12
2012
About That Whole “Wilpon Is Broke” Rumor
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Thoughts from Joe D.
Well isn’t this an interesting way to interrupt my Sunday AMC “Gory Matters Here” marathon?
I’m not seeing or buying what is being reported. I hate having to rehash all this stuff again, but the Mets are getting fiscally better everyday.
- I already told you last month, about the new National MLB Broadcast deal that’s infuses another $40-50 million a year into the team.
- The host city for the All Star Game gets a huge chunk of all the sponsorship money that is pouring in by the hundreds of millions.
- Last year they lost $70 million and this year they lost only $20 million. You may not think that’s much, but to lenders and investment bankers, this is huge.
- The SNY loans are being refinanced (just like I said they would be in 2011) as we speak for significantly lower interest rates as well as lower monthly payments, and the Wilpons will bankroll tens of millions in cash out money and dividend payments.
- Just last week the Mets brought back the Gulf Coast Affiliate they were forced to shut down a year ago.
- The Mets are in fact negotiating a deal with David Wright worth more than the Beltran contract and maybe even the Santana contract.
- After they announced the Jason Bay separation and the deferred payment, the Wilpons and Alderson did confirm it would give the team more payroll flexibility for 2013. That means they are spending the money that would have been owed to Bay, not banking it or paying down debt like I initially thought. If they were broke they’d keep every penny.
These are all signs that point to fiscal viability and not the doomsday scenario everyone keeps wishing for…
Anyhow, that’s what I’ve got for you.
Walking Dead Note: What the heck was that Zombie Fight Club scene all about? 
Original Post 10:40 PM
A source told Michael Salfino, Sports analyst for the Wall Street Journal and Yahoo!, that the Wilpons are broke and will lose the team within the next two years.
Right after those tweets, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal said that Salfino is not a WSJ employee and that it “did not go through us, nor is it in our paper.”
Strange… Nobody is corroborating this.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
76 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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LOL, srt is going to say, THIS!
LOL…
SRT APPROVES THIS MESSAGE!
Hahaha.
Wilpons aren’t broke, but Mets are still in the red….hence the whole refinancing and Bay deferred payment thing, for starters…
Might not be in as bad a shape as they were facing the billion dollar clawback trial but they’re still far from solvent.
From what I read the host team for the ASG doesn’t get all that much money – most of it goes to MLB. Can’t find that link right now but maybe the story I read wasn’t talking about ALL the money, such as sponsorship money. I sincerely hope they get a huge chunk from that AS week – it can only help.
This is a cruel joke!
Is this good or bad?
I like the news but two more years? This shows us that Wilpons are nothing without Madoff.
I will never understand how you can own a team in NY and not make money. What’s the attraction of anybody else buying the team and having better luck? Or spending more?
Who the heck is Salfino? I never heard of this guy.
LMAO@
“Right after those tweets, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal said that Salfino is not a WSJ employee and that it “did not go through us, nor is it in our paper.”
Hahahaha!!!! Salfino at one time was affiliated with Metsblog.com and SNY he had a blog site for SNY called SNYWhyguys.com lol…
I guess they gave him the boot because he wasnt as supreme a shill as Cerrone and this is him pulling a Mack Ade and bashing them for taking away his media pass lol
I could’ve wrote that crap on Twitter and have people buy that. Besides, everybody should know by now that Wilpon will be gone after Selig resigns.
I have no idea whether this is a legit comment or just a rumor. But Freddy is sure acting like he’s broke.
The Mets are in baseball’s number one market in the world and yet he treats the team like its from Kansas.
It takes money to make money – and during the past three years they have only been reducing the payroll. And they have felt it in the wallet with the attendence at Citi field.
That’s very true. Wilpon and Alderson have become cost slashing tag team.
I dont know what to make of this, but if it’s true, two more years of this is cruel and unusual punishment for us.
Yes, it’s like someone telling you dont worry, I’m going to stop pouring hot oil over you in 2 years.
This isn’t even on Metsblog so…
Why would the guy make this up? He genuinely believes his source whomever it is. Lets kep our fingers crossed and see what happens.
In revenge for spreading rumors about him this year…
it is rumored that Ike Davis is the source behind this
How reliable is this guy? This would be HUGE news and I hope it’s true. Would the team be sold or would someone else step in as majority owner?
Here’s my two cents. It sounds legit. I mean isn’t this what most of us have been saying all along? Honestly I’m disappointed that they will still stick around for two years, I wish it were only two months. I wish Selig never gave them the All Star Game.
