6
2012
MMO Fair or Foul: Boycotting The Mets In 2012
An article by 
This ended up being a terrible weekend for me. What started as a routine doctor visit on Friday, ended up with me being admitted to the hospital for the umpteenth time in the last 3 years. So this is coming to you live from my hospital bed and via my Blackberry.
So anyway, I read this post by Dave Searles of NJ.com yesterday morning on what has become a frequent topic of debate; boycotting the Mets.
A boycott of Citi Field, he writes, may be necessary to force the three stooges (Jeff, Saul and Fred) to sell the Mets.
In an emotional response to a Mets survey that has been sent out to current and former ticket plan buyers, Searles. A longtime Met fan from the seventies, concludes the following after a harsh indictment of the Wilpons:
I will not be attending any games at Citi Field in 2012. The only way this train wreck of a franchise will get fixed is if we collectively stop enabling the incompetent fools who own the Mets.
If you really love the Mets and can’t bring yourself to switch your allegiance to another team … the best way to show your love in 2012 is to stay away from Citi Field.
That is the only way we will ever get to see just how good Sandy Alderson can be without small market payroll restriction.
This is something I keep hearing more and more of from Mets fans these days, even the die-hards. And while I empathize with them, I think their efforts are futile.
I don’t believe anyone goes to the ballgames to support the owners. Most of the fans I know including me, go to the park because they love the game, the team, and the players. They love the drama of the game, the charm and ambiance of the park, and most of all – cheering and rooting for the home team.
Why take your dissatisfaction with ownership out on the team? I don’t get that.
Also, what does a self imposed ban on Citi Field prove, if you’re still going to watch them on the Wilpon owned SNY anyway? What kind of a protest is that? Seems half-baked to me.
I fell in love with the Mets during the M. Donald Grant years. That was as bad as you could get. Grant was completely against free agency – a far cry from the Wilpons who have been out-spent only by the Yankees since 2000.
Nobody says you need to root for the owner. I’m pretty sure that Miami Marlins fans will go to the games in droves this season despite their disdain for Loria.
If you’re a Met fan and you enjoy going to games, I think its ridiculous to deprive yourself and others from supporting the team.
I’m glad my dad and my uncle took me to the games during the darkest era in Mets history as a child.
It’s a shame that a new generation of kids may be deprived of such an amazing opportunity to fall in love with the Mets the way I did, simply because their dads or uncles were engaged in a silly protest that will ultimately prove ineffective and useless.
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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First, hope you’re doing well over there Joe.
Second, I think any “fan” that boycots a team is either a) taking sports too seriously or b) is just doing their part to make matters worse.
Look it’s not going to be pretty but if you don’t watch on tv and don’t go to the games based on protest, you’re not going for force the Mets to sell… you’re going to force them to cut costs even further than what they have.
I get the frustration but I think the general idea of boycotting to get rid of owners who CLEARLY are capable of making moves to ensure they can financially remain as owners is a waste of time.
Joe Sorry to hear your not feeling well. Jeez there certainly are more important things to worry about than the Mets, and your still soldering on. Balls, heart and passion and a sincere all the best from all your readers.
I agree with you and Jessep. If you love the game and the Team why deprive yourself of something you enjoy? Sure Met fans have every right to be angry and everyone’s entitled to their own reasons for feeling that way but not only will a boycott not do anything worthwhile it will also harm the long term interests of the team.
I’ve always made a point of bringing as many kids as possible to their first baseball game and many others afterward in the hopes of growing the fan base. One thing many of my Grand Children, nieces, nephews and friends kids have always remembered is the kids dash around the bases. They all remember the time they ran the bases at Shea and Citi and consequently have fond memories of the Mets.
While it hasn’t been easy with all the post season success of the NYY at least it gives a fair chance that we’ll actually have a fan base 20-50 years down the road and when you think about it we all could easily have been a NYY’s fans if someone had taken us there first.
When you look at the amount of 10-30 year old baseball fans in NY 95% of them are Yankee fans. How’s that going to help us compete on an equal footing over the next two generations?
Citi Field is one of the most inexpensive outings one can find in NYC, not that it was built with that in mind. Oh no it was built to be a price gouger with decreased supply and increased demand but take advantage while you can. Buy your tickets on stub hub, those tickets have already been paid for if you want to make a statement but bring as many kids to Citi as possible, it won’t make much of a difference to the owners bottom line but it could make a big difference down the road in our ability to compete for market share in NYC.
There’s also the chance that this whole financial meltdown may just have turned the Wilpon’s team building philosophy 180 degrees in the opposite direction and if that were to be the case then we might have a whole bunch of talented in their prime players flowing into Citi one right after the other for years on end and the revenue to keep the one’s we like here the best after their cost controlled years have gone.
Get well Joe and we hope your off the DL as soon as possible.
It’s all what you get from the game. If you enjoy it (the atmosphere, the game itself, the time spent with others, be if friends, family, coworkers, whomever), then why stop going? If you live and die with every win/loss of this team, other than some time on a couch with some tissues while you discuss your youth and your mother, you probably won’t enjoy this season at all and it’s probably best you save your money to cover the shrink bill anyway.
Feel better bud.
Yeah, I understand the frustration but hell I watched and supported the team when they were much worse and things looked much bleaker than they do now… If anything we should be rallying behind the team and try to get the team to make as much money as possible while encouraging these young guys when they play the game the right way. What type of message does it send when these kids play their butts off only to have someone say that it doesn’t matter anyway because of people not even playing the game?
I got free tickets from the blood drive, and a friend and I are already planning to go to banner day, so pencil me in for two games.
Feel better Joe D
People want to boycott? Fine. Go ahead. Do whatever you like. Its your money. Spend it (or not spend it) anyway you choose.
For the majority of fans, it comes down to simple economics over principles. Is it worth it for me to spend that much $$$ to watch a team that is decent with little chance to compete? For most fans the answer will be no and wont go. A few outliers will not go due to their “boycotting” of games. And then there will always be those who love to go to games, enjoying everything that makes attending a game so great.
Get better Joe. In the 70′s when the Mets were horrific, my family and I still attended games for the atmosphere and love of the game. However as time has passed it has become way too expensive to simply go to the park whether they are good or bad. I’ve been to Citifeild once and it happened to be the night Sheffeild hit number 500. I haven’t been back since and refuse. Between the ticket, parking, and then food, it’s ridiculous what they are charging. I took a stance and have not been back, but not because they are or were bad, it’s just taking a stance on legalized theft. Hot dogs aren’t $6.00 a pop. Parking a vehicle shouldn’t cost $25. Ice cream shouldn’t cost $5.00. I can’t imagine what they charge for a beer now. Let’s not talk about the mark up on each of those items.
But, that is NOT a wilpon issue.
Say the boycotters get their wish. Someone new (likely a consortium) buys the team. Happy days, but do you see any chance that one of the outcomes is that prices go down? that a group that just dropped a Billion dollars+ is going to slash the parking rates, institute $1 dogs and $3 beers? heck, if anything, prices will go up!
same for the idea that new owners will go on a FA spending spree. They might, but if revenue isn’t supporting it, no guarantee. Especially if the BB brains don’t see the foundation being ready for that big FA signing to make a difference. More likely, they will use their “good will, the wilpons are gone’ chips to finish lopping off the overpriced old guys, and start from the ground up.
Spot on. I don’t understand why it also seems to be a foregone conclusion that a new owner also equals a better owner. Go ask the Marlins, Rangers, Expos, Orioles how their new owners worked out for them.
