27
2012
Mets Fans Suffering From Bargain Bin Boredom
An article by 
As winter creeps onto the landscape and the offseason crawls along, its becoming apparent that the sweeping changes that were promised by Mets GM, Sandy Alderson, are likely to be held off another year. Instead of renovating the roster to resemble that of a organization poised for a resurgence, the Mets remain in a holding pattern. The team’s front office had declared the World Series, then the Thanksgiving holiday and now the start of the winter meetings as dates for clarity on the futures of RA Dickey and David Wright. The first two dates have come and gone, with the latter quickly approaching, and yet we still wait. That appears to be what we do best around here these days…Wait.
Speaking as someone who was content with the idea that it took more than a season to screw this franchise up and that it will take more than a season to fix the mistakes of those that came before him, I tolerated the notion that 2014 might be the year the Mets find themselves back on the map. So, I waited. Waited for what, I’m not exactly sure, but I’m pretty sure I expected the framework for such a rebuild in place a mere season away from the self-imposed rebuilding deadline. For sure, the team would need at least a season to mesh, right? And still, I wait.
I think I’ve gotten to the point that I’m actually bored with what going on here. Quite frankly, I don’t care what the team’s financial situation. Furthermore, the methodical approach of Sandy Alderson seems to do nothing but make the agony of knowing there is little immediate hope on the horizon even worse. You see there is nothing wrong with signing low risk, high reward players like Tim Byrdak to minor league contracts. In fact, its good baseball sense. However, these are not the signings necessary to put the chips in place for a rebuild.
To be perfectly honest, resigning David Wright and RA Dickey only maintains the organization’s current position of limbo. These are the players that the front office should build around, but even their future is in doubt. If we’re lucky enough to ink them to long-term deals, I fear that the players filled in around them will simply maintain the status quo. Two months ago it was unfathomable that fifth outfielder, Andres Torres, might occupy a roster spot next season. Now it appears borderline likely. Simply put, scratching the bottom of the bargain bin has become tiresome.
As another spring training draws near, the blueprint for success is no clearer today than it was two years ago. Addition by subtraction has replaced the big market mindset brought to you by Omar Minaya and Bernie Madoff. Whether you blame poor investing, poor free agent signings, or even poor player development, the Mets schtick just seems stale at this point. Resigning Wright and Dickey may pacify some fans, but it will be the players brought in around them that will inspire the imaginations of the masses. They don’t have to be nine-figure players, but the Ronnie Cedenos of the world just aren’t going to get it done.
I’m bored Sandy Alderson. Give me a reason to get excited, a reason to look forward to the future, hell.. give me a reason to come to the ballpark. Show fans that this organization is still interested in winning. Enough with the stopgaps. Lets build something worth the our time..and our money.
Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83
About the Author: Rob Patterson
Ultimately, I owe nearly thirty years of Mets related torture to my mother, who is the reason I became a fan. I was too young to remember the 86 run, but hope to see one I'll be able to recall much sooner than later. I enjoy writing about the team and welcome your feedback on my posts. Oh..and I am not with 28!
67 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- Joey D.: on Sandy Disappointed With Some Of His Moves And The Team’s Performance: Hi Metsie, Do you realize that with your...
- Hans: on Mets Need More Time To Get Better Understanding Of Ike Davis?: Skip his next paycheck. When he calls...
- Mr North Jersey: on Wheeler Pitches Five Innings, Shakes Off Some Rust: The biggest thing for me was that...
- Eric: on Mets Need More Time To Get Better Understanding Of Ike Davis?: The Mets need more time to get...
- Metsie: on Sandy Disappointed With Some Of His Moves And The Team’s Performance: Sorry Connor they weren't mistakes made by...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5387 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
WTH>!>!>!>
No news about the mets offering wright a deal????
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/58973/report-mets-finally-make-wright-offer
You’re welcome MMO!!!!!!!
