again, instead of May.
GW — Yes Santana needs a pretty good fastball to excel. But the days are few that we’ll see him hitting 93-94 on the radar gun. But if he can dial it up to 91-92, he’ll be a valuable pitcher with his great changeup. He’s just not going to be the best of the best.
Agreed, let’s hope he can do that! I’ll be watching the gun very closely!!
before even reading it, I will say that Fred should have stayed in hiding like he was for a while there. If you never speak you can’t say anything stupid.
You can’t do that though. You have to speak, otherwise the media really will tear you apart.
It really is a no win situation though now.
If he speaks openly, he gets roasted for what he says (and called a liar for what he didn’t?)
If he speaks but only says some broad cliches, he gets cruxified for not speaking openly (see option 1!)
If he doesn’t speak at all, he gets called out for hiding, and the talking heads all read disaster into that.
so, pick the lesser of the evils I guess!
Off Topic: When I read tweets like this:
DPLennon: Most fun I’ve had so far is watching Duda take BP on Field 7. Clears the old walls with ease. Teammates oohing and aahing with every swing.
http://twitter.com/DPLennon/statuses/174189098842595329
I wish the Mets would setup a freaking webcam similar to the one Earthcam uses at Time Square and stream Batting Practice,
No, No, NO, you are not allowed to care about batting practice. We learned that last week.
Serious questin (being as I don’t live in the market).
I assume that during the day, there is nothing of interest on SNY at this time of year. So, don’t you think it would improve ratings if they just live streamed practice for 1/2 the day?
hell, people will sit watching the traffic cam channel for hours at a time. Sure as shooting I would sit there watching these guys do drills and take BP!
Oh, and Duda is going to be a monster this year. Huge huge #s. Book it dan-o. It is guaranteed.
Agreed, just set up a still camera and let it go. No need for talking.
There’s nothing of interest on SNY most of the year WAKA WAKA
Seriously, I do wonder what the overhead on something like that is. It can’t be that much since they already have equipment and personnel there.
Duda and Davis have big years, but mets still win 69 games..
“so now you predict the future too???????”
How about an apology there buddy?
Lol, yeah, the CORE apologize…. didn’t see the IF
the only way they drop that low is if nearly everyone gets hurt, or flat out sucks. And I am not expecting either one to happen.
If Duda and Davis have big years, and the rest of the guys are at least relatively normal, they will easily be a .500ish team.
‘hell, people will sit watching the traffic cam channel for hours at a time’
LOL….really? That has to be a little like watching paint dry.
MNJ, no PONGAS en duda, a lucas duda!!!! LOL, i like me some duda, i actually thought he’d be a big Pile of nothing but he impressed me enough to say, yes, he’s DUDA!!!!!
I still think they ultimately would be better off if he were in LF and playing Bay in RF.
you meaning platooning in RF with a LH hitter with equally dramatic platoon splits, right?
You are probably right in moving Duda to left field but until Jason Bay starts to hit again they probably won’t make the move. Bay is a good outfielder and would do fine in right field where a strong throwing arm is important. If there is any hope of this team having a.500 record they are going to need a strong comeback from Jason
LoL, that sounds like a great idea for Banner Day Alex.
“No Pongas en Duda, a Lucas Duda!!!”
MNJ. yes, i like that!!!!
Guys,
I am not the best Spanish speaker, but how about:
No hay duda sobre LU-Cas!
At least we hope.
Tenemos su Duda Aqui! (That won’t translate, but I was thinking, “We got your Doubt right here!”
Tenemos su Duda Aqui! (That won’t translate, but I was thinking, “We got your Doubt right here!”
LMAO!!!! good russell, that one can be used as well…
Might be time to find another team. I cant take these three clowns anymore. And they wont go away, Selig wont let it happen.
OK afraid to ask but can some of my TRDM friends get me a link to Sandy’s trade history?
Best trade i can think of was bob welch??
That’s all I remember but I was looking for an extensive history. What we keep getting is him compared to Billy but yet as far as I know I can’t think of any trades where Sandy traded a high talent controllable player for prospects. So to say that when the young guys are stars he will just trade them away too would apply more to Billy, they are not one in the same. Sandy when he had money in Oakland spent it and produced, traded for pieces and signed them through FA. He did not start to penny pinch until the owner forced him to slash salary. This is my problem with judging his current work and your comments like he does not want to win. Did he not want to win in Oakland when he WAS winning? Did he suddenly stop wanting to win when the owners slashed payroll and he was forced to come up with other ways to compete?
Hi Tr,
My thoughts entirely regarding Sandy. He was successful when given financial leverage to work with, not when he was forced to cut payroll and keep it that way. He did not put together those great Oakland teams by getting under-valued talent looked over by others. He developed a good farm system, signed free agents with established credentials and made some good trades to get others. No Youngs, no Capuanos, no Carascos, etc.
So I give Sandy credit for being a very good general manager with an astute knowledge of the game and a keen eye for talent – for when he was forced to experiment with computer analysis and financial grading, he got nowhere – just like he is being forced to do now. I just don’t like when he has to publicly go along with the company line for it makes both him and the fans seem like idiots.
Poor Fred is getting senile in his old age. Maybe he forgot he hired a bankruptcy company last month, lol.