Slightly OT, but that pic is straight out of the day room in Cuckoo’s Nest.
This guy is now apologizing to the mets on twitter, it must have caused a shit storm behind the scenes because he’s saying he is not a reporter and doesn’t work for the Wall Street journal. He seems as if he’s being told he screwed up big time.
Now, this don’t mean he’s wrong. We will know once RA and David get traded.
Once again, he isn’t backtracking what he said, but he sure is sorry about it.
Ever wonder why the Mets artificially inflated Jason and Johan’s 2013 salaries but have never ONCE mentioned the 10 or more players they owe in DEFERRED compensation WITH INTEREST
Just read and it appears he is putting all the disclaimers out there so he doesnt get sued
You crazy? Cerrone is an employee of Wilpon. Show me where, anywhere on that site they’ve ever said anything negative about ownership.
I think we are all trying to pat our self on the back for “figuring out” the Wilpon’s true intentions.
Let’s be honest we now know that the last seasons years; 2010, 2011 and the 2012 season were “throw-away-years” as far as the Wilpon’s were concerned.
Can we all agree now that as early as the 2009 season the Wilpons had no intention of fielding a contending team for the next several years?
If you accept this then it makes sense that MLB would intervene and want a hand in managing the “financial soft landing” of one of it’s large market teams, enter Sandy Alderson on behalf of MLB. What we don’t know and probably will never know is how intertwined the Met-Wilpon-Maddoff-Sterling Enterprises finances were?? It’s becoming clearer to me anyway that once these financial ties are finally cut the Wilpons will sell the team. I think MLB and the Wilpons have planned it this way for the good of MLB.
Is a MLB team to big to fail? What would have happened if MLB had not intervened? The Wilpons could not meet payroll or every day operating expenses? Bankruptcy? Given the relationship close between Maddoff and Fred Wilpon I think opening the Wilpon’s financial books would have exposed MLB to all kinds of horrors.
Lifelongmetsfan, Seems to me you’re dreaming. The Wilpons have no intentions of selling majority share of the team and have made that crystal clear it’s going to remain a family business for a very long time.
And to claim the Mets had no intention of winning past 2009, is also pie in the sky considering they had one of the highest payrolls in the game until 2012 but were decimated by injuries. In fact, 2009 was a bad season after 3 years of contending, and 4 of play above .500. With Wright, Reyes, Bay, Beltran, Santana and K-Rod, they had the personnel to win but didn’t.
Some idiot with a keyboard opts to write unsubstantiated story and some people jump on it as if valid. Shame on the people who believed it, let alone the person who it appears misrepresented himself to start this unfounded claim. Logic suggests this person has no more access or knowledge of the Wilpon finances than he has of each one of us and we, the Wilpons.
And furthermore, as of this past June, the Wilpons are one of the major developers of the area surrounding the ballpark, a multi-Billon dollar project to occur in stages. Does this sound like the Wilpons are in dire straits? It’s preposterous to believe this person, who, if reports are accurate, misrepresented his affiliation with Wall Street Journal and has little credibility to stand on.
I believe it.
“And furthermore, as of this past June, the Wilpons are one of the major developers of the area surrounding the ballpark, a multi-Billon dollar project to occur in stages. Does this sound like the Wilpons are in dire straits?”
And with regard to your above comment. I could be wrong but if I remember correctly the development deal in the area immediately surrounding the ball-park was park of the stadium deal.
Longtimefan why would the Mets need to borrow $40 million dollars and then request another 40 million dollars from MLB to meet the payrool and every day expenses of running a major league team?
Longtimefan How much “salary-deferment” have the Wilpon’s “invested” with Bernie Maddoff?
How much of that “invested”deferred contract money is now….. “Poof!” Gone.??
Lifelongmetsfan, the Mets never had a problem meeting payroll and didn’t borrow from MLB for that purpose. Your claim is not factual. The Mets in fact, had payroll money set aside prior to the season. The Dodgers had mega problems meeting payroll, as did the Texas Rangers a few years ago before they were sold.
Insofar as deferred player payments, that’s not at all unusual amongst teams, and certainly not unique to the Mets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/sports/baseball/mets-and-sny-seek-banks-help-with-debt.html?ref=baseball&_r=2&
Lifelongmetsfan,
RE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/sports/baseball/mets-and-sny-seek-banks-help-with-debt.html?ref=baseball&_r=2&
This has zero to do with your claims.