Sorry to hear about your medical drama Joe. Hope it is a ST stay. And that you are at least a Giants fan (so that something went right this weekend).
I agree about the boycott. I like the mets, and watching the games, and I am not going to change (or give up a rare opportunity to go live, being as I am out of the area) because of who owns the team.
I really don’t care that much, or want to care, about the owner. I certainly would prefer to not even know who it is. But, I also don’t think that they need to sell for some kind of altruistic reason. As long as they can make payroll and cover the nut, they deserve to stay on.
Of course, every fan gets to make their own decision. this of course is just my H.O..
regardless of who the owner is, I just want the team to be on stable financial footing, and have a professional management team in place. And a solid LT plan for sustained competitiveness.
And that last part I think has been missing. And love or hate Sandy, I think it really was a step inthe right direction toward rebuilding the foundation of the organization (IOW, putting professional management in place). Even if you aren’t happy with the moves on the ML level, or cutting payroll (not that it was the GMs desire necessarily), if the player development and organizational structure/philosophy areas are addressed the way they should be, then the team is going to be better off in the long run.
If this whole experience does nothing more than teach Fred and the gang that they need to put good people in place to make the BB decisions, and also to be more conservative with the financial decisions, then going forward the team should be in good shape.
Like someone else already pointed out, boycotting might only make things worse. If you’re dissatisfied with a $100 mil payroll, how does a $50 mil payroll work for you? These owners seem entrenched and will do anything they can to hang on. Get well soon Joe.
Sorry to hear your in the hospital Joe. Get well soon. Regarding your post I agree with the idea that if you like going to a game then you shouldn’t deprive yourself of that.
It looks like a lot of you will disagree with this, but think about the message an effective boycott would send: A more-than-half empty stadium saying that we want the Wilponzis out as owners; that we don’t accept that a NYC team should be outbid for players by Miami, LA, Detroit, et al.; that we don’t accept paying caviar prices for spam.
What message would it send? Develop a better product and people will show up. If they are fighting tooth and nail to keep the team they are not going to be persuaded by an attendance dip this year. Besides that, asking most Mets fans to go without Mets baseball completely? That would be much more punishment than having the Wilpons continue as owners.
You think that is the message it would send? Or would it be “there is not enough money to keep spending”?
What do you think is involved in finding a new owner? What do you think a new onership group (not an owner, a group)would do? Most likely cut more payroll and restructure the organization further to fit their ideals.
and I wonder why all this fake outrage hasn’t been showing up until these last 2 years. Like being crappy is anything new to this franchise.
I’m a firm believer in voting with my feet (and with my dollars). It doesn’t matter what the product or service is. In this case, I think the Wilpons are inept and have no business running a team in MLB. So I don’t go to Shea. I mean Citi.
Full disclosure: I live in the middle of NY state, so it’s not like I was going to a whole lot of games anyway!
If that is what you feel then obviously your well within your right to do as you wish. I believe that most really don’t care who owns the team but are reacting to the team as it currently is constructed the point being that if a year or 2 from now the team was considerably better I would venture to guess that no one would care if the Wilpons still owned the team.
Sorry to hear about your health issues, Joe. Hope you get better soon. Have someone smuggle in a pizza….
I’ve been a fan since ’68 so I’ve lived through some dark times, some horrible GMs and teams and that isn’t going to change now. As a fan, I’m not going anywhere.
Getting to a game is difficult for me now, not the least of which is I’m down here on the Jersey shore and the commute there is awful. I’ve been to 1 came between 1987 now and to date. Haven’t seen Citi field yet.
But I’ve watched just about every game of the season on SNY. That won’t be changing.
New owners? Yeah, I’m not thrilled with how this all played out with the Wilpons but be careful what you wish for…..
If they bring up harvey or familia i’d probably go see them.. also maybe when reyes returns.. other than that… nope, i will not go spend $1 on them…
Quit lying you know you can’t resist going to see Wright in what may be his last season.
MNJ — Thanks for exposing the closet David Wright fan. Alex really has a DW bobblehead. Go Alex. Go David Wright.
Joe, health comes first in life. I hope that your recurring issues are minimized. After I read your introductory paragraph, the Searles issue was trivial for me. Get better Joe. I’m keeping you in mind and praying for you.
Off Topic: Josh Lewin, a former Texas Rangers broadcaster, replaces Wayne Hagin.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/37733/lewin-to-mets-radio-booth
Get better Joe, health first, the rest is just………………
I think it’s a Catch 22 really. You don’t want to pay $$$$ for a subpar product, but as a fan, who are you really hurting by now showing up? I think of the guy selling beer, the parking attendant taking $20 (not their fault it’s so high), the team itself. I support the guys between the lines.
My plan now is to go to the game where they induct John Franco into the Mets HOF, other than that I will play it by ear.
Speedy recovery, Joe.
and I agree with you. If the play of the field is solid, people don’t care who the owner is. It is not like the Wilpons are cheap. If anything, they were too loose with the purse strings. That is a big reason for the current mess. If they do get their affairs straight in the next year or so, do you really think they’ll keep cutting payroll? Alderson may not go on an all out spending spree like we’ve seen in the past, but we’ll be able to get big time players. And, more importantly, we’ll be able to keep our own big time players.
And if the wilpons were al lthat scared by the sight of a half empty stadium, they would have sold long ago.
Bingo..
DONAL, U R RIGHT SAYING THEY AREN’T CHEAP, AS THE CURRENT LARGEST FINANCIAL CONTRACT BURDEN(SANTANA) WAS NEGOTIATED DIRECTLY BY OWNERSHIP SANS GM INVOLVEMENT MANO Y MANO LOCKED DOORS JEFF & AGENT INFORMING JOHAN & OMAR SIMULTANEOUSLY AFTER INK DRIED NO, NOT CHEAP; IT’S CALLED ARROGANCE IN BELIEVING THEY CAN BE SUCCESSFUL IN AN INDUSTRY WITHOUT LEARNING IT AS FRED’S MIRED IN THE 50s & JEFF’S JUST MIRED IN HIS OWN BS.
THEY’VE ALL BUT FULLY ADMITTED TO PAST MEDDLING THUS NEGATING ANY VALID INPUT FROM BASEBALL EXPERTS! NOTE THIS JEFF IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST CAUSE FOR OUR FRUSTRATIONS, HE ORCHASTRATED THE KAZMIR DEAL AS WELL AS ENSURING GLAVINE STUCK AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO CAUSE DEVASTATION WITHOUT FEELING IT HIMSELF. PERSONALLY I BELIEVE JEFF IS LIKELY THE LEAST QUALIFIED TO BE C.O.O. OF ALL THE WILPON/KATZ CHILDREN UNTIL FRED IS BROUGHT OUT OF HIS SELF INDUCED TIMEWARP COMA & ALTERS THE HIERARCHY IN THE FRONTOFFICE THIS BELOVED FRASNCHISE IS DOOMED TO CIRCLING THE BOWL
Ya, the ‘pons’ hubris is a big contributor to the problems. Hopefully, they learned some humility and will let the baseball people make the baseball decisions. But, can you really be mad at the guy signing the checks for wanting to be involved?
As for the Kazmir trade, every time he gets brought up, I hear a new story as to why that deal happened and who was responsible for it.
