I May Be Wrong, But… The Quickest Road to Fiscal Responsibility Would be Trading Wright and Dickey

Some of you remember me from my old CEO-radio days (VP Sales Capstar NYSE-CPR). Others knew me as a ‘workout artist’ (VP-GE Capital). Either way, my expertise wasn’t in determining the WHIP of a pitcher in the DSL.

I worked 32 years in the radio industry, mostly for independent companies trying to turn a profit and, thus, sell a property they bought a few years prior. I was part of a four person group that bought an AM/FM in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1983, for $1.1mil worth of financed dollars. We worked the hell out if and turned a $440K positive cash flow, which generated a $4.4mil sale in 1989. That’s how you did it in that economy.

All that money was then invested in properties in the Florida panhandle, the economy tanked, the numbers were turned upside down and we had to pay off notes that we had personally guaranteed. I crawled back to South Carolina with $18 in my checking account, a $320,000 mortgage on a home I couldn’t afford, a year left on a non-compete in the area, and my sense of humor.

Radio Ga Ga.

So, who hired me? It was GE Capital, who owned the ‘bad paper’ on an AM/FM in Austin, Texas. Yes, a bank hired me to turnaround a radio property after a bank put me out of business.

The properties were operating at a $2mil per year operating loss, which didn’t include an additional half of a million dollars that was being paid to the overseer of the stations, who, by the way, recommended me for the job to GE Capital, and eventually was given the task of hiring me.

I was flown to Connecticut and the suits told me to cut it to the bone, including the act of firing the man who hired me. Did I tell you he and I went back as far as 1978 as the original team that turned WKTU-FM, in New York City, to Disco?

And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen; I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!

                                                Hyman Roth – “The Godfather, Part II

Case in point: The VP.Consultant was being paid $500,000 to ‘oversee’ an operation that had a General Manager making $175,000 and a Sales Manager making $96,000 (this was 1990!) I replaced all three with… me… at $130,000. The immediate savings was $641,000.

The ‘morning team’ was a 4-person staff earning a collective $285,000. I fired them, brought in two ex-DJs that worked for me in Florida (loyalty) and $35,000 each. Savings: $205,000.

In one day, I saved $846,000.

I continued to reduce the staff to one that was dominated by salespeople that produce income, rather than creative people than spend it. The program director, music director, and promotional director, none of which pulled an on-air shift, all were replaced with more ex-employees of mine that worked double jobs. The newer people were equally talented, but came from a pool of ex-workers I had that came out of smaller markets. Austin looked like New York City to them and they were used to making far less than the going rate in this music town.

The local newspaper did a feature on me and called me the “hatchet from New York”. It was a proud moment (sic).

                                    “ (cough)…we did our job, Michael… (cough)…

                                                            Hyman Roth – The Godfather Part II

I changed the direction of the music being played, we got a bump in the next survey, new revenue tricked in, and we got the stations to a breakeven point in just over a year. The powers to be at GE Capital sold them to Clear Channel Broadcasting for $2mil (paper value two years prior: $11mil; total debt written off books: $6.5mil) and I packed my bags for my next gig.

Oh yeah… one thing. I did fly back to Connecticut and meet with my boss at GE Capital. I wanted him to know that the stations had turned the corner and, if he gave me another year, I could return their value to ‘around $5mil’. They said ‘thanks, but no thanks’. The dead money was already written off the books and I was told “look, we appreciate what you did, here’s a $50K exit bonus check to prove it, but we want nothing to do with radio ever again.”

That’s how this world works folks and that’s how it will come down someday hard on the owners of the Mets, The banks, and the Board of Directors, will just have enough of this silliness and, coupled with a willing baseball commissioner’s office, some younger dude (like I was then) will be brought in to ‘turn it around’.

You hire me today for the same job to be done in New York to the Mets:

1.      Place the team in bankruptcy court and let the Wilpons fight it out with the bean counters. All monies owed will have to be disclosed and wait until you see that list. The team will go up for bid, the Wilpons will get their fair share, and the lawyers will get richer. The important thing here is that all monies owed on the construction of Citi Field be paid off. I repeat… the important thing is that all monies owed for the construction of Citi Field be paid off, or, at least, become a private matter between the Tampon family and the people that are owed the money. 

2.      Sever all ties with SNY and, once that is completed, negotiate a new network deal open to all bidders 

3.      Stop replacing key employees with interns, but reduce the number of Vice Presidents to one. A business manager with a good software program can work with the courts. The VP would double as the General Manager. Simple. 

4.      Sell David Wright and RA Dickey to other teams for a combination of at least six (6) prospects that have not begun their arbitration process. 

5.      Offer the act of paying 100% of the 2013 salary, and services, of both Johan Santana and Jason Bay to any team that will “throw in” one key prospect per player that has not begun their arbitration process. 

6.      Sign a five year agreement with a new AAA affiliate, preferably one in New York State, like Rochester. 

7.      Take your new talent pool of prospects acquired in the trading of Wright and Dickey and assimilate them into the best team you can put on the field. This should be a team dominated by a very young, very talented, and very cheap rotation, and there’s a good chance you could make the playoffs the first year. 

8.      Take the heat, both from the fans and the press. The smart ones will figure out you are doing the right thing. The ‘Matt’s” of the world will never get it. 

9.      Return the emphasis internally on self-promotion. Build it around a new name, like “The Baby Bulls” or “The Fab Five”. Change all the t-shirts and other merchandise to reflect the change. Get the pictures of Jose Reyes, Wright, and Dickey out of the stadium (you can put them back in 3-5 years later). Fans forget, and they forgive winners 

10.  Give free agency a rest for one more year. Take more heat. Your 2014 salary will come in the $50-55mil range and your operation will be at a breakeven point. The Wilpons will be long gone and you and you can turn the operation back over to the new owners that will he headed up with a decent baseball person, like Nolan Ryan, or a big money dude, like Mark Cuban. Your job will be done. Fredo is dead. Let’s go Mets!