Wright Gets His Second Generation Contract… So What’s Changed?

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• nym November 30, 2012 at 8:36 am

  Sandy never said he never would sign second generation contracts. He’s said in general they can be bad, but always maintained there were exceptions.

  Pretty much any good homegrown player these days gets at least some kind of early year that buys out a FA year or two. It’s highly unlikely to build a good team if you are NEVER going to sign a good FA and/or going to let all your players worth anything go when they reach FA.
  • Yep November 30, 2012 at 8:46 am

    Yep. Just another example of Alderson being judged in the context of the box that OTHER people have put him in. This site just can’t get enough of bashing the guy. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
    • Craig Lerner November 30, 2012 at 8:54 am

      You call this bashing? I call you an idiot. Are you kidding me?
      • Yep November 30, 2012 at 8:55 am

        Bwahaha. Called an “idiot” by the author of the article. Man o man, this site is sure fire CLASS all the way.
        • Craig Lerner November 30, 2012 at 8:59 am

          You’re an idiot because you have no clue who I am and what I believe. You judge me on a post in which I simply asked, what’s changed. You’re the one who has no class and was raised by mules. Go back to your favorite haunt and take your ignorance with you, you dim-witted sloth.
          • BadBadLeroyBrown November 30, 2012 at 9:15 am

            WHOA!!!!

            “You’re the one who has no class and was raised by mules.”\

            Hahahaha i wonder whats that like
          • Yep November 30, 2012 at 10:11 am

            LMAO! You’re not going to bait me into returning the personal insults, guy on the internet. Though I did enjoy you’re attempts to make me feel bad.
      • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:01 am

        The Sandy Lover gets called out!!! LMAO!!!!
        • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:04 am

          Whoa Whoa WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! get the popcorn!!!
        • Bayonne Mets Fan November 30, 2012 at 9:05 am

          actually it’s Sandy lover vs. Sandy lover. Like an old WWF tag match where one partner turns heel on the other, refuses to tag, then joins other team in stomping opponent.
          • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:08 am

            LMAO!!! THIS^^^^^^ Btw, i wonder how happy SRThis must be now that Mr Sexy Dimples will be a met for life! Ugh
            • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:13 am

              Nope I don’t make sexist remarks at all when I can’t handle a difference in opinion. I am the victim WHaaaaaaaa.
              • srt November 30, 2012 at 9:34 am

                Seriously….

                Wright is young enough to be my son, for crying out loud. Maybe I should change my name to ‘Cougar’. LOL.
                • Joey D. November 30, 2012 at 9:53 am

                  Hi srt,

                  Don’t worry, Davis is young enough to be our son too but my wife still loves him and is glad she doesn’t have to retire her “Mrs. Wright” pink baseball cap with the number five on it.

                  As many of us have said, the thought of David wearing anything other than the orange and blue was just unbearable and would have been the nail in the coffin that would make Citi Field a total – and I mean total – morgue.

                  I gather it was for this reason that Sandy negotiated a deal. Perhaps his inability to fully understand and appreciate the New York fan base and the bonding between them and certainl players changed after last year after he saw the “financial” damage created when he let Jose know his services were no longer required. Don’t forget, this is the same general manager who traded the yet to be know steroid user Marc McGwire in the middle of a season in which he missed tying Roger Maris’s home run record by two. .

                  Sandy can no longer use the excuse of re-building for letting go of stars down the road for what he did today – by making the correct move – questions how much his “vision” of the necessity to re-build came into the picture beforehand as it was his “financial” vision.
                  • Joey D. November 30, 2012 at 9:54 am

                    **** “David”, not “Davis” LOL.
            • srt November 30, 2012 at 9:33 am

              You have got to be kidding, Alex.
          • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:09 am

            LMAO!!!! Who is this clown yep? I want to thank him personally. Nah, just kidding, I dont want to be near an Alderson ass wiper.
            • Yep November 30, 2012 at 10:18 am

              Yep is me, and I am Yep. You’re welcome, I guess. Apparently I have been “called out” by someone I’ve never met before. Where are we going? I dunno.
• TJ November 30, 2012 at 8:41 am