Furthermore, there’s nothing unusual about refinancing, we have no idea if this report is accurate, particularly when written by Richard Sandomir who has long shown hostility towards the Wilpons and immense favoritism toward the Madoff Trustee, Irving Picard.
And I’m not claiming the Wilpons have no financial issues. What I’m saying is the facts support an improving financial picture in light of no longer having a billion dollar lawsuit to deal with. There’s no indication the Wilpons need to sell their majority Mets share, nor plan to.
That said,as fans, we’re accustomed to top five payroll and struggle to adjust to one currently middle of the pack. That’s where this team is right now – middle of pack payroll which suits Sandy Alderson and his longstanding small market mentality who may be spending less than he could. I don’t know that he is but he has repeatedly said he will not spend all available funds freed upon end of player’ contracts and that he likes to preserve some funds for mid-season acquisitions, which, as we know, he hasn’t done in his two years here as GM.
Additionally, the Wilpons’ have long stated that when a GM asks for more money to acquire this or that player, they have always provided it.
>Additionally, the Wilpons’ have long stated that when a GM asks for more money to acquire >this or that player, they have always provided it.
That’s not true, when Omar was pursuing Delgado, he couldnt just add him on w/o trading another player
January 14th 2005 –
“The Mets say they need to clear salary before bidding aggressively for Delgado. They already have a three-year, $30 million offer on the table. Cliff Floyd appears the logical contract to move”
In 2006, Delgado was acquired only AFTER they traded Mike Cameron and his 10 mil salary
>an improving financial picture
meanwhile they said the ONLY reason they released Jason Bay was because he agreed to defer salary
how is that an “improving” financial picture if we were willing to play someone who makes 2010 Luis Castillo look like Ted Williams at TRIPLE THE PRICE ?
You never answered THIS question —->How much of that “invested”deferred contract money is now….. “Poof!” Gone.??
The mets INVESTED the deferred salary into fictitious accounts. The mets NOW have to pay back THAT deferred salary PLUS the interest compounded without the safety net of Bernie Madoff’s 12-18% annual return
It’s not like the mets invested in bonds at 1.0% and were paying the player at 1%
they invested at 12-18% and said they would give back anywhere from 1.5% to 10% interest
the mets now have to pay back all that money…without the magic money account
Lifelongmetsfan,
Insofar as the development, you are are mistaken. The Wilpon’s Real Estate wing was one of just a few companies in June awarded development rights, the activity of which will occur in stages and will require very hefty investment in environmental cleanup as well as infrastructure development before any building of a mall and residential buildings can occur.
You can find all the details on the NYC.gov website, the very comprehensive press release from the Mayor in June that outlines the details.
Yes and the way the team is structured, the Mets are firewalled away from their other businesses.
If the mets sink, they cant bring down Sterling, SNY and vice versa. And since the Wilpons dont put their OWN money into the team, the profit they make off of SNY and Sterling has no effect on the losses they have with the mets
The WIlpons made 237 million dollars when the SNY loan paid out dividends in 2010.
And yet we were still cutting salary in 2011-2012
Care to explain ?
Salfino is getting killed on his twitter account right now lol….He even took off that he works for WSJ,Yahoo,RotoWire etc…
Apparently he works at a Brooklyn Bagel shop and overheard SRT & TRS talking about the mets finances lol….
Dont take offense i kid i kid lol
Apparently he works at a Brooklyn Bagel shop and overheard SRT & TRS talking about the mets finances lol….
lnao, this!
LMAO!!!! THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL….no offense taken.
All mets related monies other than attendance is funneled away from payroll to pay other debts and operating costs. How else does one explain a payroll at least 40 million shy of a big market norm?
To say they aren’t broke is really upsurd. They just sold 40%+ of their team to keep afloat!!!
Let’s see if both EA and Wright get traded, then make arguments each way.
Sorry to say but no way these folks are broke. I wish I was as broke. Excellent points in the article, and I want to add that the $70 million loss in 2011 I am not buying either. These figures can be manipulated and twisted in dialogue – was it “the Mets” that lost $70 mil but SNY made $30 mil? Bottom line is that this ownership is overleveraged and has very high debt service payments, along with limited cash, but THEY OWN A BILLION DOLLAR MLB TEAM AND TWO-THIRDS OF A BILLION DOLLAR TV NETWORK IN THE #1 MARKET IN THE COUNTRY. They can easily afford a $120 million payroll in 2013 if they decided that they were willing to risk some more losses this year in order to change the vibe and image of the team.
You have been the voice of reason on this from the start and don’t get enough credit for the fine job you do covering this whole debacle. Good job..
