Question of the Day:
Okay, the Mets wait for, like the last minute. to ask R.A. Dickey to stop climbing mountains.
Your thoughts?
Michael Scannell - Just the latest act in the 3-ring circus that the Wilpon-owned Mets have become. The word 'unprofessional' comes to mind whenever they get their hands on anything
Matthew Cerrone - I don't understand the question.
Charles Thompson - I've heard rumblings of their displeasure with Dickey's charity climb months ago. If I saw it somewhere, I'm sure Dickey was well aware of it as well. He's a professional athlete, going on a charity mountain climb, on a mountain where personal physical injury or fatality is uncommon. Also, the Mets are well within their rights to dissuade him from going. This is just them covering their bases by sending a simple letter stating that they could void his contact if he does indeed get injured. It would be stupid to not have an official record of their intentions in place ahead of time to protect themselves and their investment in case the worst happens. Usually, everyone flips out because of the Mets stupidity in regards of their normal operating procedures. This time, they got it right. Perhaps, the formal letter that was sent to Dickey showing their displeasure was only sent so recently, because they had hoped he would cancel the trip ahead of time and make the whole issue moot. Why start something with a fan favorite pitcher unless you absolutely have to? Well, they had to. I do not have any issue with how they handled this. This team needs the 4.5 million they're paying him to have the best possible chance to be a productive salary expense. If he gets hurt on his valiant attempt to scale Kilimanjaro, now they can void his contract and use it elsewhere. If they didn't already tell him "off the record" before sending the "formal" letter, then its a different story. That's just not the case. Frank Gray posted a piece about this months ago and Dickey himself has stated that he knew the Mets considered it dangerous to attempt the climb. Dickey is well aware of their feelings so their formal letter shouldn't have cause him to be surprised. Sometimes, everybody just has to do, what they have to do; regardless of hurt feelings. This is one of those times.
Kevin S. Anderson - It is a little weird to wait to the last minute for this decision - did they not think that he was actually going to climb the mountain? The letter was probably legal due diligence but I think that they could have just quietly told Dickey's agent, "Hey climb the mountain if you want but we can't afford to pay someone who isn't actually pitching for the team if you hurt yourself." This would have been just as good and wouldn't have resulted in more bad press
Erik Hudson - Do you think this came from the Wilpons or Sandy? I'm guessing it's the Wilpons. They have a history, that precedes Sandy, of not making decisions in a timely manner, and having their decisions make the team look bad. Alderson has known about this a while, and I think he would've dealt with it sooner if he had a major issue with it. Unless maybe he just got another downward revision of the 2012 payroll, and needs to cover his bases in case Dickey gets hurt. The payroll will be so tight next year, I don't think anyone will hit the DL. We'll just play shorthanded.
From what I've read, the hike isn't dangerous and it's for charity. You'd think they'd be able to spin this into positive PR for the team, instead of shining the light once again on the team's lack of financial stability.
Michael Freire - I wonder if it is an insurance issue? Maybe RA's got a policy on his contract and mountain climbing would violate the provisions? Either way, I am sure it is a monetary issue since that has become the main topic when it comes to the Wilpon's and the future of the franchise.
"Bill Metsiac" - Interesting. Knowing the kind of guy he is, it doesn't surprise me that he wants to go. And knowing the risks, I understand why they don't want him to. Tough call. I find it hard to fault him or the team.
Gary Seagren - Frankly I'm surprised a level headed team leader like Dickey would take the risk. He struggled and persevered for so long to get here and finally reaches the top of mountain (no pun intended). His charity work is to be commended but cant he think of another way be involved? As basically our #1 starter his loss would be considerable regardless of our dour preseason predictions but cant really blame the team for wanting to cover their butts salary wise.
Well, being as they don't allow newspapers in the locker room, I can see as to how the Wilpons would be late getting around to Dickey's quest. But I'm sure had Dickey mentioned something on the talk shows, the Wilpon's staff of paid stool pigeons would have informed the Wilpons long ago. It's not like Dickey stated his intentions...On Their Own Network!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the plug Charlie! This is clearly a situation ANY team in MLB would handle the same way. Because it's the Mets and this ownership has bitten the fans so many times before, the average fan is outraged! They already told him they had the option of voiding his contract if he got hurt. This letter was simply a formality of that initial conversation.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that just because a player has an interest in something and embraces that in the off season does not mean he is free of financial consequences should his interests cause him harm. He is the property of the team and they are looking out for their investment. That's all this is.