Or is that not enough to post here and we just gonna pretend it’s not happening because it’s not enough money for the golden boy??
its interesting how the mets management basically made Wright out to be the villian…
Whatever…if it results in Sandy having more time to sign Wright than I’m all for it…
With Toronto having been interested in Reyes, Sandy probably could’ve gotten Travis D’anard and maybe more for Reyes in 2011…
If Im David Wright, I make a public statement and say…
Dear Met Nation,
I love you all to death, I thank you for your support through the hard times and good times..but I feel this team I love would be better off in the long run trading me for top prospects than trying to sell you some tickets to see me in 2013, I have asked for a trade, not because I dont love the Mets, but because I want them to succeed in the future and I dont feel that it is possible with me eating up 90% of the payroll
Sincerely,
David Allen Wright
Damaja, I’ll second that letter with a THIS^^^^^
Call it what it is, dumpster diving.
I read the MLB Rumors site daily and what is disappointing is that the Mets are not even mentioned in being interested in a lot of the quality players available this off season like Victorino, Bourn, Upton, etc. They mention the minor league deals like Hicks and the rumors on keeping Wright and R.A. Folks we are not even in the game. It’s like the Mets are just sitting at the station and watching the trains go by. We don’t even buy a ticket. Unless Alderson and Wilpons have some big surprise trades their working on, I just don’t think we will have many new faces going into spring training. We are a big market team with a small market mentality. With ticket prices climbing hiow long do you think they can sustain this. You can’t move the fences in anymore so that trick has played itself out. This ain’t gettin’ it done!
We are a big market team with a small market mentality”
Let me reprhase that…. We are a big market team with a small market front office at the helm, that is why sandy and co were brought here by selig in order for the wilpons to keep the team..
“that is why sandy and co were brought here by selig in order for the wilpons to keep the team”
OK, wait are you now supporting our missing SRT?
hahahaha – Welcome aboard.
Nope, i said that from DAY one.. I get what she means, but by no means should we blame the wilpons only, many people consider this guy to be some sort of godsend to help right the ship of the franchise, and instead he’s made it worse. from a core of good players we had we are left with 3 or 4 since he’s been here. I said this hired was a bit weird and odd in october, i did not want minaya as the GM as he was way in over his head, but this sabergoon has made a mockery of the fans of NY and has made our franchise a joke in just 2 years and already in the third he’s slapping us in the face with more padres and A’s rejects than we’ve ever seen.
I understand your point and as I have said this isn’t about Sandy with me and has never been. When he was hired I had to go back to and try and remember who the hell he even was.
From the point that Omar was fired I looked at the roster and the minors and the pending financial mess and thought there was no way this team could move forward without drastic changes and most likely the new GM would shoot for 2014 as the first real year. I have said ever since that following the 2013 season and the moves the team makes that if they do not reinvest in terms of cash and talent by then the entire group needs to go. Owners, GM’s, managers, etc.
What I don’t get is the constant need though to critique every move as franchise saving or franchise damning. We all know the current situation and we all know what to expect. We all knew there would not be any major additions in FA until after 2013. It wouldn’t have mattered WHO the GM was that was going to happen. We also seem to be chanting to different things from both sides of the plate. How great the young players that were left are and we should build around them and how crappy the team is and we should trade those players and sign FA. Would the team have been better in 2012 if they had re-signed Beltran? Sure. Would we have found out that Duda couldn’t cut it? Should they have signed Fielder and traded Davis? Should they go with Kirk in CF next year or bring a guy in?
That is why I have said I can go either way on Wright and Dickey. If they can be signed for reasonable contracts that still allow the team to build around them in 2014, re-sign them. If they can’t, trade them.
I realize some Met fans believe SA was brought here to right the ship which includes turning the franchise around and building a competitive team from the ground up.
My opinion – as it’s always been – is his primary goal was to save the team for the Wilpons – period.
Anything past that is just laying the ground work for the next GM when he takes over. I believe SA is a one and done type GM and he’ll be turning the reigns over as soon as his contract is up.