I have no idea if the Wilpons are broke or not. What was said in this article makes a lot of sense. Refinancing is done all the time especially when interest rates are so low. Cutting a couple points off hundreds of millions of dollars nets tens of millions a year. It is a smart business move and people do it all the time.
As for the Mets, they are losing money and that needs addressing. All the spend more money to make money people hear are not dealing in facts. The Mets spent money in 2009, 2010, and 2011. It is a correlation that doesnt hold up. The Mets had a $130M payroll and attendance dropped. Same thing happened with a payroll of $140M. Spending money was never Fred’s problem and a simple look at history tells it. And anyone who thinks that people who own businesses continually funnel money from their other ventures to keep it going are crazy. At some point, as an owner, you tell everyone the entity needs to stand on its own. Hell, if I was the Wilpons, I wouldnt take money from the real estate company (if that is profitable) and put it into the Mets.
As for the moves, most of them, even though there was a financial implication, were baseball moves. Trading KRod was intent to save $17M because he was going to vest with the Mets but it was a sound baseball move. KRod is not worth $17M a year especially the way he pitched this year. And dont start the garbage that the Mets could have negotiated like the Brewers did. KRod was going to vest with the Mets since the 55 game number was going to be hit. In Milwaukee, he wasnt closing. Boros would have never taken the same deal with the Mets.
The fact that the Beltran deal is criticized makes me laugh. Sure Wheeler might end up as nothing. That is the deal with prospects. But the Mets right now have the #6 prospect in the country, something they havent had, maybe since Strawberry. Beltran wasnt going to resign with the Mets. He was a guy with bad knees who has a spotty record in terms of injuries. If everyone will recall, going into 2011, Beltran was a major question mark.
$106M for Reyes is completely and utterly asinine. Trying to defend that contract is fool’s play. He is a guy who basically has an over/under of 120 games a year. This season he was healthy and performed for the Marlins. Yet his performance was about at his career average. Non of this “batting champ” stuff; his average dropped 50 points. Reyes will not be worth the $22M annually he will be receiving in a couple years. The odds are his skills will diminish rapidly as he is on the other side of 30.
Trading Wright and Dickey, depending upon their contract demands, could be the most sensible thing the Mets do. Dickey is a risk at 4 or 5 years. To proclaim otherwise is not true. He might be a knuckleballer but he was a conventional pitcher until late in his career and he throws harder than anyone before him. How will that affect things? Who knows and that is the risk. As for Wright, that debate took place quite often on here.
So the Mets might be in financial trouble. But the idea of spending money on big contracts and spouting for the team to do that is foolish. Those who proclaim this are also the ones who were attacking Bay for 3 years. Well to try and have it both ways is hypocritical. Long term big money deal rarely work out. And this is true no matter what the market. Look at the Yankees. They have an assortment of awful contracts that are going to hinder them for the next few years.
The Wilpons might be broke. But the last two years were good for the Mets to be on the sidelines. Who did they miss out on? Crawford. Pujols. Werth. Wilson. These are all guys who are seriously overpaid and will ultimately be awful contracts for their teams.
The bulk of the money spent in 2009 were contracts signed from 2004-2008
We pretty much slowed down on signing big contracts when the Madoff incident occured in 2009
Since then, the only 2 contracts we signed were Frankie Rodriguez, who gave a bargain discount considering he came off the single greatest year for a closer ever and had a great career record
and Jason Bay…who also was signed to a very reasonable contract
Since 2004, the only real big long term contracts we signed players to were Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana
then again Met fans bring up Alex Cora’s 2 mil salary….
This X100
Since they started penny-pinching, Who did they miss out on?
Aroldis Chapman – 23 years old – 5 year deal 5 mil per year
Cespedes – Oakland – 26 years old . 4 year deal 12 mil per year
Darvish – 25 years old 5 year deal 10 mil per year with 1 player option
One of the best closers in baseball
One of the best CF in baseball
One of the best SP in baseball
all 26 and younger…all signed to relatively good deals…
would you like me to further embarrass you or are you satisfied with this?
How does Darvish define as a relatively good deal? If you allow for discounting the 6th year as you are then Darvish depending on what source you go by is getting around 5 years $41M. You still have to add the $51.7M they had to bid just to negotiate as well don’t you think?
So your looking at something in and around the neighborhood of 5 years $92.7M. Which averages to about $18.5M a year.
texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120117&content_id=26373244&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex
espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story/_/id/7476104/texas-rangers-japanese-pitcher-yu-darvish-agree-six-year-60m-deal
baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/?page_id=92
I forgot about the posting fee.
