I have no doubt that the Wilpons would love to field a winning team. We know that money was no object beforehand, no matter what the results were. We knew there was the effort, no matter what the strategy was. Even I won’t take that away from them, despite my agreement with you that they don’t understand that it is simply in their own best financial interests to feel a responsibility to the fan based community.

I think that indifference is what has really made most fans fed up with the organization amd Sandy Alderson is simply a reflection of it’s mindset. I myself didn’t feel that way at all until Citi Field opened and I saw a shift away from the working blue collar fan in the form of exclusion rather than inclusion (ticket prices, restricted entrances, lines of sight and prompting the fans to get out of their seats during the game and enjoy the ammenties of the park (i.e., spend money). They were now catering to the more afluent fan and the atmosphere that we enjoyed at Shea – despite all it’s setbacks – had for many changed from a sense of having fun to a sense of being entertained.

That’s what happens when one designs a smaller capacity park – the lost revenue from a decrease of 10,000 could actually be replaced by even more in profit based on the “dynamic” pricing theory that fans would pay anything for the more limited tickets available. Less people paying more, much more.

And now that Sterling Equties is behind the financial eight-ball, we can see that even the product itself, starting at the bottom with the acquisition of raw talent, takes a back seat. Everything has changed from what the Mets once were.

The question I ask myself is if the product being put on the field year after year after year is a competitive one. If not, is it at least working towards being competitive. If not (again) then why.

I feel that ownership doesn’t consider that they have a responsibility to their fan based community. I feel it is a clandestine-ly run organization, resulting in a despondent attitude towards the team we grew up with.

We may not agree with strategy but would be nice to hear from Wilpon, Alderson, or DePodesto on what they’re trying to do.

Sincere words on your part but just hollow words on their’s.

When one hires a Sandy Alderson type, they are looking for solutions to problems that are not related to baseball. That some of the highest paid players might not be producing is a matter that needs to be addressed talent wise,not financial wise, since not even a portion of the approximate $35 million that Sandy cut from the payroll was re-invested back into improving it.
And that money saved is a drop in the bucket compared to the close to one billion dollar debt the Mets are facing along with steadily decreasing revenues.

Oh, how I wish the fiscal problem had only been a financially too-high payroll based on the return of player production for that could have been resolved rather easily.

Under the circumstances, all Sandy’s plan was to dismantle, start from scratch and hope for the best while he saves the Wilpons from having to relinquish ownership. That is not a plan for the future as it is a plan for the Wilpon’s survival either as owners of the Mets or to get the Mets back to a point that they do not have to sell it below market value due to all the debt holdings.

If Sandy was concentrating on both, he would be making moves – even Kansas City has and the Royals are also losing money, just like the Mets. Not only were they able to afford just a $61,391,300 payroll this past season but their financial resources, as indicated by David Glass, are more limited than many had first thought. Yet, they still took on the contracts of Shields and Wade Davis.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/06/3951887/royals-payroll-pinch-is-tighter.html

Why? After how many consecutive losing seasons, it’s what GM Dayton Moore had to say: “‘We have to start winning games at the major league level, and the way you develop a winning culture is by winning major league games. ‘It’s time for us to start winning at the major league level.”

Sounds like they indeed had a plan going – not a hope. Sandy’s plan was not something innovative – teams like the Astros, Pirates and Padres have been doing that for years…, and years…, and years. Only Oakland and Tampa Bay hit paydirt going that route.

# 1 Regain control of the major league payroll by letting non-performing contracts run out (and at the same time, help the cash-strapped ownership group keep the team which is unfortunate & unpopular but certainly part of the plan).

# 2 Rebuild the farm system & young talent base from averagish (when inherited) to above average & deep. While the Mets currently only have Wheeler as a consensus top 25 overall prospect, the depth of the system in terms of legitimate major league prospects is better than it has been in a long, long time, basically since the mid 1980s. And that´s due to both a good job during the late Omar Minaya era and the current front office. Usually, the most underrated systems in Baseball are those with the deepest group of pitching prospects. Sure, the attrition rate will be high. But if you have 20 tickets in the lottery where 1 in 4 usually wins, you have a much better shot at finding two strong SP and three good relievers instead of only having seven or eight “tickets” (like in the past, sometimes not even that many).

# 3 Once the payroll picture is clear and it makes sense again to invest into the major league payroll again (because a promising, inexpensive core is in place), you invest heavily into the present by either signing top tier free agents or trading in some of the prospect depth for players in their arbitration years approaching free agency, or even taking on a large contract or two. However, before that happens, you need a foundation.

Most Mets teams since the early 90s lacked a true and sustainable foundation and usually had to perform in a very brief window of 3-4 years before a collapse was inevitable. However, there´s no reason why a large market team like the Mets (once revenue is up to large market caliber again) shouldn´t be able to sustain success for at least 6 to 8 years at a time minium. That has to be the goal here.
And considering that between 1991 and 2010, i.e. 20 seasons, the Mets finished above .500 exactly 9 times, in spite of sporting generally one of the highest payrolls in Baseball, something had to change.

Who knows how this will end. Alderson & Co have a mixed record in their 24+ months on the job. Some good, some bad. However, the general direction and goal is pretty clear. And not bidding on Shane Victorino or Ryan Ludwick this winter for example in spite of gapping structural holes in the outfield does not contradict this plan at all.
And likewise, if you want to build this team around strong pitching, trading Jon Niese & Zach Wheeler for Wil Myers & other prospects would not have been a good idea either.

Lower than Congress, for sure!

That time

Asked whether the outfield was his top priority this winter, the Mets GM replied:

“Outfield? What outfield? We’re probably gonna have to bring the fences in another 150 feet”
“Even Duda is a bit of a question mark after the Mets announced a day earlier that he had somehow broken his wrist while moving furniture in his house.

“We like Duda, although he does come with a lot of furniture,” Alderson said, grinning. He kind of stopped there while silently acknowledging his own gag.

At the time, Bourn, Upton and Hamilton were available…and the 16 mil that went to Wright was not spent as of yet…

For Alderson to crack jokes about the Met outfield while doing nothing to improve it is a slap in our face. Not even going to get into what the reaction would’ve been like if Omar said this, lets just say Sandy gets a pass from folks that Omar couldnt get if he saved your family from a burning house

Anyway I can do a poll on this site ?

Given the job he was brought in to do – which was save the team for the Wilpons – he’s done quite well. As I’ve said before, I believe he won’t be here long enough to see a championship caliber team. I think he was brought in to:

– save the team for ownership
– rebuild/restructure the farm system from the ground up
– field a ML team – however mediocre – with what little money he was handed – or even worse, while slashing payroll $50 MIL.

Mission accomplished.

I have yet to be convinced by anyone that ownership is giving him money to spend and he’s saying ‘no thanks, no need’.

im totally leaving this one alone…

That is why is name was signed….not other reason.

Or…it was about the money.

Either way, there’s no positive to take from this situation.

How about dropping Justin Hampson from the 40-man roster to protect…whom? Reese Havens? Just because he was a lefty with a 2.33 ERA in AAA this past year and a 1.80 in the majors, but no…we have PLENTY of relief pitchers to go around!