The difference is we admitted that the wilpons were scheming and always have been, noone losses $150+ million and call it a victory in court, problem with you is you always wanna blame the wilpons for everything sandy does, his trades his signings, everything he does is the wilpons fault if he fails…
‘Problem with you’……LOL
Alex, they are for sure linked. Sandy has screwed up on a few moves for sure but to think that financial concerns are not behind most of his moves would be more of a screw up than Sandy has ever done. I can’t help what some people thought Sandy would do no more than I can help your issues with Wright and Reyes. I can only go by what I see. Even in Omar’s last years it was apparent that the money train was about to end and things were going to go south quickly. It wouldn’t have mattered who they brought in as GM, the purse was going to get tightened and there would be nothing but bargain signings until after 2013. Now again, if after 2013 the Mets are still bargain shopping then I expect a revolt on all things Met.
If a 6/100m is FAR from what Wright wants then the Mets need to use Nashville to their advantage to get a good trade package for him. 6/100 is a very very fair offer.
I get it if he wants like 6/110 or something like that but if he’s holding out for 7/140 lets say then see ya.
Yeah, I am guessing that if he is making 16M this year then what would get it done is 6/108 and then a 2M signing bonus which seems to be what you are suggesting as well. That would basically be 7 years at 18M each or 7/126. Then you can discuss some type of option for the final years that are team friendly.
As you said, if he wants more than that, like with Reyes there has to be a line somewhere.
This.
thats funny cuz the difference in annual salary between 6//100 and 7/140 is 3.4 mil per year…
3.4 mil per year after taxes ( esp now ) comes out to about 2 mil.
then u pay your commission which is post-tax, now ur left say…1.8 mil per year…
If David doesnt want to sign that contract, it has everything to do with him not wanting to be stuck on a losing club with fans booing him for 7 more years.
I dont blame him
I blame the ownership for even offering a BS contract that they know he wont sign.
Just be upfront…and HONEST….trade the man to a contender…get back prospects…and call it a day…
but being upfront and HONEST is something these folks never do
David deserves better than this…and so do we
Just…
Isn’t this how negoiations are supposed to work? Wright camp floats a 7/140 deal knowing the Mets won’t agree. Mets float a 6/100 deal knowing Wright won’t agree. Then they either meet in the middle and agree or they don’t and part ways. Seems pretty standard.
but all the sources have been “linked to the mets organization”
David isnt floating any offers
Actually there was one that was a baseball source that identified the 7/140 and considering it wasn’t a Mets person then one would assume it could have been Wright’s camp but at this point, who knows?
So does that mean he hasn’t floated offers or merely that he hasn’t disclosed that he has floated offers. This is the same BS that was hashed here all last year about Reyes. You don’t need to have anything officially on paper to know where the two sides are, for some reason people think this needs to happen and that it needs to be disclosed to the fans.
different story, reyes was a free agent, other teams could negotiate with him, wright is not and only the mets can offer a contract extension and have his exclusively rights.. for all i care, he can be traded to mexico if it’s for the right package…
Maybe the Mets would do better with Mexican players than they did with the guys from the Far East. I am still trying to get over Sinjo, Matsui, and Igorashi.
if getting mexican players means I have to listen to old grumpy white met fans complain about the team being too latin everytime they go on a 2 game losing streak I’ll pass…
Right, and most likely the fans don’t have a damn clue what either side wants and honestly why should they?
I’m confused… Do you not think this offer is fair??? I sense you’re all over the place here damaja.. Please help me understand, this is more than fair for him, he’s not worth more than this money, again, imho i think wright should be traded, he’s not worth more than this, but again, “reports” said he’s looking for $125 million or so to be the highest paid met of all time and serve his ego. we’ll see where we are in terms of how greedy he is or not according to his legion of fans.
Is the offer fair? I think so.
I’ll go a step further…
If the Nationals made this offer to David Wright…and told him Ryan Zimmerman would move to 3B…David would sign on the dot…
If the Phillies made this offer…David would sign on the spot
If the Giants made this offer…David would sign on the spot
If the Cardinals made this offer…David would sign on the spot…
If the Blue Jays made this offer…David would sign on the spot…
David has already made 70 million bucks…by the time he is done, he will have made close to 200 million dollars…
I dont think this is about money…I really think this is about the fact that David knows, if they resign him, they are probably crying broke after and trading away RA Dickey….and trading away Ike once he hits arbitration…and so on and so forth…
I dont think David Wright is the devil…nor do I think he is some angelic figure sent from heaven to save the mets…he’s just another player
thats it…thats all…
This^^^
Also, FYI Ike is ARB eligible this year.