DONAL, FRED MAKES THE DEPOSITS THAT ALLOW CHECKS TO BEAR JEFF’S SIGNATURE & AS SUCH, FRED HAS MEDDLED WITHOUT CONDEMNATION FROM ME, AS HE AT LEAST HAS A BACKGROUND OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS DECISIONS AS WELL AS HAVING ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GAME COMPETITIVELY IN COLLEGE @ MICHIGAN; JEFF IS THE IRRESPONSIBLE “KNOW-IT-ALL” SPOILED HEIR THROWING HIS FATHER’S WEIGHT AROUND SANS ANY PERSONAL PAST SUCCESS IN ANYTHING MEASURABLE. IMO, HE WARRANTS THAT TITLE OF C.O.O. NO MORE THAN MY MINIATURE SCHNAUZER, WHO AT LEAST COMPLETED HIS ANTICIPATED OBEDIENCE TRAINING,
JEFF, IS LIKELY THE HIGFHEST PAID, HIGHEST POSITIONED COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATE IN MLB WITH ZERO PREVIOUS BASEBALL EXPERIENCE(MiLB CAREER AS EXPO PROSPECT LISTED IN HIS BIO IS BOGUS, UNSUPPORTED BY RESEARCH & SUBSEQUENT INTERVIEWS WITH EXPOS COACHES), AS HE ACTS AS IF HE’S A SLAMDUNK WONDERKIN.
OUTSIDE OF OPERATING THE TEAM THE ONLY ASSIGNMENT HE’S KNOWN TO HAVE COMPLETEED WAS SUPERVISING THE CONSTRUCTION OF CITIFIELD. AFTER YEARS OF PREPARATION, HOW DID THAT GO? IN 3 YRS THERE HAVE BEEN 2 MAJOR OVERHAULS OF HIS COMPLETED DESIGN. THE REPLACING OF DODGER/GIANT RECOLLECTIONS IN FAVOR OF METS’ MOMENTS IN HISTORY AS WELL AS THE CURRENT RECONFIGURATION AS HIS SOLE MISSION THIS PROJECT COMPLETION, MORE THAN LIKELY EARNS HIM AN “INCOMPLETE” UNTIL AFTER THE NEW CONFIGURATION IS ASSESSABLE.
AS NELSON DOUBLEDAY PREDICTED THE MOMENT HE’D HEARD OF JEFF’S ANNOINTMENT ATOP THE NYM HIERARCHY THE NYM FRANCHISE UNDER STERLING OWNERSHIP HAS BEEN ANYTHING BUT A SMOOTH TRANSITION
WITH BASEBALL RENOWNED AS ONE OF THE MORE SUPERSTICOUS INDUSTRIES IT’S NOT UNTOWARD TO LABEL JEFF AS A JONAH!
GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL AS IT WAS HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH BERNIE’S SON THAT INSTIGATED THE 2 FAMILIES INTERWOVEN FUTURES. BY & LARGE INTENTIONAL OR UNINTENTIONAL NEARLY EVERY NEGATIVE TO OCCUR THIS CENTURY HAS IT’S ASSOCIATION WITH J.[ 'JONAH'] WILPON, C. UH. OH.!
PETRERSON WASW HIRED AS JEFF’S PERSONAL ASS’T/PITCHING CZAR, JEFF INSTITUTED THE WEEKEND BBQ GATHERINGS @ HIS HOUSE LONG CREDITED AS THE VEHICLE USED BY FRANCO & GLAVINE TO UNDERMINE YOUBNG UPCOMING CHALLENGING TALENTS ie KAZMIR. BERNAZARD WAS ALSO RUMORED TO BE A JEFF TOOL FOR CLUBGOUSE INTRIGUES. FROM DUQUETTE FIRING JEFF LOBBIED DADDY TO COMBINE THE GM RESPONSIBILITIES WITH HIM MAKING THE NEW GM JEFF’S TARGET FOR DERISION/RIDICULE FROM THE OUTSET. WILLIE WAS OMAR’S MAN, PETERSON, JEFF’S, AS FRED SPLIT THE BABY AUTHORIZING BOTH FIRED ON SAME DAY
GIVEN THE OPORTUNITY TO INFORM WILLIE OF HIS LIKELY DEMISE PRIOR TO DEPARTING FOR ANAHEIM AS WILLIE INQUIRED, ON THE BUS TO THE PLANE, SAYING, “IF I’M TO BE FIRED, PLEASE DO IT NOW BEFORE I LEAVE” DOES ANYONE BELIEVE OMAR PERSONALLY CHOSE TO FLY, HIMSELF ACROSS COUNTRY FOR 4 HRS TO PULL WIILIE & PETERSON’S PLUG JUST TO GET BACK ON THE PLANE FOR TYHE RETURN 4HR TRIP WHEN HE COULD’VE DONE IT ON THE BUS? OH, TRUST INSTINCTS THAT JEFF HAD HIS AX SHASTPENED FOR WILLIE’S NECK FOR SOME TIME UNTIL THE WILLIE “OFF THE RECORD” NJ INTERVIEW PISSED OFF DADDY WILPON BEYOND OMAR’S ABILITY TO THWART THE AX,; HOWEVER, AT LEAST HIS POUND OF FLESH FOR WILLIE’S BLOOD WAS PETERSON’S NECK, JEFF’S MAN,
SINCE THAT MOMENT IT’S OBVIOUS JEFF’S PRIMARY TASRGET FOR DISTRUCTION WAS HIS BABYSITTER OMAR, SHUTTING MINAYA OUT INTO THE COLD DURING THE ENTIRE SANTANA CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS. OBVIOUSLY JEFF MANIPULATED OMAR INTO THAT BERNAZARD ANNOUNCEMENT, THAT OMAR WAS ILL PREPARED TO HANDLE WITH EXTEMPORARIOUS PUBLIC SPEAKING LONG A KNOWN WEAkNESS OF THE MINAYA RESUME’.
IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT SOME OF ALDERSON’S EARLIEST ADDITIONS WERE SECURING HIS FLANKS WITY DiPOTO & RICCIARDI! JEFF’S SUBSEQUENT LOW VISIBILITY SINCE MINAYA DEPARTURE IS NO COINCIDENCE, IMO.
IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTTED THAT IN ’02 DURING JEFF’S INITIAL ROUND OF INTERVIEWS HE OPINED A MAJOR CONCERN WAS TOO MANY INJURIES EFFECTINGTEAM PLAY & INTIMATED HIS SUSPICION THAT CERTAIN PLAYERS WERE “MILKING” ACHES INTO FEIGNED INJURIES CLEARLY STATING PLAYING WITH ACHES/PAINS SHOULD BE THE RULE INSTEAD OF SITTING OUT WITH UNPROVEN “INJURY” .
AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO IS SUSPICOUS OF HOW COMING INTO TYHE JIOB WITH THAT BELIEF CAN CAUSE SO MANY TOO OPTIMISTIC DOWNPLAYS OF ACTUAL INJURIES? AND WHY THE ENTIRE INVESTIGATION AFTER ’09 WAS CONTROLED BY JEFF, HIMSELF, WITHN THE MAJOR PUBLICIZED RESULT A SLEW OF POSTERS & INTERNAL SIGNS BEARING LIPSERVICE SLOGANS ABOUT PREPARATIONS AS I’VE INDICASTED NEARLY EVERY NEGATIVE SURROUNDING THIS CLUB CAN SOMEHOW BE TRACED EVEN CIRCUMSTANCIALLY TO JONAH! N.B. THE PART OF THE WHALE WAS PLAYED BY BERNIE MADOFF! lol
Is it considered a boycott if I don’t care to spend a lot of money to see a team that stinks?
Hi Joe,
First off, you just get well ASAP and out of that hospital bed! This also shows, however, how much we reaaly need the Mets as a way to escape from the real troubles of life. I know that by just being there, they came through for me during many a rough time.