  Craig,
  Ownership makes decisions on deals like this, not Alderson, Minaya, or M. Donald Grant. Ownerhip hasn’t changed. What has changed is that they are no where near financially challenged as they were last year. In 2014, $50+ million a year of additional TV money comes into the fold. DW’s deal may look really big right now, but it is still $100 million LESS than Pujols and Joey Votto deals signed last year. That Votto deal was $200+ million by the Cincinnati Reds, the Cincinnati Reds! Yes, DW is not a top level elite player, but he is just below that, and combining that on-the-field skill with being a home grown Met, a great citizen, blah, blah, blah, this signing is a good sign for the team, not a bad sign. Sure, there is risk, as every team faces with signing someone like DW. And, yes, his production will most likely decrease over time, although it could be argued that if he gets some more help in the lineup over the next year or two his production can improve oir hold. Now it is time to find for Alderson to do his job and find some pieces to fill out the lineup, and it is time for Jeffy and the other owners to provide a little more resources to put a solid team on the field in 2013 and not the same crappy lineup that gave DW no cover and went to sleep after the all-star break.
• Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 8:52 am

  I am looking forward though to the revised version of the $100 million dollars contracts gone bad, now including david wright… Come on JesseP, go ahead and delight us
  • jessep November 30, 2012 at 9:10 am

    That was the same blog you wrote and I quote: “look, bad contract happen, MOST of them dont fully work out, but if you get 4 or 5 good years out of 7 is a risk that i’m sure most GOOD GM’s are willing to take”

    So just to be clear – you’re suggesting Sandy Alderson is a good GM right?

    Welcome to the sabergooners and sandy supporters alex!
  • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:14 am

    I Did, and it’s true.. You have to wait for the contracts to play out, but this guy as i posted with numbers because my eyes apparently are deceiving is declining rapidly and at an alarming rate. Did you see my second halves split last 3 years? At age 27-28-29??????? Come on jesseP, for someone who claims to be objective you cannot tell me that a team that is broke, a team rebuilding needed to sign this guy long term when there’s nothing to surround him with #1 and #2 his best years are 5 years ago.. We just rid ourselves of bad contracts in 2014 and quickly as hell have another one
• SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:02 am

  I don’t know what is more insteresting. Looking at right wing blog comment sections after Obama got elected or THIS<<<>>>>>!!!
  • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:05 am

    Did you expect 100% agreement? Where have you been the last 6 months to not know how divided this issue was? Are you all for it at the Desert? Probably, huh? lol
    • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:07 am

      Maniac, this is the best of the best at the desert. All you need to know about that site and its 7 bloggers.
    • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:09 am

      Actually at RDM we are pretty divided about it, and I am not in full agreement about the signing. We just don’t act like a bunch of a-holes about it ever second of our lives.
      • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:12 am

        Every second? The deal just happened, wake up. You dont expect reactions to it today? What kind of blog are you running at the desert?!
        • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:15 am

          I am not running any blog, but thanks for your concern. and “You dont expect reactions to it today?” read my first comment to this string dude, just sitting here and eating popcorn.
• Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:06 am

  I am interesting in seeing how joe D handles with this situation above, if one of us insult an author on his article joe d comes to his defense and tells us not to reply or comment on the article, yet the author of this article, many times bias towards wright and sandy, insults a fellow blogger just because..
  • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:11 am

    This!
  • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:11 am

    Time to call the WHAAAAAAAbulance. Look Joe D has better things to do right now (like taking care of his health) then to tend to these petty little victim games everyone plays around here.
    • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:16 am

      Salty, SHUT THE HELL UP!!! You have no idea what really goes on around here apperantly because you’re too busy sweeping the sand at the desert, if you don’t know what i mean or the reason i said it don’t but in kid.. This ain’t the desert where all is well and dandy, this is MMO!!!!
      • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:19 am

        THIS IS SPARTA!!!! ROFL
      • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:20 am

        yep.. exactly my thoughts .. I tell you, the desert blog sure has people very knowledgable of the game of baseball and are well thought out and decent. you guys make me sick
        • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:23 am

          Maybe you and my wife should go to counseling together.
    • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:17 am

      What the heck is your problem today? Nobody started anything with you and you drew first blood.
      • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:20 am

