Some Additional Discussions on the Wilpons and Sandy Alderson

TP wrote –

Mack, Here's my 2 cents, or 1 cent - whether Alderson lied about 2014 or miscalculated doesn't matter to me. He misrepresented their intents the last 3 years by saying then intended to be competitive, whatever that is. I understand with the fiscal constrains there was no other choice, but from a fan perspective he was double speaking. The standard for 2014 is fielding a team that can compete for a playoff spot, regardless of cost. At this point, with an $82 million payroll, less than last year, he has failed to do so. Even the most optimistic fan can't reasonably see this group as better than 80 wins. The Nats, Phillies, and Marlins are all improved. The Braves haven't improved but were 20+ games better than the Mets last year. Alderson needs to add another 5 potential wins to this team between now and opening day or I will consider this offseason another failure. Not just in the sense of 2014, but the weaker the team is in 2014, the less of a chance it will be good in 2015 and 2016. Other teams have good young players on the way too. It isn't acceptable to just keep waiting for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Mack – Well, we seem to have hit a nerve on Mack’s Mets about whether or not Sandy Alderson and the Wilpons have lied to the fan base about the amount of money the Mets were going to spend this year on the team.

Yes, we all thought the Mets would spend more in this off-season. Some of you think Alderson and or Wilpon has lied to the fan base. I don’t.

I think we all went into this off-season anticipating that it would take two new outfielders, a new shortstop, an addition to the pen, and some insurance in the rotation. Every expert, from Mets officials to beat writers, figured this would result in an overall salary higher than last year.

Two of these pegs remain missing, and could remain missing when the season starts, but everyone has to realize something… there are no other positions to fill right now. You might not like the signings of Colon, Lannan, Granderson, and/or Young, but, other than short and maybe one pen slot, the 2014 team is done regardless to what the overall salary is.

No one was ever looking for someone on first, second, third, behind the plate, or other pitching slots.

And, it’s not Wilpon or Alderson’s fault that most of the 2014 team are either players working their way through arbitration or under team control.

And one more thing… the Mets may still sign Stephen Drew and some reliever in the $3-5mil a year range. This story isn’t done until April 1^st.

Bob said...

Mack, these cost cutting decisions that the owners/gm have made for the Mets have hurt the organization in so many ways. It is not just the on field product that we have had to watch over the past few years. These poor decisions and misleading statements have resulted in the entire Met brand being reduced to garbage in the baseball world’s eyes. How many fans have stopped watching, going to games, paying for merchandise? How many fans have stopped encouraging the next generation of fans to come on board? Players avoid the Mets. Money has not been spent to improve the minor league system to the degree it could have been. (not only draft decisions, but also international free agents from Japan, Cuba, Latin America).Our Triple A team has become nomadic and un-wanted. One minor league team was disbanded and then reformed. The Mets have lost their Flag-ship radio station. the list goes on and on. How much money have the Wilpons lost over the past few years and the future because they were trying to save? I would love to see an analysis somewhere tallying up what these decisions have cost the team already and in projections in the next few years. Playoff revenue, ticket sales, merchandise sales, tv revenue, radio revenue, missed opportunities in other marketing opportunities that I have no idea about. I don't have the answer to these questions. I don't know if the ledgers would lean one way or the other. but, the teams misrepresentations and poor decisions have not made me confident they have thoroughly taken all aspects into account in a cost-benefit analysis.

Mack – Jesus, after reading you I’m ready to slit my throat, but the bottom line is still, whether you believe Alderson and/or Wilpon, the money still wasn’t there. The banks have them by the nuts and there isn’t enough projected revenue in 2014 to warrant  $100mil+ payroll.

This is much more personal for you and some of the readers here. I stopped being a Mets fan the day I became a Mets beat reporter. Frankly, you can’t be both at the same time.

As I said earlier to TP, let’s see how the pre-season ends up on April 1^st and revisit this. But it still doesn't change the fact that the monies they currently owe under refinancing deals with lending institutions just doesn't allow them to free spend at will.
I wish it still worked that way but it doesn't


.Adam Rubin –

Even after adding left-hander John Lannan to the fifth-starter competition, the Mets still may be in the market for more rotation options. "Lannan does not necessarily preclude us from signing another starter," assistant GM John Ricco told ESPNNewYork.com.

Mack – this is the kind of operational chatter that stumps me. First of all, if it is true, keep it to yourself. And lastly, if it isn’t, why play games like this? This is how Sandy Alderson and Fred Wilpon got in trouble this year saying the Mets were going to spend more than was on the payroll last year, and they then go out and replace huge salaries with smaller ones. There are just so many slots on a roster folks.

Five major contracts came off the books. Johan Santana ($25.5mil), John Buck ($6.5mil), Frank Francisco ($6.5mil), Shaun Marcum ($4mil), and Jason Bay ($18.125mil). That’s a total of $60.625mil

They’ve been replaced by Curtis Granderson ($13mil), Bartolo Colon ($9mil), Chris Young ($7.25mil). Both Granderson and Colon’s contract were back ended so there would additional money available for a proper signing of a shortstop and reliever. Omar Quintanilla should add around $700K here and John Lannan another $2-3mil.

There seems to be plenty of money left to sign Stephen Drew if negotiations haven’t soured each party against each other.

Let’s wait this out.