But getting back to the boycott situation, I don’t think a concerted effort by fans will amount to anything. It is instead up to the individual.
I personally won’t go, even if offered Champions Section tickets for opening day like I got last year. And my decision has less to do with the Wilpons dismantling the club due to their financial plight as it feeling personally insulted by a total lack of regard for the average fan. This goes beyond the issue of high prices of tickets, concessions, parking, etc.
Citi Field caters to those willing to spend a lot of money and to make them comfortable and not so for most others. We are denied access to close-by entrances, have to climb stairs to get to the upper promenade (only one escalator goes beyond the promenade), have no restrooms other than behind home plate, find that an expensive restaurant below cuts off the view of left field for those above so its patrons are directly angled towards home plate, etc.
They litterally took the ability to cheer the team in-person away from both, those who can’t afford to take a family of four even in the cheaper seats and those who can but find themselves not having a good time by being treated so poorly.
So again, my wife and I won’t be going because it is no longer fun going to a game and this has nothing to do with the quality of the team taking the field. And with their new “dynamic pricing” policy, with the team improving it will become even less affordable for those who still want to go.
Hey Joey D – I disagree with you a bit, I find it much more accessible then Shea was. There are multiple elevators and well as escalators in all three outfield spots. Also, numerous bathroom facilities throughout. I’ve gone to quite a few games each year and know the place fairly well now and think it’s far better than Shea as far as accessibility.
Hi Kay,
At Shea there were two escalator banks at each entrance and all went to the top. One could enter the park at the entrance closest to where they parked, take the escalator and they walked off to find themselves very close to their particular section.
At Citi Field there are only three escalator banks for the seats going to the promenade and only the one by home plate goes all the way up to the upper promenade. The other two stop one level below. And if one looks at the seating chart, they will only find two sets of restrooms, both near home plate, for those sitting in those upper most seats.
Those I’ve spoken to who have sat past the bases all agree accessibility is nothing like it was at Shea.
Thank you everyone for the kind words. You’re all pretty awesome and I’m honored to be part of such a great community of Mets fans like yourselves.
Feel better Joe,
I hope i’m not too responsible for this latest hospital stay-
But seriously, get well soon and keep on keepin’ on
Get well soon, Joe! I love your columns, even when I don’t agree! Thanks for getting us great information and sharing thoughtful points of view with us
First, hope you’re feeling better Joe!
Second I refuse not to go to games. I’ve bought my season tickets, I’ve bought 2 50th Anniversary Jerseys and will continue to buy merch most likely throughout the year.
Kind of confirms my point. The Citi Field experience is quite different for those fortunate enough to afford season tickets compared to the average fan. One would be foolish to expect the same preferential treatment, perks and comforts as a season ticket holder but at the same time one doesn’t deserve the shabby treatment that has already been discussed.
That’s why many of us simply do not enjoy ourselves the way we used to when going to a ball game. And why not watch the games on our high definition sets at home since there are bound to be plays one could only see on the HD monitors at Citi Field anyway?
It’s not the losing that makes me boycott Citi Field, it’s the lying. First the Madoff scandal did not affect the team operation, then they said they’d monitor the Reyes situation as they were waving him goodbye as it 27 year old all star shortstops grew on trees. You wouldn’t go to a local merchant who repeatedly lied to you and you shouldn’t go to Citi Field. I’ll watch on TV because I’m a fan but they won’t get a single dollar off of me until the team is sold.
If you are watching on TV, you are still paying them.
Technically wrong…
If you watch on TV someone ELSE is paying them to get to you!
But they do profit from your interest in any case!
For a boycott to work you have to totally not see them at all! Not buy a thing, not even buy newspapers who write about them!
and even then they still get their cut of the MLB TV Package to pay for bare minimum and might even get Luxury Tax money on top of that so no matter what you will NEVER be able to FORCE the Wilpons to sell a thing!
Joe PLEASE get better dude!
Hospitals totally suck!
I hate them!
In any case…
I have been fighting this fight for two years now and everyone gets upset when I take on this BOYCOTT rediculousness!
The reasons given for doing so are just so rediculous!
I hate the Wilpons so I will boycott
Well why do you hate the Wilpons again? the reasons are varied and opposite to each other. It seems no rhyme or reason need apply!
Here are the school like essays we have seen in the past
I hate the Wilpons because:
1 – They are broke and can’t spend money to make the team better! Why is that true? Because of Madoff? No they MADE money off Madoff! Thats why they are being sued! So thats not why they have no money! answer is ATTENDANCE which makes the BOYCOTTERS the reason for our financial problems not the Wilpons! Chicken or Egg here I guess! As number 2 will show…
2 – They have not brought a winner to the Mets since 86! Well thats HARDLY true of course. They brought you a Winner as recently as 2006, 2007 and 2008, Made the World Series in 2000 and the NLCS in 1999! Yes the rest of the 90′s were bad, but not for lack of trying! Cant say they were not TRYING when they bought the worst team money could buy and all those players many now lament signing when Omar got here!
3 – They haven’t won a WS since 1986 – I guess none of you live in places like Chicago or Houston who haven’t won one in your great grandfater and all his descendats lifetime!
4 – They lie to the fans! But its ok to lie if the reason is the Wilpons told you to! (See Sandy re: Reyes and TRYING to win!)
5 – They would go overslot on draft picks! Really? Was it them or the GM who decided he would rather spend his budget on MLB players instead of future prospects? Blame them for hiring the GM if you want but not for the fact he had no clue how to build a team because if the notion of “Sandy WANTS to win” is so obvious then by the same token the Wilpons WANT to win applies just as equally! Certainly not in their interests to hire idiots! Every candidate was QUALIFIED to be GM at the time! If you want to blame them for something blame them for hiring from WITHIN to replace a bad FO as opposed to going outside to fix the reason for the firing!
Why are we in the financial Mess? Is it because the Wilpons don’t have the money to subsidize our fan lack of interest? Or due to that fan “Lack of Interest?”
Is Wilpon to blame for the injuries in 2009 and 2010?
For whatever reason you choose to boycott the endgame is that YOU are delaying and making it impossible to change!
You think the Wilpons are going to sell if they lose enough money and if they haven’t sold by NOW then there isn’t much save a death of the entire family that is going to make them do that!
They will simply cut until there is nothing left to cut! It will never get below the number the TV share of money goes which is basically what the Pirates do and you will keep on seeing CRAP baseall until such time as you warrant spending money to get people in the stands! To get GOOD players!
Bottom line here is if you think Sandy is doing a good job then SHOW THEM by buying tickets this year!
If you think money is the issue and we are not spending enough then go and BUY tickets this year to show them yiou are willing to pay to support them while they rebuild so that don’t have to populate the roster with KMart specials and will have enough money to get someone good!
Boycotting is only making things WORSE not better!
And we will have no one to blame but ourselves!
Wow holy crap did you actually write this or copy and paste it from somewhere else?
It is completely rational and shows passion and thought while understanding both sides of the issue. If your all of your post showed this incite and passion you would be the blogger of the month.
I wouldn’t go that far but what confuses me even more is many of the gripes against Wilpon’s are completely fine but then after 10 paragraphs of “Wilpon’s are to blame” he summarizes his argument with “Bottom line here is if you think Sandy is doing a good job…” and connects it all to Sandy and his destructive nature.
Is this team better than last year? Yes or No?
Comon Slappy tell everyone what you REALLY think we are this year…
Going FORWARD=MORE WINS
Getting WORSE=LESS WINS, DECONSTRUCTING a team that could win MORE GAMES!