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVqOgklHhF0
        • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:21 am

          Ummm ok lol
          • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:25 am

            Maniac, this guy is an idiot. don’t waste time with him and move on. He’s part of that pathetic desert culture, no wonder all those guys and SRThis get along so well, even though it’s like 7 of them they are all high fiving each other’s comments and kissing they’re asses when disagreeing.. GTFOH!
            • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:51 am

              Funny how you are disparaging me for a practice that you live on. Isn’t that exactly what you do? “The Core Salutes You”?!?! Sounds like high five to me, but you actually write it down. You run around all day long saluting your buddies who you agree with.
      • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 9:22 am

        Actually you guys got into it with me, there was no need to respond to my comment that was a overall generalization about the composition of the comment section here but obviously you guys have self esteem issues and felt the need to defend yourselves.
  • Joey D. November 30, 2012 at 10:00 am

    Hi Alex,

    Joe D., as we all know, is in the hospital once again, so perhaps this is not the appropriate time to question his motivations.

    But in fairness to Joe, it wasn’t the opinions he was against, it was the insulting personal remarks that accompany them and he wasn’t talking for himself but for all of us – on both sides of the aisle – who have had to endure such abuse.

    Almost a month to go to New Year. Why don’t everyone at MMO make a New Year’s Resolution to buy the hatchet, put aside whoever might have said what first, and start all over on a peace train?

    As John would put it “all we are saying, is to give peace a chance”.
    • TRS86 November 30, 2012 at 10:03 am

      How much does the hatchet cost? I got 10 bucks.
  • Yep November 30, 2012 at 10:25 am

    Seriously. I get called an idiot for what? I didn’t personally attack the author. I was expanding on an agreement with the first commenter, who correctly pointed out that Alderson said there were exceptions to those “second generation” contracts, which is directly related to the author’s comments about the “change” in Alderson’s opinion regarding them.

    Yeesh.
• ifthevanisrockin November 30, 2012 at 9:13 am

  This deal does not really mean that the Mets are suddenly flush with cash, or have more money to spend. They already are on record as saying the current level ~100mill) is what they can handle. And this deal did not change anythng, since the payroll was already locked in at that level for 2013, and DW was factored in.

  so what is different? All they really did was spend the money of 1 guy coming off the books for 2014 in advance. Does not mean that payroll is going to go up that year (hell, with DW, Bay and Santana all coming off the books after 2013, it could still easily go down).

  They did not “spend” 140mill now. They simply committed to spend ~17mill on 1 guy beginning in 2014 for another 7 years.

  Will the deal end up being another in a long line of bad 100mill+/older guy deals? Quite likely. Will it be an albatross in a few years? Maybe, if he drops off a cliff like Bay did and the payroll stays below 100mill for the rest of the decade.
  • BadBadLeroyBrown November 30, 2012 at 9:27 am

    Exactly!!! What ive been saying

    Wrights deal just replaces Santanas next year….Who replaces Wrights contract,Bay,

    After this year Only players under contract are Wright & Niese everyone else is on ther rookie deal or in Arbitration.

    It would be smart of the Mets to do what they did with Niese and buy out Ike Davis Arb years
• DrDooby November 30, 2012 at 9:22 am

  If you don´t sign a homegrown star player who plays 3b and thus a position where players tend to age well, to a “2nd generation contract”, you might as well never give such a contract to anyone.

  I understand there are concerns:
  How far away from fielding a contender are the Mets ?
  What is the projected payroll going forward – not only for 2013/2014 but also 2016 & beyond ?

  If you believe the Mets are at least 3 years away from contending, then this is questionable, of course. Likewise, if you believe the future payroll will always hover in the 90 to 100 million $ range, it´s also questionable allocating almost 20 % of it to a player in his 30s.

  That said, the Mets have a ton of pitching talent in their farm system. Which imho will be key in getting this team into contention within the next two years and then going forward.
  Likewise, imho, the payroll will rise again as revenue rises again (with a winning team) as it should be. Thus, by 2015 or 2016, the payroll could easily be back in the 120 million $ range and thus make Wright just one very manageable part of it.