Lets get that one straight too though. Technically that firm does much more than bankruptcy consulting.
Once again I will state for the record since I have stated beginning in December 2010, fielding a contending team IS NOT the priority of the Wilpons. The priority of the Wilpon’s is rehabilitating their finances.
The Wilpon’s are working hand in hand with Major League base. Major League baseball has given the Wilpon’s the “ok” to field a non-competitive team.
Of course many on this board ridiculed me when I stated over and over again that the Mets had begun a “rebuilding phase.” I forgive you all, my genius is a forgiving gentle intellect.
So what is my next prediction, over the next few years look for the Mets to take add playes to their roster out of the blue. Major League baseball will use the Mets as sort of a dumping gorund for players who are in good standing but have a bloated contract and have worn out their welcome on their present team. Once again you will say I am crazy… and once again a few years from now when 60 minutes or Sports Illustrated does an expose I will remind you what I have written.
I grow tired, my big giant brain need a rest, oh the burden I carry.
Fred can say whatever he likes. However there are 2 things we definitely know about the Wilpons.
1. They are broke.
2. They are liars.
They didn’t re sign Reyes because they didn’t have the money. This idea that it was Sandy is a flat out lie. I really hope for his sake he gets the next commissioners job because this assignment to be “Mets GM” while they have zero money is a thankless no win kind of job.
I think that’s the plan Gregg.
So wait you would have went 5 / 90 for Reyes but 6/106 was too much?
He’s the best positional player we have ever had! He was 28! He was the only player worth watching on this awful team and you’d go 5 years but not 6!
Thats ridiculous.
Is it me or is everyone else seeing some of these comments all over the place – and not in ‘time’ order?
For instance, this one above by me should have appeared at the bottom……
Joe – maybe you can help me with this one because I’m a bit confused. According to the Daily News:
“… Wilpon said the sale of seven of a possible 12 minority stakes in the team worth $20 million apiece — which are expected to boost the team’s operating cash flow and enable it to repay a $25 million loan to MLB — are currently in escrow awaiting closing. He also revealed that two of those shares will be purchased by members of his family and four by SNY.”
So let me get this right, two of the $20 million shares have been bought by Wilpon family members with an additional four $20 million shares being bought by SNY. That totals six shares. Is that six of the seven shares that are currently in escrow meaning they have one share that isn’t connected with Wilpon or SNY?
Or, are the Wilpon’s and SNY shares on top of the seven in escrow – meaning they have a possibility of 13 shares and not 12? (six and seven equals 13 not 12).
I can’t make any sense of the math.
Tlagee according to ESPN they reported the following, “Four of the shares in escrow have been purchased by SportsNet New York, of which Wilpon’s Mets own a majority stake, Wilpon said.”
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7620552/spring-training-2012-fred-wilpon-intends-new-york-mets-owner-very-long-time
So at least 4 of the 7 in escrow are from SNY.
thanks NJ – still as clear as mud though.
I think the wilpons are jerks, liars and conartists. If i owned the mets yes i would have at least offered jose a 4 year deal with a 1 year option worth about 70 million. To me the madnees of the wilpons needs to stop. We don’t live in the late 70;s or the 80′s. Sandy and the wilpons we live in 2012. The decisons of today style of baseball is different than yesterday, how can u not see that. Yes alot of these players take advantaged of the money, yes they are not worth it., but we live in new york, where the city is awesome better then anywhere, our fans have waited for so long now for the mets to be a true contender for a long time like the yankees, but you damn wilpons hold us back from doing it. Why is it so hard for you guys to see that. Why can’t you men do what’s right for this organization period, sell, sell, sell. Make us happy can’t u understand that. You people that own this team haven’t prove to us u r ready to make a difference for the better. SO please laeve your talk of dumb stops, and talk about selling our mets team so that we can have that championship flag for years to come. Why don’t anybody agree.
It’s about time that you guys accept the fact that Sandy Alderson was brought in to save a sinking ship. You can piss and moan about the Wilpon’s all you want but they are not selling.
Whether Sandy moves on to be the next commissioner or not he is the guy that is going to try and reshape the organization. There will be no long term contracts where health risks are involved. In so far as what Sandy says in public…..could he say that our team is not going to compete this year? He doesn’t owe any of us an explanation as to his decisions. He works for Fred Wilpon. He will make his decisions so that he will be forming a stronger future for the team and you fair weather fans better get used to it.
Half of you think that you could be a manager or a GM just because you play in your fantasy baseball leagues…..SNAP OUT OF IT
They claim it was a baseball decision. Interesting that on a team as crappy as the current Mets, there is no room to resign a batting champ. Baseball decision my arse.
Remember when Pete Runnels won the american league batting title in 1962 and the Red Sox then shipped him off to the Colts for Ramon Mejias. Neither hung around that much longer in the big leagues.
Not that it lets the Mets off the hook for being any less of an arse for doing so – just reminded me that it had been done before. If the Wilpons do not have the money to have even made a token offer to re-sign a young batting champion before Miami came into the picture, that shows how broke Sterling Equities is – and that their intention was never to re-sign Jose and just say that they could not match the highest offer, whatever it might have been (and Miami eventually gave them the perfect out).