Fair enough…
And here’s the reverse of that…….
I think David needs to be upfront instead of looking like he’s just another greedy player. I think you’re correct and I’ve been saying it all along…….he’s done with this slipshod of an organization and wants to win. I say why go through all the charades of working out a deal when he knows he wants to win, and knows it ain’t happening here under this ownership. Be honest to the organization, be honest to the fans and most of all be honest to yourself. I would have way more respect for him if he proceeded this way and it will help expedite a trade so we can move on.
And also…..did you ever think that maybe, just perhaps the reason they’re offering him a contract that they know he won’t sign, is because they don’t want him either and ultimately want to trade him. I mean there are just so many scenarios that could be happening here, but I think it should start with Wright being honest to all of us. Its a whole PR cat and mice game going on now on both sides.
What’s really starting to worry me is that this Bargain Bin Boredom may last a long time into the foreseeable future. Fans who are expecting the wallets to open up again in 2014 when the Bay and Santana $$$ comes off the payroll, could be in for a surprise. Think about this:
The big time spending on players by the Wilpons over the last 20 or so years coincided with the enormous, artificial, corrupt profits they were receiving with Madoff. I’m sure alot of those profits were used to reinvest in free agent ballplayers. That source of investment income is gone forever with Madoff doing life at a Federal joint. And I don’t see revenues increasing anytime soon with the product they’re putting on the field in Queens. So the concept of them opening their wallets again could be all an illusion and nothing more…..just saying
MetsWatchman, they were using some of that money for incentives and bonuses but most owners are not using their personal pocket cash to fund a team anyway. The Mets in NY can afford a larger payroll (not 150M IMO) if they field a competitive team. The question is how and when they can field that competitive team.
Make a significant splash Alderson…trade Wright. Unlike Jared Weaver and Longoria, Wright wants close to top dollar. He wants the largest contract in Met history, and quite frankly, isnt worth it. It is unlikely he will improve much off his .300/20/100 which are fine numbers but hardly in the superstar class. He isnt going to give a “hometown discount”, which is his right and nobody should blame him for that. But both sides need to realize what is going on and Wrights’ true on field value and how it will only diminish with time.
THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“He wants, He wants, He wants …”
Do we really know what HE wants or are both sides just doing the normal negotiation tango?
Shocker… You running up to defend you’re greedy ass david wright because it doesn’t fit your agenda that the golden boy is just like every other ball player who only sees $ sign in his eyes.. You want him to be the only guy who take a hometown discount because it’ll make his story even more appealing. you are pathetic sometimes, the guy was offered a super nice contract, he’s not worth all that money, he’ll be a jason bay type player for us down the road, why the need to sign this guy is beyond me if the team is not gonna improve still.. trade him now that his value is up instead of wasting time in trying to sign this choke artist.
It is really simple when you think about. The Wilpons know that if Wright is traded this off season that attendance will plummet in 2013. Yet, giving Wright $100M+, I dont believe, will sell one more ticket. It is in the best interest of the organization to trade Wright. If he was willing to take a 5/$80 deal with some options, then it is worth it to extend him. But to obligate the team until he is 37 is asinine.
LOL, so does that explain why I have written about 5 articles on why they should trade him and who they should trade him for?
You are pathetic, it’s always the same agenda and getting quite boring.
Then why are you getting your panties in a bunch as soon as we say something about the guy? Again, reports all over the place are saying the MEts offer 6/100 and yet here you are trying to dismiss the offer as if it didn’t happen.. Which one is it then?
I never dismissed the 6/100 offer. That is legit and official. What I am unsure is the rumors of how much Wright wants. We have absolutely no idea how much he is actually asking for. Only that it’s most likely 7 years and most likely more than the 16.5M~ that is being offered.
Wright would sign for 6/100…if the team was actually a contender
something the mets are not going to be with him or without him…
Mark my words, payroll will be under 60m this year. Not including Davis, Thole and Parnell ARB cases payroll will be 44m if they get rid of Wright and Dickey (if they keep them it’s currently at 65m with 7 more roster spots to fill). It’s all about the dollars.