  Thing is, the Mets already have an above average rotation and infield right now. The problem is that the bullpen and outfield have ranged from below average to atrocious. The bullpen issue should be solveable from the plethora of arms from within within the next two years. And if you just manage to take the outfield from terrible to average, suddenly you have a pretty good team – without needing Justin Upton or Josh Hamilton to turn things around.

  So, imho, this signing makes a ton of sense. Even more, looking at the free agent classes of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 where Wright easily is the best hitter available with the best chance to remain productive deep into his 30s.
• TJMets November 30, 2012 at 9:22 am

  I would have offered 4 years guaranteed at $18 each. Year 5 guaranteed at $15, escalating to $18 if certain performance incentives are met in year 4. Year 6 guaranteed at $10, escalating based on year 5 incentives. Finally, year 7 guaranteed at $5 with escalators all the way up to $18. If he really wants to stay in NY he would have taken this contract. What would his justification have been for not? That he wants to play out this year and shop his services for a similar deal with all money guaranteed because he knows he won’t be worth it? If so, then let him leave. The contract provides him with the incentive to maintain his current production while at the same time limiting risk for the Mets in the later half.
  • BadBadLeroyBrown November 30, 2012 at 9:31 am

    David wanted to be the highest paid Met ever which is why they are adding the 16M option year as part of the deal and it puts him over Johan by exactly $500,000 hopefully that last year is an option year and not ALL GUARANTEED
  • MetsWatchman November 30, 2012 at 9:58 am

    The contract terms you’ve laid out are way to sensible and surely is the way owners should be doing business. However, if Wright’s agent worked out such a deal, his services would never again be retained by any other ballplayers. Everyone has their job to do. The organization just didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to take on the PR hit if they said NO. And that was THEIR job.
• TruthsaboutMurphy November 30, 2012 at 9:28 am

  Obviously Craig is a unprofessional nitwit; you can tell by his post and his reaction to criticism.

  The owners obviously were behind this deal so in retrospect I guess you can say that the only thing that changed was back in 2011 when they slashed 50 million in payroll.

  Sandy said he doesn’t like 2nd gen contracts, but also stated there were exceptions.

  The problem with this post is that it tries to create a problem when there is none. They simply decided to keep their homegrown face of the team. Other then this “exception”, can anyone name another 2nd gen contract given out by the mets? Nope! In years past, Beltran, Pedro, Wagner, Bay, Santana and others recieved them so I’d say a lot was changed.

  What the hell was the point of the post? To confuse? To cause rifts? To show stupidity? And then, the author calls someone a mule raised by sloths!!! Wow, very professional; thank goodness the other 99% of writers here have a brain.
  • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 9:33 am

    LMAO, This… And good thing i guess you weren’t around for his first articles, literally worshiping alderson
  • BadBadLeroyBrown November 30, 2012 at 9:35 am

    Soooooooo………… you are basically proving youre no better than he is by calling him names ESPECIALLY since he hasnt called you any names.

    The point of the article was for him to give his OPINION whether you agree with it or not….its his view point.
    • BadBadLeroyBrown November 30, 2012 at 9:36 am

      Although it is crazy he called his parents MULES WTF!!!
  • Met Maniac November 30, 2012 at 9:41 am

    They should all be as professional as you right?

    Hey numb-nuts, you say Wilpon was behind Wright, but them you add this:

    Beltran, Pedro, Wagner, Bay, Santana and others recieved them so I’d say a lot was changed.

    You are such an nonobjective poster on this site. You bring nothing to the table on MMO just the same, old, tired, biased crap. We get it, you love Alderson even more than the team. Move on.
  • Hodges14 November 30, 2012 at 9:43 am

    You make fun of the writer because he defended himself? That’s rich.
  • Yep November 30, 2012 at 10:30 am

    Well, I’m not taking it too personally anyway. I don’t get insulted by internet tough-guys. What’s the point? The author obviously doesn’t know me (or my parents, for that matter), so who cares what he has to say about me?

    Joe D., I just honestly feel like this isn’t something that should happen on any site trying to maintain any form of professionalism. I’ve been visiting this site for a long time, and it has been steadily going downhill at no fault of the site owner (you I assume).
• Just_Da_Damaja November 30, 2012 at 9:41 am

  How tradeable is David Wright’s contract going to look next year..

