AP | CBS New York- Mets third baseman David Wright is expected to be activated from the disabled list next week after missing four months with a back injury. But it might be a while before he gets regular playing time.“I talked to Dave today about some stuff and he is certainly aware, I don’t know how many days a week it will be, but he certainly won’t be that everyday guy until we know his back is 100 percent,” Mets manager Terry Collins said Wednesday. “That may not be until next spring. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.”
(Chris Soto: The Wilpons may not like hearing it but Terry is playing the right cards here in regards to Wright. You can't expect him to be thrown in and expected to play 40 games straight, that's just not going to happen to a guy learning how to live with Spinal Stenosis. Him and Uribe will most likely split playing time 50/50 to start and depending on how Wright performs and how he feels, we may slowly see his share increase in mid September.)
Adam Rubin | ESPN New York- Outfielder Cesar Puello has been released by the New York Mets. Puello, 24, had cleared waivers, was removed from the 40-man roster and assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas on the eve of the regular season. However, he complained of back discomfort and the Mets were forced to rescind the move. Instead, Puello spent the last four-plus months on the disabled list collecting major league pay and service time. He resurfaced in the Gulf Coast League on July 27 for one rehab appearance before complaining of more back discomfort.
(Chris Soto: Thus is the end of one of the most bizarre and confusing stories of 2015. I'm severely dissappointed in what could have been. Puello had a ton of talent and just pissed it all away with his involvement in BioGenesis. To make things worse, when he failed to make the team out of Spring Training, rather than working hard in AAA and trying to earned a spot onto the team in season, he [Based on rumors] created some crap back injury to prevent the club from removing him from the 40 man roster in order to collect MLB paychecks. Goodbye and good riddance.)
Josh Kosman | New York Post- The financial condition of Mets owner Fred Wilpon has taken another Amazin’ turn. Wilpon and co-owner Saul Katz last month quietly refinanced roughly $700 million of debt owed by the team and SportsNet New York, the regional sports network controlled by their Sterling Equities, two sources close to the situation said. Sterling owns 65 percent of SNY and 60 percent of the Mets. The new five-year loans against the separate entities carry lower interest rates and tie the maturity dates together, sources added.
(Chris Soto: Tapping into my finance and accounting knowledge here...this move goes hand in hand with the sudden payroll flexability that Sandy Alderson was given at the trade deadline. I've said this multiple times in the past and will say it again now....The Wilpons have PLENTY of money!! However, what they do not have is a ton of financial LIQUIDITY. Liquidity is a person's ability to turn assets owned into cash for expenses. The Wilpons have a ton of money in real estate which is one of the most unliquid investments a person can make. This refinancing of debt lengthens how long they have to pay off debt thus reducing the monthly cash expense payouts which in turn improves liquidity. This is probably what allowed Sandy to absorb Cespedes, Uribe, Clippard, and Johnson's salaries this season.)
(Chris Soto: The Wilpons may not like hearing it but Terry is playing the right cards here in regards to Wright. You can't expect him to be thrown in and expected to play 40 games straight, that's just not going to happen to a guy learning how to live with Spinal Stenosis. Him and Uribe will most likely split playing time 50/50 to start and depending on how Wright performs and how he feels, we may slowly see his share increase in mid September.)
Adam Rubin | ESPN New York- Outfielder Cesar Puello has been released by the New York Mets. Puello, 24, had cleared waivers, was removed from the 40-man roster and assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas on the eve of the regular season. However, he complained of back discomfort and the Mets were forced to rescind the move. Instead, Puello spent the last four-plus months on the disabled list collecting major league pay and service time. He resurfaced in the Gulf Coast League on July 27 for one rehab appearance before complaining of more back discomfort.
(Chris Soto: Thus is the end of one of the most bizarre and confusing stories of 2015. I'm severely dissappointed in what could have been. Puello had a ton of talent and just pissed it all away with his involvement in BioGenesis. To make things worse, when he failed to make the team out of Spring Training, rather than working hard in AAA and trying to earned a spot onto the team in season, he [Based on rumors] created some crap back injury to prevent the club from removing him from the 40 man roster in order to collect MLB paychecks. Goodbye and good riddance.)