Put it all on the line be a man and stand up for what you REALLY BELIEVE as opposed to this crap you have tried since you got here with “I’m Not a cheerleader and I don;t love Sandy but Sandy Saves you know!
EXPOSED for your duality and LACK of commitment to your own beliefs!
Yesterday you demanded that I make reply before you left for work and you obviously never read it or were unable to digest what I meant. So here it is again:
“When the mandate is no salary obligations through 2014 and a reduction of payroll by 40%, there is only one short term goal and that is to hold onto ownership of the team. This hinders the long-term goal because investing is delayed and supporting pieces will not be in place when our 3 Cy Young’s are ready. They will not come until afterwards.
We are all on the same page. Where we aren’t is why this is happening. What is the point of the same circular discussion every day?”.
I don’t think this demonstrates that I am a Sandy Cheerleader, do you? I believe this demonstrates a frustration in the direction of the team and an understanding of why we are here. I am just not sucked up in the Sandy Paranoia that many of you are in.
Run run as fast as you can…
And you didn’t REPLY before I left fopr work then did that same 3rd grade resoponse as you did when you missed me today!
What do you program hot shot aside from Ascii Art?
Cause with logic like your I can’t images one C++ program that you could code that would work!
See ya my little skirt wearing Sandy loving Child!
You are still ducking my response. You don’t have a answer so you result to insults.
What response?
The respose to your crap that Sandy was told to make the team suck and because he is complying he is doing a GOOD JOB?
Good by who’s standard?
Wilpon’s or the fans?
Where in the statement did I Sandy is doing a good job. I didn’t. You want to believe I am saying that so much but I did not and have never said that he is doing a good job. Take a breath and try reading it again.
Who’s Run Running away now from his own statements?
Sandy Saves was never posted by you?
You have never argued against those who say Sandy is doing a bad job?
If not then how did this whole back and forth get started eh?
Did we start arguing because you agreed with me on the Job Sandy is doing?
Run Run Away!
From everything you have said in the last three days!
Look I’ve had enough going in circles with you, if you just want to argue and not read what others say and just label them, whats the point to this then. With such a high IQ you really have poor reading comprehension.
“Sandy Saves” is a sarcastic response that I created for Bayonne to help him avoid typing the the same statement 5 times a day. I’ve have never said I am pro Sandy I am completely indifferent to the job he is doing and so far and it doesn’t make sense to have all this anger towards him. I would rather judge him when he is able to actually do something that starts building towards the team.
What you SAY and what you DO are TWO different things!
You don’t SAY you love Sandy but you sure do make the case for him at every turn when your not too busy making Ascii art and insulting people who don’t meet your workless schedule!
If you put your agenda aside and read what I post you would find that the only time I do NOT make sense is when I’m arguing with idiots who take facts as worthless and Fantasy as the only reality!
My arguments are more geared toward those who put FANTASY forth as Fact and dismiss the FACT!
My problems with Sandy aren’t Sandy it is the perception some are trying to say that he is making things better while we are still in the part of the program where things are getting worse!
Losing Three All Stars for the priviledge of buying SCRUBS is not PROGRESS!
Is it his fault he needs to do that? No as I’m saying above it’s OURS!
My arguments is with those who think things are going well!
We haven’t started the upward leg of this journey yet!
But there are quite a few who try to say we have!
And those are the ones I call the Skirt Wearing Cheeleaders!
When Sandy starts making us BETTER then I will say so not BEFORE!
I’m not going to give a rating of PROGRESS to someone while they are taking 4 steps back to make a jump across a ravine!
When he gets across I might give him credit but not while he is still back peddling in the hopes of gaining momentum for a jump he may never make!
It’s all of your reasons why Wilpon’s are bad that the team is only taking steps back. It’s a downward spiral and it won’t end until Wilpons either have to sell of once the Madoff verdict comes out and they can implement a plan that allows them to modify their debt in order to begin investing again.
Maybe if you spent less time on Ascii Art you might have learned how to read what I ACTUALLY SAID!
Not ONCE did I BLAME the Wilpons!!!!!!!!!!
I in fact defended them as being miscast as the REASON for our financial problems?
Perhaps that what TRS read as well which just goes to show how great a teacher he is and how low his reading comprehension is at!
I merely reiterated what OTHERS blame the Wilpons for and then proceeded to show how WRONG those reasons were!
READ my young friend!
Or create yourself an APP that can translate it into ASCII ART so you can comprehend what is said instead of reacting to something that went so far over your head that you missed anything said in the post!
So if attendance is the reason for our financial problems and not how the Wilpon’s went about their finances, then why isn’t Omar to blame then? Omar built the team, during his tenure attendance went from 2.8m up to 4m to a low of 2.5m. So isn’t he part of the problem?
Well damn, first of all I give you the respect of actually reading one of your post and then I actually complement you on it yet I did not even comprehend it now?
I knew what your post said, did not take from it that you were in fact blaming anyone other than maybe the fans, and actually agreed with much of it… yet I did not even understand it. Man are you powerful.
He has a doctorate and a 400 IQ!
303 IQ!
Whats your’s 7/20?
Ummm, the highest IQ on record is 210.
Of course, there is also something rather sad about a person who feels the need to brag about his IQ points on a fansite.
They have my IQ on record?
There are many different scales used in different IQ tests in case you didn’t know!
Yes and the only one that has wide acceptance that goes well over 200 points is the mental status IQ for testing children.
Even then the highest score on that scale was 228.
And again, bragging about IQ points on a fansite? Why don’t you tell us how much you bench press? Or how many super models you are sleeping with?
Yea I’ve never seen such a thing on a sports blog. HE couldn’t handle the discussion the other day so he tries to state how smart he was by saying he has a doctorate and a IQ over 300. If he has those accomplishments that is great, but he doesn’t represent them too well. In the end who gives a crap, this is a Mets blog.
He’s right, he slammed 303 square pegs into a round hole. The teacher was amazed and said you got 303… thus forevermore he has a 303 IQ. Or perhaps it’s 303 I quits on blogs?
Damn you ruined it with your same useless, biased drivel. You are no longer a candidate for poster of the month and will not be receiving the flying toaster award.
All because I don’t think this team is better than last year right?
OK see you both in September!
Then we will see who is the SMART one and sees what is real and who is pushing FANTASY!
Come back then I’ll have plenty of snarky remarks for you and your Agenda Skirt Wearing freaks!
Again here we are having a nice discussion and you turn it in to this. At no point have we resorted to middle school tactics and in fact we agree on a lot of things. However, some of us do not see Sandy as the root of all evil and are reserving judgement until more time has passed and that gets us a middle school label and destroys any credit you might have.
TRS I will make this plain, simple, unavoidable and inescapable…
IS THIS TEAM BETTER THAN LAST YEAR?
Yes or no?
If you say no then you agree with me!
And if you agree with me then you know full well everything I said about Sandy is TRUE until such time as the next team he builds is better than the LAST team he had!
No answer the question and pick a side, No Excuse making, No deflection of blame for the reasons we are worse…
Just a simple Yes or No!
Can a Teacher handle such a simple question?
Inquiring Minds want to know!
If you say YES please tell us what is the moves that wins us more games than last year!
If the Answer is NO then stop arguing and calling a guy you with agree with wrong!