  LMAO

  Jose Reyes’s contract…was so bad….that Toronto and Boston were more than willing to take it on…100% of it too
• Just_Da_Damaja November 30, 2012 at 9:43 am

  Mr. I put winning above everything just put dollars over diamonds…

  In NYC…

  No wins…No fans…
  No fans…No money…
  No money….No more players…
  No more players…No more wins…
  No more wins…No more fans
  No more fans…No more money
  No more money….No more players…
  No more players…No more wins…
  No more wins…No more…

  But according to Matt Cerrone…we need David’s “leadership”

  I guess maybe this means we are not getting Travis and Juan Centeno will get a chance at making the HOF in a met uniform !

  bwahahahahahahaahahahhaa
• taskmaster4450 November 30, 2012 at 9:52 am

  It wasnt Alderson’s deal. This is no different than Cashman ARod and Soriano. Ownership over ruled the GM and said get it done. It is that simple.

  Good, bad, or otherwise, the Wilpons wanted Wright to remain a Met and that is exactly what they got. No Wright meant attendance was going to drop significantly and the idea of an empty Citi Field throughout 2013 is something they cannot stomach.

  At this point, I am with the rest, hopefully Wright can maintain his production throughout the first 5 years before a drop off occurs.
  • MetsWatchman November 30, 2012 at 10:09 am

    I agree that attendance would have plunged even further if Wright was traded, but there is no better elixer to attendance than winning baseball. Winning competetive baseball will always have a greater impact on attendance then the presence or non-presence of any single player.
    • taskmaster4450 November 30, 2012 at 10:15 am

      That is true although attendance wasnt stellar when the Mets were winning the first half of the year.

      And while I agree with you, I am not sure the Wilpons clued into that fact. For the last 12 years (at least) they signed names to sell tickets. I am not sure the Wilpons ever look past the ensuing year’s ticket sales. That appears to be their mindset.
      • MetsWatchman November 30, 2012 at 10:28 am

        Yep……their mindset AND their mistake
• jdon November 30, 2012 at 9:57 am

  This, IMHO, is a Wilpon Over-rule, pure and simple. This does not smell like something Sandy would do. Being a Wilpon decision, it is inherently dumb. The Wilpons do not care about building a winner.
  • Metsie November 30, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    THIS!

    I don’t think Sandy wanted to pay this much and the Wilpons who always seem to err on the side of Public Relations over Baseball and Business concerns decided they could not take the hit of letting Wright go after the letting go of Reyes.

    They could never recover from that until they won a WS which wasn’t going to happen for another half a decade.

    This deal is as much about saving the Wilpons as all the others.
    Lucky for us that goal finally aligned with keeping the best player where before it was determined letting the best players go was best for the team.

    I don’t agree with the former but at least they have finally kept the best player on the team from one year to the next.
  • Joey D. November 30, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    Hi jdon,

    Agree with that too and maybe Sandy still does have the inability to fully understand and appreciate the New York fan base and the bonding between them and certain players changed after last year. It was probably the WIlpons who recognized the long-term “financial” damage caused when they both told Jose to walk (don’t forget Fred’s quote about Jose thinking he was worth Carl Crawford money) for I think Sandy would stlll play things safe and look in terms of a more immediate stability instead of more investment in a future that is always too unpredictable.

    Can still not forget the squabble over that approximate $40,000 slot money that led to us losing one of our two second round draft picks (number 75 overall), signing less draft picks than any othe club but Pittsburgh (saving their money for Rusell perhaps?) and dropping the St. Lucie team for one year. Cutting back on our investments even connected with his “vision” of re-buildng the franchise appears as if it is bottom line thinking for the current fiscal year than it is long-term growth and the chance for better financial prosperity.

    If it is that Sandy still has theautomony to call the shots over the head of his bosses (which they might have had to agree to in order for Sandy to come on-board and for them to still remain owners) and Bud Selig quietly interceeded on the WIlpons behalf with Sandy on this one? Just wondering.
• SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 10:02 am

  “Wright Gets His Second Generation Contract… So What’s Changed?”