Josh Kosman | New York Post- The financial condition of Mets owner Fred Wilpon has taken another Amazin’ turn. Wilpon and co-owner Saul Katz last month quietly refinanced roughly $700 million of debt owed by the team and SportsNet New York, the regional sports network controlled by their Sterling Equities, two sources close to the situation said. Sterling owns 65 percent of SNY and 60 percent of the Mets. The new five-year loans against the separate entities carry lower interest rates and tie the maturity dates together, sources added.
(Chris Soto: Tapping into my finance and accounting knowledge here...this move goes hand in hand with the sudden payroll flexability that Sandy Alderson was given at the trade deadline. I've said this multiple times in the past and will say it again now....The Wilpons have PLENTY of money!! However, what they do not have is a ton of financial LIQUIDITY. Liquidity is a person's ability to turn assets owned into cash for expenses. The Wilpons have a ton of money in real estate which is one of the most unliquid investments a person can make. This refinancing of debt lengthens how long they have to pay off debt thus reducing the monthly cash expense payouts which in turn improves liquidity. This is probably what allowed Sandy to absorb Cespedes, Uribe, Clippard, and Johnson's salaries this season.)
21 comments:
David had 2 hits and a fly out to deep center last night in Lucie Land. Can he also pitch out of the pen when he returns? The Pen Sux.
Nimmo and Ceciliani are better than Puello. He worked his way into being expendable surplus.
Chris,
Cash is no problem for the Mets. $700 million is a lot of debt for most of us but much less than half of the value of the Mets and SNY. Don't forget the DW insurance money, the savings from Mejia, the increased attendance so far this year with a huge increase expected in Sept. They are well positioned for 2016-2018. They don't need to spend like the Dodgers or Yankees, but there better not be deficits that go unaddressed due to cost.
TP, good point
With $24 million coming off the books this winter and another $21 million next winter (or earlier if Sandy decides to trade Niece or Cuddyer in July) there is plenty of payroll flexibility without a significant increase in payroll. The fact that the Wilpons seem to be creating even more latitude is very encouraging. Sandy has built a very solid team in the last few weeks and I would love to see them carry it into 2016 by resigning Cespedes, Uribe, Johnson and Clippard. All that would be needed to complete the team would be one additional bull pen piece like O'Day, who we should never have sent away in the first place.
I believe that BOTH SA and the Wilpons have seen what a winning team with a positive fan base can return in this league.
I can't imagine them returning to a payroll under $100mil
I'm not so sure that DW insurance $ should be counted on at all. I haven't written this exact policy, but have brokered dozens like this and I don't think this policy is designed to cover trips to the DL. There is a difference between partial/temporary disability and full/permanent and my guess is this policy is exclusively for the latter and the 60 days is merely a deductible period that would start when the policy was triggered and my guess is the trigger is retirement because of a permanent disability. It is possible there is some partial DI, but it would likely be a fraction of his salary. Sandy hasn't confirmed or denied because there are privacy issues surrounding a policy that has not experienced a claim. Insurance companies are not stupid and I can't imagine they are writing 60 DL policies in a sport filled with injuries every year, unless an owner is willing to shell out crazy premiums instead of self insuring. DW was underwritten for the possibility of permanent disability not on the chance he would go on the 60 DL during the course of his contract. Just my guess
Anon Joe F
TP,
I think you're correct about where the new acquisition money came from. Insurance money and Mejias suspension.
I think moving forward, as attendance increases due to performance on the field, we may see only moderate increases to the payroll. Ultimately, those increases may only go towards keeping their current stash of young arms.
Is Cespedes worth a DW level contract? that is what he is going to command on open market and the Mets would presumably have to pay a premium above that to have him forgo FA altogether. I don't see it happening
Anon Joe F
Joe F -
I do believe Cespedes is worth a Wright contract... and I wouldn't stop there.
But I'm old school and come from the era when NYC teams didn't worry about spending this kind of money. They knew they would get a positive return in the long end
For those you wanting to spend big on deals - stop to think what our pitching is going to cost in a couple of years - even once they hit arbitration.
