Fiscal Responsibility

My fellow sports writer here on Mack’s Mets, David Rubin, and I are not agreeing on one subject right now.
(Yes, we are sports writer. Not bloggers and much more than fans. Mack’s Mets is not a blog. It’s a safe home for Mets’ minor leaguers, and an informational source on the team in general, and the minor league players, in general.)

David seems to feel that the Mets have practiced poor fiscal responsibility over the past five years and that it would be impossible to compete with the cross-town rivals, in any way, shape or form.

I’m older than David. I’m older than Goliath. I remember a time when the Mets were king and outdrew the Yankees in my home town. Yes, it was also a time when Horace Clarke was the best they had, but the fact remains that the Mets were number one once in the Big Apple.

Last year… the Mets spent $126.5mil on payroll, had 2.5mil people attend their home games, and finished with a 79-83 record, and missed the playoffs.

The Yankees spent $213.mil, had 3.7mil people attend their home games, and finished with 95-67, and made the playoffs.

That’s $86.5mil more payroll for 1.2mil more people attending home games. What’s that, 72 bucks a fan?

And, what’s an average fan spend for a ticket, gas, parking, subway tokens, programs, hot dogs, dinner, autographed baseballs, milk shakes, etc.

Well, you have to find a middle ground between a hot dog and a steak, a program and an autographed ball, and a bleachers seat and the sky box.

I mean, I’m thinking conservatively and I’d say $200 a pop, right?

So $200 times 1.2 mil… that’s 240 million bucks.

Okay, cut the new fans in half… say 600K more attendance… you still have $120mil you can add to your payroll of $126.5 and still be “fiscally responsible”.

Or, let’s look at it another way…

(Oh yeah… one more thing before I forget it… being fiscally irresponsible is not picking the wrong players to pay big bucks to. That’s simply baseball stupid.)

The current Mets are trying to come in at around $130mil tops in 2011 salaries, which include key raises to current players.

So, let’s say the Mets add Cliff Lee at $20mil a year, Greinke at $15mil, Orlando Hudson at $8mil, and $15mil for OF Carl Crawford?

Your payroll is $188mil a year…

Your lineup is: Reyes, Crawford, Wright, Beltran, Davis, Bay, Hudson, Thole…

And your rotation is: Lee, Grienke, Santana, Pelfrey, Niese

You think you can make the playoffs with this?

What about 500K more fans attending home games in a metro of 17mil?

I didn’t trade a prospect, get rid of someone that should have stayed, or raise the price of hot dogs.

Call me crazy, but not doing this is fiscal irresponsibility.