  Absolutely nothing has changed. We are only extending what we already have. This makes the team no better or no worse and that is the problem. As someone that believes that the last 2 years of suck are related to the Mets finances, I believe they are out of danger and it’s time to shlt or get off the pot. So far they have done nothing to demonstrate to me that they are ready to start investing back in the team. Wright’s contract does nothing to add to a financial burden or demonstrate that they can begin investing again. His contract will be paid for through on and off field contributions, it’s a big picture long term investment contract that has more to do about the Mets as a overall product then the short term of putting a successful product on the field. Wright and his contract will only be successful if they put more players around him. He is a table setter not a clearer.

  So the team has two possible directions. Use this as a excuse and don’t invest around him. Waste David’s and the fans time. Or start building around him and actually try to win. Maybe I am naive. The Wilpon’s always spent. Maybe I didn’t like how they spent their money but they did. They also want to get projects like Willits Point off the ground and for that you need a product where you are going to attract people to the area. So we will see.

  In the end if they didn’t sign him I would not believe that suddenly that money would be used for other things, I feel that argument is false. David is paid for other players are not. If they traded David, payroll would just do down further.
  • TRS86 November 30, 2012 at 10:06 am

    “Wright and his contract will only be successful if they put more players around him.”
    Bingo.

    I think the only thing you and I differ on for this is when they should be required to put those players around him. I am fine with waiting one more year, trading Dickey and building starting in 2014 as I originally expected them to do. I don’t expect them to try to fix all the holes this off-season. I do expect them though to start. Keeping Dickey however would mean you gotta do it NOW.
    • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 10:16 am

      “I don’t expect them to try to fix all the holes this off-season. I do expect them though to start”.

      Exactly they have to start. BUT they also have to add a couple bucks to the payroll to get rid of the “we are broke” image. They deferred some Bay money so they got a little more wiggle room now. The FA market is pretty pathetic right now but whether it’s trades or acquisitions they need to start addressing the OF. C can probably wait seeing there isn’t any substantial upgrades, but they got 3 outfield holes. They need to do something.
      • TRS86 November 30, 2012 at 10:19 am

        Oh I agree Salty. If they re-sign Dickey but then have an OF of Duda, Kirk and Baxter? Strike up the band.
        • SaltyGary November 30, 2012 at 10:28 am

          High-Five TRS the desert salutes you!
        • srt November 30, 2012 at 2:42 pm

          Yikes – that OF might qualify for the worst in MLB going in.
          They’ve got to do better than that.
• Hank November 30, 2012 at 10:33 am

  Not much has changed. Mets keep their standard-bearer. They give a generation of fans a poster-child. All we can hope is that he gives us 4 all star years, maybe 2-3 ok years after that, and then a swan song year.

  I don’t agree with this signing and direction of the team, but it is what it is. Let’s hope for the best. It looks like Niese or Dickey will be gone by this time next week. Obviously it depends on what they bring back in trade, but losing one of those is a loss I’m not sure the 2013 Mets can overcome.
• Guy November 30, 2012 at 11:18 am

  I don’t think it was a good signing, locked up too much in one player on the decline.
• Matt M November 30, 2012 at 11:19 am

  This was 90% fan appeasement, 10% baseball decision-making. The Wilpons are worried about the declining attendance numbers. What they fail to recognize is Citi won’t fill up again until the Mets win. Mets fans aren’t Cubs fans that resoundly support a losing team.
  • Joey D. November 30, 2012 at 11:51 am

    Hi Matt,

    Have to disagree with you on that point. I think the Met fan is just as loyal and supportive as the Cub fan, even in losing seasons.

    We might have still even drawn better if we only felt that like in the past ownership was making sincere efforts (no matter how they might have worked out) to improve the team so it now also a matter of integrity. That, and the fact that since 2009 they have shown little regard for the average fan base and have been trying to fleece them for reasons too lengthy to repeat once again.

    The Cubs finished tenth in the league in attendance this past season. The Cubs are also the second highest ticket in the league and our heartache has been nothing compared to the what the cub fan has had to endure.

    Jonothan Eig, a season ticket holder for twelve years, wrote on his website:

    “Last season’s team was painful to watch—or more painful than usual, I should say—and tickets were almost impossible to unload.”