I am all for adding salary - but not enough that it prevents us keeping this staff together.
Lew -
My stand has always been consistent...
It's not my money.
This is why I haven't been too crazy about the payroll for the past two years. The team was going to be bad and it was not worth using up valuable dollars needed to sign some of the young arms, but circumstances have changed and money should be spent in pursuit of winning now. I think you may be surprised at the ARB dollars we are talking about at least for the next three years. Harvey is going to be hurt by the TJS and will get considerably less in his first ARB than he may have otherwise. Wheeler is next up, but he will be coming off a year and a half missed, so 2016 and 2017 will be a lot lower because of the TJS and could save anywhere from $10-15 M over those two years as a result. I saw an earlier projection for Harvey of $3-4 M next year; trying to search for the source, but it is not like all of these guys will be making $10M in their first year. The ARB numbers wont start to skyrocket (for the pitching) until really 2018.
Harvey ARB3
Wheeler ARB2
deGrom ARB1
Thor ARB1
Matz League Min
Even the year before Harvey reaches FA, the starting rotation (if intact) is likely to be below $30M in 2018 and less for the next two years.
Anon Joe F
But don't you have to at least be aware of/take into consideration the team's financial problems?
Otherwise, yeah, it would make your answer really easy: "It's not my money."
Doesn't really require a whole lot of thought, does it?
Here is a rough estimate of what the Fab Five are likely to cost over the next 3 years and then some start going to FA
2016
Harvey $5M
degrom- Min
Thor- Min
Wheeler-Min
Matz-Min
Total $7M
2017
Harvey $10M
Wheeler- $3M
Thor-Min
deGrom-Min
Matz-Min
Total $14.5M
2018
Harvey $15M
Wheeler-$7M (big ifs all the way around, but prob not more than $7M
degrom-$6M
Thor-$6M
Matz-Min
Total $35-40M maximum
that is pennies on the dollar for a rotation like that, assuming it remains healthy and productive. I am not sure that anyone other than deGrom or Wheeler would be willing to sell of early years of FA, so the strategy may just be keep them as long as you can and hope you win the WS while you have them.
Anon Joe F
Regarding the money:
Pretty simple. Others make it more complicated because they are trying to do something they should not or can't reasonably do.
Fans in New York should not have to worry that a NY team can not field a competitive team because of money issues.
Notice; no mention of having to be in the top 5 of payrolls, but whether it is top 5 or bottom 5 money should not be the reason they can not field a competitive team.
Fans have proven the value of fielding a competitive team.
If the owner(s) of a New York team are unable to field a competitive (reasonable expectations to compete for a playoff spot) team because of finances.......
they do not deserve to own in any majority decision making role a NY sports team.
If money is an issue, let them become minority owners or move on to a different city's sports team or even move toward minor league team ownership.
The Parra fellow looks like someone I would love to have on the team as well and he doesnt cost a pick either. Not sure he could fit with existing OF though.
How do the Mets continue to improve their offense? Do Herrera and Conforto get to play full time next year? If they don't sign Cespedes are they happy with Conforto/Lagares/Grandy? Almost seems necessary to have Cespedes because he can play Center and Left to give more power and flexibility. What happens with Cuddyer in either situation, expensive bench bat?
Regardless of whether you "should," you do. How's that for simple?
So when making suggestions for signing players, it should be factored in.
C. Pratt -
The Mets and SNY are worth 2 billion dollars.
I really don't have any concerns with the Wilpons' financial situation.
Sign Cespedes, win, draw big crowds, ring the register
Personally, I'm fine with Wright being primarily a bench bat with one or two starts a week at most. Let's face it, we haven't had a bench bat of that caliber since, I dunno, Rusty Staub or Kevin Mitchell (who should have been starting at the time, but let's not go there). It is a different role, so let's hope David can adjust to it. I believe he can.
What was it, 5 years ago when we had a payroll of 140-145 million? The value of the franchise has what quadrupled since then with recent sale of Dodgers and that basketball team? With the way the teams like the Dodgers, Angels, Yankees are spending you have to think Mets have plenty of spending money. I really do hope they start locking up some of the young pitching this offseason.
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