What about the other 2 players mentioned?
There isn’t much to say. I just wanted to point out that I don’t see how Darvish is a relatively good deal.
I think considering that Cespedes was 1. signed after the Mets spent what they did this past off season and 2. Cespedes was still unable to even negotiate till this January and 3. the Picard settlement had yet to even be settled. I think it was unrealistic to expect the Mets to be able to even bid on Cespedes. If others feel otherwise well then to each his own.
As far as Chapman goes this was my thought of him back in October 2009.
http://realdirtymets.com/2009/10/25/extra-extra-trdmb-front-page-vol-24/
It’s too bad the Mets couldn’t make a bid for him. For me if your going to gamble a kid like this is was worth it.
I wanted both of those players. Who didnt? But as you plainly stated there was far too much uncertainty at the time to make any substantial financial commitment. Mets had no shot at these guys.
Hi Joe,
Will this burst your bubble somewhat?
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/sports/2012/09/6536279/wilpons-mets-are-still-shrinking
More speculation articles on Mets finance….I dont buy it…You dont bring back a lower level minor league affiliate you cut the year prior if you’re team is broke and continuing to lose money.
The money the mets lose are due to the terrible non talented team they put on the field. Fans are not gonna pay major league ticket prices to see a minor league team fielded in Queens…New york city Major league ticket prices mind you.
Didnt the Mets strip Megdal of his credentials before last season started? Lol….probably because he is always critical of the Wilpons and rightfully so…The Wilpons are scum but i dont believe they dont have funds and theyre bleeding money
HI Bad,
Don’t forget, there is a difference betweeen being BROKE and being financially MAXED OUT.
Simply put, Cerrone has an agenda to support and put the Wilpons in a positive light, and Megdal has an agenda to stain and tarnish them anyway he could. This site has been very objective on this matter to the dislike of those who support Cerrone’s or Megdal’s spin on things.
Cerrone’s agenda was on full display this morning in this post:
http://metsblog.com/metsblog/off-field-business-rumors-and-what-to-do-or-not-to-do/
Therefore, ever since the Madoff case was settled – when readers made quite clear to me they prefer baseball news here to business news – when it comes to off-field, business-related stories, I wait for the team’s beat reporters and city’s financial reporters to swarm as a group before I post something. In other words, if they are silent, I’m silent… like tonight… so I can focus on the hot stove (or not stove, depending on how you look at it).
This coming from the guy who posts rumors and news about other teams and everything including the kitchen sink. Talk about being in Wilpon’s pockets.
Thanks for your support. Thankfully, at least one person read my article.
I wouldn’t waste time reading anything Howard Megdal writes.
I wouldnt waste any brain cells believing anything the Wilpons say
Joe doesn’t take anything H. Medgal says seriously despite all of the true reporting that’s stated. It’s all numbers and in black and white yet so many people cover their eyes.
You just made my point.
What about all the lies Megdal got caught in? Team will not go bankrupt in 2013. The suit was not a slam dunk like he said. The whistle blower was being paid to testify and had a history of it. The Wilpons did not default on the Citi Field or SNY loans like he said they would. And they DID pay back the MLB and BOA loans. Are you just going to ignore that mountain of misinformation?You might be the blind one. I only wish I could get my $5 back for buying that ridiculous e-book of his.
Shocking how he was not held accountable for that book of lies. The statutes of limitations is 10 years for slander and libel. I hope they will sue Megdal just so we could be rid of the Rush Limbaugh of the Mets. Taking away his credentials was a good first step. Credentials are only for reputable people.
?????
The fact that BOA gave the Mets a bridge loan when they were bleeding cash shows the balance sheet must not be that horrific. Also, Selig might be buds with Fred but to go and loan him tens of millions of dollars of the owners money wouldnt sit right unless there was a means of repayment.
Am sure SNY had something to do with that – as it did with the re-financing – since the bridge loans still had to be paid back by the owners and SNY is one of their holdings.
“What the heck was that Zombie Fight Club scene all about?”
It’s from the comic books in case you had never read those….
As for the Wilpon finances I have been saying all along they are not as broke as some would hope them to be thinking they would lose the team.
As far as setting the budget I would be surprised if their statements to Sandy went far beyond a simple get the team profitable without any mention of payroll cieling.
If Sandy had come to them and asked to sign someone that would put the budget at 115M I bet they would let him go ahead and sign them but Sandy has not done that and it is Sandy who feels the 100M budget is enough to build a winner with.