Metsie it is not about sides. I can not tell based on 15 months if Sandy has improved the direction of the Mets organization. It is just not possible. That is like asking someone if Obama had improved the economy after 15 months. It’s just too hard to judge right now. Is the MLB team on paper better going into this season than it was last year? Not even sure about that yet. Is Johan healthy? Which Bay? The September Bay or May Bay? The 2011 Pelfrey or the 2010 Pelfrey? The 2010 Wright or the 2011 Wright? Duda over the course of a full season or the fear that Beltran may break with the first ball hit into the gap on offense or defense. Murphy at 2B and learning the position or Murphy never learning the position. There are just so many question marks many that are still hold overs from before Sandy even got here.
The Mets are more than just the MLB team and they are more than just 2012 and while you don’t care about that and choose to narrow everything down to 25 players in one year, many of us do not. Thus just because I don’t agree with you does not mean I agree with Jessup, there is no one hiding behind the grassy knoll and the warehouse does not have a 2nd gunman. I have a right to believe that while the current MLB team is not better on paper that they are taking steps to solve that issue. You can’t take away that right just as I can’t take away your right to say they are not taking steps. Does that make either of us some middle school taunt? I would certainly hope not.
1. All GMs spin. SA in that regards, is no different than all the rest.
2. I think going from 25 to 15 in one year in farm system ratings is an improvement. Some of that is attributed to attaining Zach Wheeler.
3. Can’t improve overnight with the state of the finances. It really is that simple. Patience is the key word here. Still remains to be seen if this team will improve under SAs watch or not.
4. Having to slash payroll – the amount in one year that close to or is an all time MLB record – automatically signifies big problems which in turn need big changes. See #3 = patience.
Yep it’s ok for a GM to spin not Owners right?
An improvement of what the MLB team or Buffalo?
Is he the GM of Buffalo or the Mets?
Is the goal to make the Minors better or the Mets?
Can’t improve at all if you trade away three All stars and only get one SP in return!
Having to slash payroll is YOUR fault for not buying season tickets!
See not running away just ignoring the drivel!
I’m off to work in a few so before you get all proud thinking I ran away I inform you so maybe you will get ONE CLUE this day!
The spin that Sandy is providing is a collective message from ownership and the FO. Have you ever worked for a corporation or listened a PR person?
Also the fans on blogs are a very small percentage of the fanbase. Probably not even 1%. If the team is not good it is less likely that a family of 4 is going to the park and spending $200 to watch the game and eat a hotdog.
Also still waiting for you to show what we should of gotten for KROD who is now a setup man. Most figured getting 17m off the books was enough.
You still keep saying the same thing. We did not trade away our 3 all-stars. Jose left on his own taking the ONLY 100M offer, hell taking the only offer on the table period. Also what you got for Beltran was considered a steal by people all over baseball with much more baseball intelligence than you or I. Not just scouts but other GM’s said there was no way they were getting a guy like Wheeler for Beltran. So for 2.5 months of a guy that was 100% leaving they got a guy that instantly came in and became their either 1A or 1B prospect. I don’t see how that is a bad move regardless of who the GM is.
You have a right to be pissed about Reyes leaving, I have a differing opinion on it. You could even be upset they did not trade him. However, to continue saying that it was for 12M and they could have signed him instead of the relievers is just plain ridiculous. You only focus on the fact that they lost those 3 players but care not why they lost them…
We know your stance on these things and you think you know ours. Yet you fail to pay attention when posters like SRT and I say that we are not Pro-Sandy or Pro-Jessup or Pro-blah blah blah. We are just taking more of a wait and see approach and do not believe that you can fairly judge Sandy on what he has done in 15 months considering we don’t even know the constraints placed on him. In other words as I have already said if after 2013 we are still in the same position we are in now then I will be right there with you spouting all kinds of irrational diatribe.
Is reyes here? NO he’s gone!
Bet you will be sure to talk about how great those picks were we got as compensation though won’t you?
No there was no formal trade of Reyes…Just a Trade of INACTION!
We never wanted Reyes we just wanted those two picks which Sandy thought were going to be a 1st rounder and even called the MLB HQ to make sure it would be then got screwed because he didn’t think about someone with a protected pick making an offer!
An Offer by the way that would have saved him 2 Mil from last year until he got the finances in order by drawing people to the stadium!
A point you seem to miss regarding this thread and it’s subject matter!
Sandy not only made the TEAM worse he made the Attendance worse as well!
And I bet you will blame Wilpon for that when the time comes to not spend again or trade Wright next offseason!
We have differing opinions on this that have already been expressed. Thank you for your time.
‘Yep it’s ok for a GM to spin not Owners right?’
>>Show me where I claimed that.
>>Obviously as fans we’d like the FO and owners to always tell us the truth and what’s really going on. Not. Going. To. Happen.
‘An improvement of what the MLB team or Buffalo?’
‘Is he the GM of Buffalo or the Mets?’
Is the goal to make the Minors better or the Mets?’
>>If you don’t understand the correlation between the farm system and the big club, then you’re not as knowledgeable as you claim to be.
>> Better talent on the farm = better depth for the big club in the future.
>> Better talent on the farm = more trade chips to fill a hole or two needed to compliment the talent on the big club that hopefully has a good chunk coming from home grown development.
>> Better talent on the farm = hopefully, less need to over pay for multiple high priced FAs.
Dude, stop with the less revenue is my fault drivel. I couldn’t get to a game at Citi if I wanted to. I support the team by watching just about all 162 games and buying the occasional merchandise.
and of course point 5.
That maybe if we had a smart GM who knew what to do with the low payroll starting last season the Mets may be in a bit better financial status. Because so far it’s evident that Alderson and co. is NOT doing a good job at all and most of his signings have not panned out and have been injured and cut. And 2.1 million for Nimmo is questionable.
So it’s a very legitimate to believe that Sandy Alderson is not doing a good job and putting the Mets in a worse state than better state.
Hmmm, that’s an interesting take. I had not thought about that before. Because of your new and creative thinking I know understand the plight of the Mets. Thank you for passion and time.
We didn’t have a low payroll starting last year. It was about 145 M, 5th in the majors and about 50 M more than Atlanta, St. Louis, Mil, and about 80 M more than Arizona.
he had about 10 million or so to spend on players last season – or so he said
Now i have to spell things out
Yeah he had about 10 M, signed Dickey for two years and a club option and a 4th and 5th starter, about 8 relief pitching possibilities, a catcher, a few guys for the bench. How far do you think 10 M goes when you need to fill so many holes. Why do you think he NEEDED to import so many spots on the 25 man roster or AAA depth? Cause we were bursting at the seams with Major league ready players all over the farm?
He also went the rule 5 route for a couple of guys and traded a non prospect for a prayer just on the chance that it might be answered cause they didn’t cost anything to get.
He went after a few guys who got multi year deals, stayed at home or were signed injured and broke down later or got more than he was able to allocate to just one guy.
He did a lot of shopping at the Salvation Army out of necessity so his hit ratio shouldn’t really be compared to someone who went to Bloomingdales and when you come right down to it the guys from Bloomingdales didn’t exactly work out all that great to begin with. If they had Alderson wouldn’t be here in the first place.
When Alderson was hired I remember him speaking about a 120-125 M dollar payroll as a 2012 target. I thought that sounded doable. Later it got shifted down to 100-110 M and then somehow wound up including the draft and IFA budget as well and that’s how we got to 90 M this year. A figure incidentally the Braves have lived with for a decade now.
Even so 5 of our top 20 prospects were acquired since he arrived here and 2.1 M for Nimmo is cab fare for a MLB franchise in NY for their first round draft choice. Ike Davis got 1.75 M with no leverage and Pelfrey got 3.5 M and a guaranteed 1.8 M more as he signed a Major League deal.