If they get rid of Wright and Dickey, why shouldn’t the 2013 payroll be incredibly low? It would then be obvious they were in complete rebuild and there would be no visions of competing in 2013. So signing fluff guys to make the 2013 team better while sacrificing cash for later and time for prospects would be pointless.
Seriously, how many FA would they have to sign to make the 2013 team competitive if they trade Wright and Dickey? Are there even enough out there?
But it’s not about just signing FA’s, we have always been on the same page that FA’s only get you over a hump and don’t contribute to long term needs generally. They should be able to swing trades of players making no money for players that are. That should be their strength right now but they won’t do it.
You don’t go out and trade for big name players making a lot of money when you are rebuilding either Salty. You try and get younger and develop your prospects. If the Mets trade Wright and Dickey, what good is another guy making money going to do us? If they trade those two guys then it will hinge on the prospects they get back and the development of the ones we got. Then when those guys are ready you can start spending on FA and making traded for established players.
Why the hell not? This should absolutly be their strength. Look if the team re-signed Wright and Dickey and spun something for a guy like CarGone or JUpton (or some player that will either garner a contract soon or got one where the team cant handle it) you immediately improve the the team. This should be their strength. If you add a little money to the equation, this team could be significantly better. Instead if those two are given away you are talking about 3 more years at least before the team is trending up. They have been rebuilding for 2 years now. it’s time to shlt or get off the pot.
Come on Salty, we knew after Omar left they were shooting for 2014 and nothing has changed that.
As you said IF they re-sign Wright and Dickey then yes they need to go out and surround them with MLB talent.
What I am saying is if you trade both of those then adding a Carlos Gonzales by trade and a BJ Upton by FA isn’t going to put them over the top.
Thus IF they don’t re-sign the two I would expect the payroll to be as low as possible until at least 2014.
He was referring to the other Upton which is worse because the only way to get either of those guys is to subtract from the big league team which nets them nothing.
Oh I know he was referring to Justin. I am just saying that adding payroll through FA and trades right away on the hills of trading Wright and Dickey makes absolutely no sense at all.
But I am not saying do this after getting rid of Wright and Dickey I am only suggesting this if they keep both of them. The team (minus known financial BS issues) should be able to do this, that is their market. Now I am using CarGone as just a example but their are plenty or young players that are signed long term where the team may decide it doesn’t make sense to keep them once their contact starts to kick up. That’s where the Mets should be able to take advantage. Someone like CarGone would provide serious impact to the team and sending Wheeler and others over to Colorado would make sense seeing he is 27 and proven. Trust me the sound of a rotation of Wheeler (if he is what they think he will be) Harvey and Niese with a older Dickey sounds Awesome! but they also need to get people in the outfield/catcher and there is no one anywhere close in the minors to be that.
I don’t think Wright should be signed to more than what is offered but if they get rid of those two get ready to sit on your hands for easily 3 more years while they “rebuild” again. This team does not need to put itself in that kind of position.
I think we misunderstood each other. I was responding to this:
” payroll will be 44m if they get rid of Wright and Dickey (if they keep them it’s currently at 65m with 7 more roster spots to fill). It’s all about the dollars.”
And said this:
“If they get rid of Wright and Dickey, why shouldn’t the 2013 payroll be incredibly low? It would then be obvious they were in complete rebuild and there would be no visions of competing in 2013.”
And this:
“As you said IF they re-sign Wright and Dickey then yes they need to go out and surround them with MLB talent.”
I think we are basically saying the same thing. If you re-sign Wright and Dickey then you make trades and increase payroll to surround them with talent. If you don’t then you are admitting rebuilding and trading for or signing established expensive players would be pointless and we are most likely not competing before 2014 at the earliest.
Nope 2014 was always your year where I felt 2013 needed to be the move forward year. Look by no means do I feel like they just kick it into 5th gear and signing and trading everything but they need to demonstrate that there is a plan. A plan to start investing in the team again and trying to put a competitive product on the field. All they demonstrate is that they are running the team like a bunch of turtles but there is no slow and steady to win the race it’s about hiding in their shell and hoping some how the issues will just fade away.