    And then he added:

    “But the Cubs are not going to make the playoffs next year. While I wait for them to improve, I can buy tickets on StubHub at huge discounts—sometimes for less than a buck, if last season is any indication. And with the money I save I’ll be able to pay whatever it takes to get a ticket to the 2047 World Series.”

    Now doesn’t that sound exactly what Met fans are saying?
• Original Mets Fan November 30, 2012 at 11:35 am

  Nothing has changed. Same team and we added another bloated contract without adding anything for it. The Wilpons are still calling the shots as they did with Bay, Beltran, etc. When it comes to the Mets, GM’s are just a figurehead with no real power except for minor league deals or dumpster diving.
• Mr North Jersey November 30, 2012 at 12:08 pm

  All I’m saying is, what’s changed? Nothing.

  “I’m not an ideologue.” – Sandy Alderson 12/13/2010 ( On Mike’d Up 660AM WFAN)

  ideologue: a person who zealously advocates an ideology.

  ideology: the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group.

  http://nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d0/dW/dD/dA/dH/WDAH_3.MP3
  • Just_Da_Damaja November 30, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    Nope…he just gets rid of people who dont jive with his PPA philosophy

    Hey Ike Davis…u wanna swing at the 1st pitch and hit HR’s !!?!!?

    We’ll spread a nasty rumor about you ASAP….

    either take that 1st pitch or else
• Metsie November 30, 2012 at 1:42 pm

  for the price of 1.25 Mil per year (basically what we paid Hairston last year) we have kept the best player on the team.

  it’s a fair market value for what Wright does and if your unsure of that look at what guys like Werth and Crawford make to compare.

  Even if Wright declines in later years you can always trade him to someone to use as a DH or 3B and get out from under his contract.

  Time to start worrying about all the guys around him that made people think Wright wasn’t worth having due to the fact he couldn’t carry those guys we bought off the $#!T pile to put around him.
  • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    for the price of 1.25 Mil per year (basically what we paid Hairston last year) we have kept the best player on the team”
    His contract kicks in after his $16 million this year

    it’s a fair market value for what Wright does and if your unsure of that look at what guys like Werth and Crawford make to compare”
    Really?? That’s your comeback metsie.. ?

    Even if Wright declines in later years you can always trade him to someone to use as a DH or 3B and get out from under his contract.”
    I thought the idea is retire a met no?? Now you’re talking about trading him?? Don’t get it
    • Metsie November 30, 2012 at 2:14 pm

      Don’t know what just appened but I’ll try again….
      “That’s your comeback metsie”

      yep because I have been saying all along that we need to keep our best players and unless you can name a player on our team better than Wright (Go ahead) he should be kept because thats how you build a winning team. Keep the best players, replace the scrubs.

      I have been consistent on this sentiment all along and it was for the same reasons why I was on the side of keeping Reyes as well!

      “I thought the idea is retire a met no??”
      Thats Wrights idea I personally don’t care who retires as who…

      As I have said all along what you pay wright should not stop you from spending later on.
      I don’t care how much they pay for players because:
      1) the MLB does not limit how much a team can spend it only limits the number of roster spots and that means you have to get the best guys you can to fill those limited roster spots
      2) it’s not MY money it’s Wilpons and I personally don’t care how much they have to pay to give me good baseball!

      The Yankees are not some SPECIAL CASE that is given special permission to spend 200Mil to build a 20 year winner, the only reason why the Yankees can spend that much is because they play in the same market we do which means we could just as easily spend as much as they do to build a 20 year winner as well!

      And once Wright is usurped as the BEST player on the tyeam I have no problems trading him away if that is what gets us the next guy who is the face, the leader, the performer, the BEST PLAYER on the team!

      I have asked you and Bayonne and all the other guys against Wright exactly why would you be more concerned with getting rid of the BEST player on the team?

      Why when there are Ramirez’ and Torres’, Tholes, and Bays on the roster?

      Shouldn’t we get rid of them first?

      In the end even if Wright turns out to be not worth his salary the 17.4 Mil wasted every year is not as wasted as the 20 Mil we wind up paying all the scrubs around him.
      And as I said what we pay Wright should not limit what they can spend…
      Because there is no Salary cap here to limit you.
      Yankees spend a ton and you don’t see them renting out Mr Met for 20 Mil a pop or taking loans from Selig who insists they hire a small market GM to ruin the team.