Face it if all the big money deals of Harazin, Phillips and Minaya had worked out the way everyone hoped this team would have made billions more over the last two decades which may or may not have all been lost in the ponzi scheme but it certainly would have led to a hell of a lot more success on the field so at least we would have had something to show for it other than having to start all over again but that’s the way it’s worked out for us Met Fans. Kind of like Prometheus but IF Alderson can fill the farm the way he did in his first season here and IF Omar’s guys provide a solid base for them to be added to we might finally get that rock on top of the hill, and keep it there for a while.
If not we’re hosed and that’s all there is to it because with 100 M including the draft and IFA and 57 M going to Santana, Wright and Bay for the next two years there’s not a lot of wiggle especially when you need to be concerned with adding to what’s in the farm rather than losing whats in it.
That would set us back to 2016.
Age, got a question for you, and by all means, take your time, what do you think it’s the direction of this team for the next let’s say, 4-5 years? because people here are begging for some of us to give sandy a fair chance, yet, he had that in oakland and did nothing for the past 6 years, but of course, an excuse was made, failed miserable in san diego as a PRes, and don’t give me that crap about that team making the playoffs because of him, we all know who the real brains were in that team, so it’s a trend for him to just be small market, what exactly people want? sandy alderson imo shouldn’t even be considered as a GM, he’s here to help the wilpons keep the team while fielding a team together, selig is doing the wilpons a favor and that favor is called sandy alderson.. i’ve said this from the beginning before people started pegging him as some sort of genius that was gonna get this franchise 4 WS in the next 5 years, this team will be going nowhere fast in the next 5-6 years, hopefully by then, the wilpons will be forced to sell and a new owner will come in n do things the right way, prospects do not guarantee winning, ask the pirates and the royals, and those team play in divisions were there are not 3 or 4 big time markets teams, it’s easy to see the mets finishing last 3 or 4 years in a row under sandy alderson and co, but it’s not all the wilpons, the front office as well need to be blame for what’s going on..
Don’t know why this appeared earlier in the thread, but I am asking Alex68 to provide the names and links of anyone that ever called SA a genius and that he was was going to get 4 WS in the next 5 years.
“prospects do not guarantee winning, ask the pirates and the royals, ”
Big money free agents don’t guarantee winning. Just ask the Cubs, Rangers…or the Mets.
The Pirates and Royals have been among the profitable teams that pocket the luxury tax money they receive from the big market teams.Those two franchises are bad examples.
This would have made an interesting post.
Almost missed it buried at the bottom of this thread.
Metsie,
Agree with you completely that even if such an effort was feasible, talk of a boycott is a juvenile way of thinking one can influence the changing of ownership. This is a business venture and as Pittsburgh has shown, even a crappy team in a small market can make $50 million a year in profit.
But I would not go so far as to say buy tickets so more revenue will allow ownership to go after more quality-type players. Fans have always supported the team. One has to go back three decades to find a time when fans weren’t buying tickets in droves.
Something other than the fans caused the Mets to be in such dire straights.
And when it comes to fan support, I must repeat myself that smaller crowds at Citi Field is a result of fans unwilling to spend what the Wilpons now charge for tickets, parking and concessions. Ownership counted on lesser seats causing a bigger demand for the limited amount of tickets that would be available and thus there would be at least 39,000 fans willing to spend through the nose to get them. No different than dynamic pricing or the price of oil going up whenever there is more consumer demand.
So a call to arms in the form of ticket buying won’t change things anymore than a boycott would. And why should fans be asked to pay more than they already have? We have already done more than our share to allow ownership to invest properly in the team and make a nice profit. The fact they can’t and won’t is their own fault, not ours.
Joey I agree that buying tickets will not force or even INSPIRE the team to invest in getting good players!
But it sure would remove it as a convenient excuse when the Press asks why they haven’t gone after someone!
They will NEVER listen to us!
But if we give them easy excuses to answer the press when the wuestion gets posed in the public. then they will use it every chance they get!
Take that excuse away and they have to either come up with a LAME excuse or finaly tell the truth!
Reyes would have been gone even if we made 50 Million in profit last year!
Sandy simply didn’t want him!
He got away with it because he had the “We Lost 70 Mil” excuse!
He got away with a;llowing three All Stars to leave in less than a year’s time and even is entertaining getting rid of a 4th all using the “MONEY” excuse!
If enough people bought tickets every year to take that excuse away then there would be no place for them to hide behind!
You want change in Sport it has to get started in the press!
Thats why Omar got fired, not because Wilpon wanted it but the Press insisted!
Thats why Jason Bay got a big fat contract not because Omar thought he needed Bay but the entire media practically dared him to sign him or be fired!
And in the end thats why the Wilpons will be forced to sell the team!
Because the press will not accept the MONEY excuse if we buy enough tickets to make deals!
Metsie, that notion that the press goaded Minaya into signing Bay is very insulting to Omar. No GM worth his salt makes decisions based on what the media want.
The media is always in favor of signing the big free agent 100% of the time, you know why? Because the stories are easy to write, no digging around for sources, no embarrassing questions to ask, no access to risk, no downside what so ever.
The main character the courtship is always available, puff pieces are easy to write, there are no repercussions just gushing articles about veteran leadership. potential batting orders, renewed acquaintances blah blah blah.
It’s all been the same song and dance, dog and pony show from Coleman to Bonilla, to Vaughn, Alomar, Weathers, Saberhagan, Alou, Schowenweiss, Pedro, Floyd, Cameron, Cedeno, Glavine, Wagner, Burnitz, Bay ect ect ect.
Omar made the recomendation, ownership already teetering on the brink decided to double down on their prior gazzilion dollar wager one last time and busted once again. Plain and simple and with other recommendations by the GM and gambles by ownership including K-Rod, Castillo, Perez, Santana and Bay still on the payroll had nothing left for one of our own.
Stop making excuses about the poor free agent deals.
Insulting or not thats what happened!
Remember all the bitching in the press on why he was waiting so long to just give him the extra year and be done with it?
Any GM knows lose the press and you lose the Job!
Why do you think Sandy kept saying he wanted reyes when he didn’t want any part of him!
Because he knew if he just said so he would have had to answer to them!
To say he was broke was convenient but not the reason Reyes isn’t here!
The NYG GM Jerry Reece caught a lot of flack this off season with the Eagles signing every big free agent while he sat on his hands until eventually he felt compelled to lash out at them, angrily telling them all “We’re going to be alright.” How’d that work out? and how’d it work out for Omar? He kept his job?
Really if the GM is letting Joel Sherman decide which free agents we should sign why even bother to have a GM in the first place?
Just buy the paper.
Since we all respond to comments made by each other, it might be best to specify whom one is addressing his or her sarcastic response to so the rest of us won’t mistake a personal remark was being directed at he or she when opening the email.
Joe,
Sorry to hear about the Dr visit, I hope and will pray for a speedy recovery for you. You do alot of good work for the Mets community. Don’t let the haters get to you or stress you out.
Take care of yourself and best of luck…..
Omar gave the Wilpons what they wanted – a quick fix by investing heavily in stars with one or two good seasons left to put the Mets back on top – hence why the 2006 club was so successful and began to crack after that. That type of strategy is bound to fail in the long run as we saw veteran after veteran unable to the job we had hoped for.
He made some trades that at least on paper seemed good like Nady and Church and in 2007 we thought he made a steal with Perez. When he got Santana everyone was shocked that he didn’t have to give up more.