They lost 20M with a 100M payrol but if they got the right Power RHB OF for around 10-12M per they could easily draw enough season ticket sales to make up that 33M and maybe even more if he wins us a few games.
I am convinced it’s not the WIlpons setting the Payroll limitations it is Sandy who picked that number as where he wants to be as far as spending and Sandy believes he can make a winner for that amount.
Maybe he can in 10 Years time but he won’t get that in NYC.
In fact by this time next year if people are not convinced that what he is doing is going to lead to a championship then he is gone goodbye!
You can put it in the books!
Hi Metsie,
Could very well be that Alderson is calling the shots on how to spend and how to cut back and the Wilpons have to accept it and smile because total control could have been one of the stipulations Selig required in order to go the extra mile for his buddies.
As suggested earlier, Sandy might be one who doesn’t want to gamble with possibilities of increased revenue when he knows he can guarantee an instant savings by cutting players and signing those he called “inexpensive”.
So Sandy Alderson was responsible for us trading Billy Wagner to save a million bucks in 2009?
Sorry, but this has been the Wilpon mantra for a while
Just,
Omar sent Wagner packing (I get why you said Sandy) LOL but you know that Billy was the end of his four year contract in 2009 and only had about a month to go and stated he would only sign with a club that made him the closer – and we already had KRod. So getting back a good bench player and fourth outfielder in Chris Carter was the right move.
Why Carter is still stuck in the minors I don’t know – he was a reliable bench player for us and boy could we have still used his bat in 2011 and 2012. The unfortunate thing was that he was so slow in the outfield that his problem was not catching the ball but getting to it.
No gettingck a slob like Chris Carter was not the right move. Offering Wagner arbitration and getting a 1st rounder and supplemental pick would’ve been the right move but the Wilpons wanted to move the remaining 2 months of salary instead of taking 2 high picks. That was an absolute idiotic move.
I forgot the arbitration aspect and agree that would have been a better move than trading for Carter. Stand corrected.
Exactly…and Wagner revealed in Spring Training of 2010 that he had a handshake agreement with Fred to do this.
Fred Wilpon = the problem
Yeah except in the 80′s and 90′s and 2006-2008….
That one deal is the norm right?
Please….Thats so far off the mark it’s not even funny!
Or what is much more likely to be the case is the Wilpons really thought Sandy was a good guy to get them through this and are just letting him do what he wants and what he wants is to keep payroll around 100M.
All this stuff about Selig forcing him on them or that THEY set the Payroll number at 100M is nothing more than assumption and no more likely than the scenario where Selig said this guy can get you back in black, They agreed and stayed out of Sandy’s way. Sandy set the payroll targets, set the timeline for competitive team and the strategy we have seen the past 2 offseasons.
I bet if the Wilpons have mandated anything in the past two years it was only in regards to insisting we keep Wright because he is a fan/owner favorite and know well enough if he goes so does any hope at increasing attendance.
The only reason people are blaming Wilpon who has never been cheap EVER since he got here is because they don’t want to blame Sandy for it!
Wilpon is the EXCUSE not the cause of all the team’s financial and roster problems.
Wilpon didn’t cost the team a penny!
Wilpon didn’t take any money from the team the way the Dodger owner did…
And there is no clear evidence that they set the Payroll limitastion on Sandy as Sandy has been saying that since well BEFORE the Madoff scandal broke with his consistent chattering about how you can’t carry more than two big contracts on an MLB roster…
He believes that not the Wilpons as evidence of the rosters they had for years before Sandy came along.
Only thing to pin on the Wilpons regarding our spending approach is they have not forced Sandy to work as a big market team and let him play his small market strategy instead.
[...] keep every penny. These are all signs that point to fiscal viability … … Visit link: About That Whole “Wilpon Is Broke” Rumor | Mets Merized Online ← Things You Want to Know About Credit Card Debt Management by Tess [...]
Love ya Joe and no offense but….weren’t you the same one who kept telling us that Bay would be back next season – take that to the bank?
Bottom line is none of us really have a clue where the Mets finances really stand. Rubin came the closest to trying to dig into it but even he doesn’t know, although he’s still stating they are broke or at the very least, still seriously in the red.
We all know the one thing that will cure all of this….winning. Problem is they’ve got to spend a little money to put a competitive team on the field. We’re not the Rays and trying to emulate them – developing that much talent on the farm – would take about 10 years. IMO, you gotta spend a little money to make a little money.