      They make money and we could too!
      And once there are that many stars to produce for us I have no issue with Trading Wright away for the next best player or kids.
      • Alex68 November 30, 2012 at 2:17 pm

        Fair enough metsie, i felt your post was not specific enough… good points.
        • Metsie November 30, 2012 at 2:42 pm

          As you know (but in case you didn’t)
          I don’t really have a problem with how you guys rate Wright as a ballplayer…
          Your correct in the following:

          1 -He’s not a real leader in the sense a Carter or Hernandez were but he is at least as much a leader as a Jeter is. Not confrontational, not a PUSHY guy just someone who will stay out of it until someone comes to him…and I’m fine with that the solution is to find a better leader not get rid of a performer for his lack of leadership personality

          2 – he can’t carry a team – I just feel no one should have to, better to build a team that doesn’t need carrying so years like 2009 can be avoided.

          3 – He’s probably not worth 18M but then again what player REALLY is worth that kind of money when you get right down to it?

          4 – He is likely to decline before the contract is up but thats the price you pay to get the years before the decline. Santana has done it and he gets paid far more for far less contribution than Wright, Does anyone really think Pujols or Longoria is going to be the same player at the end of thier contract too? Bottomline is you deal with players who don’t perform when they stop performing not while they stil are over a worry about something 4 or 5 years from now. Deal with it 4 or 5 years from now.

          5 – Reyes and Wright were treated differently, I agree! I won’t speculate on the reasons for it but as I said somewhere else I thought of both as Equally worth having and the only difference was in they type of contributor they were. Reyes set the table and Wright would clear it. Clutch or not he drove in 100+ runs most of the time and thats all you can ask of any one player.

          6 – Wright is not as good in the second half. Nope he isn’t but when the season is over the numbers are still there. I don’t care what he doesn’t do in the second half provided what he did in the first half is enough to make the numbers good at the end of the season.

          SO while I can agree with some of your knocks on him they are not a reason (to me anyway) to purge the best player we have until such time as there is another player better than him.

          As to some mentioning the problem with wasting Flores, until Flores plays his way onto the team I have no problems dealing with that when the time comes.
          He wouldn’t be the first Kid to play a homegrown favorite off the roster and make the team trade him.
          And as long as you know the kid is going to make the trade such that you lose nothing on the guy thats going and gain whatever it is you get back it’s a good move.

          Because your not CREATING a hole to fill another. Not playing Whack a Mole.
          Your replaceing and older X with a younger X gaining some years, losing no production and getting kids to fill those holes without creating one.

          THATS how you trade good players to fill holes when they dont’t make one in the proccess.

          And while there are still scrubs that need replacing we should be less concerned about how much we pay for NON-SCRUBS or thier ability to make us winners and focus on replacing the Scrubs a good players can’t make up for.
          • Just_Da_Damaja November 30, 2012 at 2:47 pm

            bwahahahahaha

            So you agree that David was…

            overpaid…

            sucks in the 2nd half

            treated much differently than Mr. Dreadlocks

            but it was the right move just because

            ok !

            put me in coach !!!
            • Metsie November 30, 2012 at 3:09 pm

              Yep and you agree he is the best player on our team!

              Cause I have asked you twice to name a better one and you keep refusing!

              If Wright sucks then so too does Reyes…
              He is the same, all those things apply yo Reyes as much as Wright.

              Overpaid
              Sucks in the 2nd Half
              Isn’t a leader

              All of it applies to reyes as well!

              So I guess you agree he wasn’t worth keeping either?

              Sorry Coach is not available we are sticking you in the baggage compartment.
• tie dyed November 30, 2012 at 3:14 pm

  I feel the same way, Craig, as I’ve also blogged about over the last couple of weeks.

  I’m thrilled we kept Wright. But to me, this proves management has lied to us. If we have money for Wright, then didnt we also have money for Reyes? Dont we have money for Dickey?

  And ok, why not build a winner now?

  In a way, I feel sorry for David.

  By 2016, he’ll ask to be traded so he can get out of NY and play for a winner