While the farm system seemed dry during his early years it has since produced the likes of Davis, Duda, Gee, Niese, Murphy, Thole, Turner and Parnell – some of whom have already shown they are major league material, some of whom the jury is out regarding if they have already reached their potential and some of whom still need to prove they have what it takes to stay a major leaguer. Not to mention those who are about to come up now like Harvey, Famila, Flores and others who insiders think have the potential to make an impact on the club. So he wasn’t that bad a general manager.
But he wasn’t the good one he seemed to us in 2006. He broke up a viable bullpen after 2006 and gave us the likes of Schoenweiss, etc. He also did not know how to handle the blank check he was by having too much faith in aging stars (unfortunately, a Met tradition). Even before Castillo remember that he signed Moises Alou?
So the bottom line is that Omar was neither the great GM some make him out to be or a poor GM made out by others. Yes, it was easier for him to initially put together a team in 2005 and 2006 when money was of little consequence and teams like Florida were forced to hold a fire sale (hence why he was able to also land Delgado and LoDuca). When the money and the quality of free agent talent began drying up, so did Omar. But give him credit for the farm system that has the players we’re going to be “rebuilding with” now.
Move on to Sandy’s short tenure with the Mets. He is investing as little as possible in the major league club at present – which includes not keeping high salaried players no matter how valuable they might be. Considering the major league material he already had available last winter and not adding to it, along with having pulled the rug from underneath a team that was in wild card contention (even if the fans say the club wasn’t heading anywhere despite it’s inspired play, that is one thing the front office should never say to it’s players who are doing the job on the field), this does represent moves no smart general manager would ever make unless hired to be a bean counter.
Sandy has shown he has the ability to spin inaccuracies with a straight face even though it is obvious he is just covering things up like the fact that the Mets never had any intention of re-signing Jose Reyes. He also insisted his 2011 free agent signings were solely judgement calls without any restrictions financially (and if that was the case he should be fired immediately). Even if this means having to be the company man and to take the lumps for it, please realize that someone at his age, with the financial security he already has and still working in the Commissioner’s office,did not have to take a job which that would so tarnish his public integrity. The only individual who would take or retain such a position under those circumstances is one not bothered with his credibility always being in question.
This is the only conclusion I’ve been able to come to regarding Sandy’s handling of the Mets so far. As one can see, little of it is related to the business of baseball as it is simply to business.
I don’t think that would have been the plan he preferred given the MLB players he already had to work with. I
… one thing however, Omar made a lousy decision in hiring Jerry Manuel while Sandy seems to have made a terrific one in promoting Terry Collins from within (who, of course, Omar originally hired the year before to help in the minor league development)
JOE, GET WELL, STAY WELL & ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL(HOPEFULLY STERLING OWNERSHIP)
AS AN ORIGINAL FAN WHO WEATHERED THE SEAVER TRADE & THE 80′s ROSTER DISMEMBERMENT; I HAVE, AS A PERMANENTYLY DISABLED, ON FIXED INCOME FAN, ALREADY MADE THE DECISION NOT TO RENEW MY DIRECTV XTRA INNINGS BASEBALL PKG THIS SEASON AS WATCHING A TEAM DELIBERATELY BUILT TO BARELY COMPETE IS CRUEL & UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT TO SELF INFLICT, TO ASK MY FAMILY TO SACRIFICE HUNDREDS OF IRREPLACABLE DOLLARS SO THAT I CAN CHANGE THE CHANNEL AFTER THE DEFICIT BECOMES UNRECOVERABLE WOULD BE MUCH MORE SELFISH THAN I’M WILLING TO BE. I WILL SATISFY MY MORBID CURIOSITY WITH THE OCCASIONAL MLB-TV BROADCAST, ESPN BROADCAST OR BRAVES BROADCAST AS WELL AS POTENTIOALLY REDS,NATS OR OTHER BROADCASTS FROM TEAMS WHOSE FALGSHIP I GET IN MY NONXTRA INNINGS PKG WHO CLAIM MY NC ZIPCODE AS THEIR HOME TURF. THE MOMENT THEY CHOSE TO COMPLETELY ABSTAIN FROM PASRTICI[PATION IN THE REYES’ STAKES THEY BECAME LESS INTERESTED IN IMPROVMENT THAN GRANT’S MIDNIGHT MASSACRE DECISION INDICATED @ MY AGE OF 62 I DOUBT I’LL BE AROUND FOR ANOTHER RESURRECTION AS I CAN AT LEAST PARTICIPATE IN A WORTHY INSURECTION
PERSONALLY, SINCE I’VE CHOSEN TO BE MUCH LESS INTERESTED IN THEIR DELIBERATE DEMISE I’VE CULLED MY DAILY INTERNET TIME FROM APPROX 4Hr/DAY TO BARELY 1hr/DAY
I FEAR THAT EVEN ONCE THIS PICARD MESS IS RESOLVED THE FERVOR FOR CONTENTION WILL BE DOA IN FAVOR OF LOW INVESTMENT, HIGH RETURNS, USING THEIR NYM INVESTMENT AS A CASHCOW TIO RE[PLACE WHAT THEY BELIEVED THEY HAD IN MADOFF, A FRUITFUL SOURCE OF PERSONAL ENRICHMENT.
Please name names and provide links of anyone that ever called SA a genius and that he was was going to get 4 WS in the next 5 years.
Of course SA was part of the package deal the Wilpons made with Selig.
I don’t think any intelligent Met fan would dispute that.
If it was about slashing payroll to save the team for the Wilpons – and only slashing payroll – why get rid of Omar? Could have saved a couple of MIL by not paying 2 GMs and just told Omar ‘you’re done spending. Get the payroll under 100 MIL.’
What reason do you think there was for firing Omar?
– do you think it was b/c SA asked Selig for the job?
– do you think Selig forced the Wilpon’s hand in this – or they both concluded – that some master plan they cooked up to save the franchise they didn’t trust Omar to go along with?
– I’d ask if you thought Omar wanted out but we know that can’t be the case b/c he didn’t resign, he was fired.
‘…’he’s here to help the wilpons keep the team while fielding a team together’
>> Why? Omar couldn’t help the Wilpons keep the team while fielding a team? And if no, why not?
Great questions SRT. Anyone who says that Sandy was not more qualified for the situation than Omar is just placing the blinders on. Obviously Sandy was brought here to work with a tight budget and reign in spending. However, we have not gotten a true chance to see his GM skills YET due to the short amount of time he has been in and the resources he has to work at. In the end, he may suck, that is what the group here never reads. I just am willing to give him time and see how he does with sufficient resources before I condemn him.
I agree. Too early yet to give SA any kind of grade – one way or the other.
I know I asked the questions without giving my thoughts on this so here goes:
I think it revolved more around taking a look at the overall organization from top to bottom, especially the farm system and much less what the big club looked like in the short term.
If you all remember there were quite a few firings and a couple walks, on organization positions up and down the line in SA’s first year. That alone points to a plan for strengthening the farm system from the drafts all the way to development. And I think this is the key reason SA is now the GM and not Omar. SA inherited a farm system that was ranked 24th/25th out of 30. Like Omar, not like Omar…that low ranking was the result of 6 years on his watch.
Now one could argue many of his signings had already made their way up and were contributing. That is totally true. But you have to keep replenishing that farm system. I truly believe somewhere along the way – after 2006 maybe? – Omar switched gears and abandoned the plan he had in the beginning for keeping the Mets a perennial contending team.
I know that the Pirates made millions partly due to pocketing the luxury tax, however, according to the attached article, there is more to it than that, even for a small market team.
http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4648:pittsburgh-pirates-financial-info-shows-everything-from-revenue-sharing-to-tv-money-and-more&catid=30:mlb-news&Itemid=42