This sentiment may be a little early since the GM meetings are still a week away but they are demonstrating 0 ability or desire to make this team better. It should of started at the trade deadline last year and their should be things starting to materialize besides minor league fill in scrubs. IT’s going to take multiple years through development, FA and trades to get this team where it needs to be and they are only doing the development side and after last years lack of signings they are not doing that well enough either.
So much hinges on Wright and Dickey that I am sure nothing will happen until their issue is resolved.
However, I can’t understand why 2013 would be that much different than 2012? They still have too much of the salary attached to Johan and even Bay whose details I still can’t find. It was always going to be bide time until 2014 when Johan and Bay are off the books and guys like Ike, Niese and Harvey are hopefully able to be more than just role players.
Bay’s deferment is 21m over 3 years. 15m of that is in five installments that end in 2015. So it’s probably around 6, 7.5,7.5 for the next 3 years. I think Rubin is the one I got the info from.
Salty I haven’t seen that anywhere. If you ever get time shoot me a link on that. I would like to read the details.
http://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/heyman_15_million_of_jason_bays_2013_salary_deferred_till_2015/12203134
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/11/13/3641376/details-of-jason-bays-agreement-with-mets-emerge
Thanks Salty!
What exactly do the Mets have to offer that would get guys in that class. Unless you are willing to trade Wright, Dickey, Niese, or Davis, nobody the Mets have will net them. And, if you do trade one of those guys, especially Wright or Davis, then those guys only replace what was lost. So you end up with a net of Zero.
I think there are some guys you could trade. Flores, Fulmer,… but you have to be sure the team is ready to compete right now and the return will produce right now if you are trading guys like that.
For the right deal either Harvey or Wheeler should be available as well (preferably Wheeler IMO). The only 2 players that should be close to untouchable are Niese and prob Harvey.
Well obviously no one is untouchable but Harvey, Wheeler and Niese are about as close as you can get IMO.
Pay David’s ENTIRE 2013 salary…then trade David Wright to Toronto for Anthony Gose and Travis D’anard
Pay RA’s entire 2013 and trade him and Wheeler to Texas for Jurickson Profur
2013 lineup
1B – Ike
2B – Tejada
SS – Profur
3B – Murphy
LF – Duda
CF – Gose
RF – Valdespin
In the offseason, trade Murphy,
2014 lineup
1B – Ike – extend him
2B – Tejada – extend him
SS – Profur
3B – Flores
LF – Cory Vaughn
CF – Gose
RF – Valdespin
Once again I love how you think out of the box…….however, even though I covet Profur as much as you do, he is still unproven and can go either way at the major league level, thus making Wheeler/Dickey too muc at this point.
“I’m bored Sandy Alderson. Give me a reason to get excited, a reason to look forward to the future…”
Hi Robert,
How’s this for a reason to get excited? – Sandy Alderson was the architect who put together from scratch and with no prior experience in baseball (“cold” was the word he used) those great Oakland ballclubs. He is an expert in discovering under-valued (money ball) and under-appreciated (saber metrics) players. He is great with draft-selections. With all that going for us, how could the future not be bright?
My issue with the dumpster diving and as some would suggest NORMAL MiL Signings that every team does is the fact that a REBUILDING team should be playing those kids they intend to be pieces they are going to rebuild with.
If there is a hole in AAA in the infield then we should be playing some of the many drafted IFs there and not cluttering the AAA Roster with guys who have no real future with the team and won’t perform any better than promoting some kid from AA would.
The Minor leagues are meant to develop your prospects. If they have a need there then fill it from within because if he does have success you have achieved the act of developing more than this notion of stumbling on someone who has a hot year the way they did with Quintanilla who they virtually got NOTHING for thier troubles.
If everytime a Mic is put in your face you say you all about the future competitiveness of a team you don’t limit yourself to moves that do nothing for the future. You don’t cite IMMEDIATE NEED for signing some scrub and you don’t hold back the Kids you say your hoping to be the future core of the franchise.