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7/12/20

Mack – Random Thoughts: COVID, Testing Mess, Conditions of a Sale, If I Owned SNY

Good morning.

Baseball players continue to test positive. The daily list is growing faster than new cases in Florida.

Let’s stop for a second. Are we doing the right thing here? No one loves baseball more than I do and I am truly excited that I will be watching sort of live baseball at the end of this month, but are we seriously doing the right thing here?

This virus is a damned if you do, damned if you don’t moment in our history. Leave things open and more people get sick and some die. Close things down and businesses and the economy go out the window.

No one planned it but I’m afraid if we don’t deal with this again… now… it will not go away and cost us the lives of some ballplayers or members of their families.


Jay Jaffe of Fangraphs further wrote on this subject, and their testing mess:

Unless the league and the union can iron out the process in short order, it’s entirely possible that players who have already expressed ambivalence about proceeding, from Mike Trout and Buster Posey on down, could join David Price, Ian Desmond, and others in opting out. If enough marquee players do so, it could undermine MLB’s attempt to preserve the competitive integrity of the season, not that a 60-game schedule doesn’t do so by definition.

None of this will surprise the chorus of people saying that baseball shouldn’t even attempt to proceed, and it probably shouldn’t do so for those of us who have at least been willing to suspend disbelief and see how the process unfolds. But unlike Tanaka, nobody should be blindsided by the risks involved in this attempt to play, or the speed with which the consequences of a mishap can cause serious damage. MLB needs to tighten things up immediately, or the 2020 season is going to fall apart completely.


We are all seeing the final list of bidders still in the hunt to own the Mets. All their offers will come with ‘conditions’.

I have bought radio stations. I have also sold radio stations. Every sale comes with conditions, and what they would be in a Mets sale will matter greatly.

The conditions could be:

An assumption of all debts remain with the old owner. In simple terms, the old owner would have to pay all existing monies owed and turn the team over to the new owner with no monies owed.

An agreement that the current finances, including monies owed, would be passed to the new owners. I am sure the Wilpons would love this to happen but someone like Steve Cohen would never go for this condition. Still, doesn’t hurt to ask. The amount of the offer could solve this hiccup. Let’s say there is $300K worth of outstanding bills. Just tack that amount on your offer and pay them off when you take over.

The league, minority owners, and specific lease providers like the stadium must agree to the sale under the conditions set by the old and new owner. I don’t anticipate any problems here, but the stadium’s union agreement and any monies still owed to the people that built it could be sticky.

Here's a long shot... the old owner would have to pay off monies currently contracted to pay in the future to specific players like Jed Lowrie and Robinson Cano. There would then be no reason to keep these players on the team.

Lastly, the very profitable SNY Network. In my opinion, the Wilpons are going to have to give in on holding on to this one.


Further on the SNY Network… if I owned it, there would be changes. My local cable subscriber removed SNY from my available channels around five years ago, so I am not sure what the lineup is now, but I would still make some fan friendly changes.

They would be (if the parties mentioned could come to an agreement with me):

A new morning show hosted by Michael Barron. Michael got his start here as a photographer and has grown into a Twitter legend. What better way to start the day than watching him interview players and take questions from fans.

I would offer a full-time job, without travel, to Adam Rubin to be the Editor of the news and column department. Adam left the New York Post because the money was bad and the travel was killing his family lifestyle. I can solve both those.

I would reconstruct the writers on the site. Cerrone and Martino would be replaced key members of the blogging community that have earned their reputation. They would include some of my own writers, plus other bloggers like they guys we are now sharing content with. I would also offer a position to outsiders like John Strubel and writers that specialized in covering the minor league teams.

I would end my changes with returning ex-Met Bobby Ojeda to the post game coverage. I know he has always spoke from his heart and I would have it no other way.

8 comments:

  1. Much speculation occurred as to whether the virus would die out in the summer. That theory has gone out the window. I still believe that if ANY rich players want to sit out, they should, and let the many who would then have even a brief MLB career play, whereas in a normal environment they would never make it. It is their dream - if I were young and marginal, I would jump at the chance while trying to stay safe.

    The good thing about the spike now, in terms of baseball, is the players won't get casual about it.

    If your suggestion would be that some of this blog's writers would do so more formally under the next owner regime, I know I would need to step up my game! It would go from a fun hobby to BUSINESS.

    Once a new owner buys, let's then say bye bye to the Wilpons...make it a complete divorce deal. No fingers in the pie.

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  2. I like your SNY ideas, Mack! It would make mornings more enjoyable than reruns of Sports Night.

    You mentioned Cerrone. What is he doing now, with his excellent MetsBlog now converted to SNY. TV? Is he still with the re-named blog, or into something else?

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  3. I have no problem with players deciding that they don’t want to play the season, but in my opinion, they are setup pretty good compared to others to deal with this pandemic. Let’s just take a person who works at a grocery store, they are putting their lives more at risk than what the MLB has setup for its players. If an MLB player gets it he can quarantine a whole lot easier and not have to worry about where his next paycheck is coming from. Just stay away from older people and people with underlying conditions.

    The benefit of having a baseball season will be the almost the same when baseball returned after 9/11 as far as getting back to normal.

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  4. I think I'm like most Met fans out there currently in that I would Love for Cohen to buy the Mets. There are a few reasons for thi: He is a long time Met fan from childhood who has suffered like the rest of us through the years, He is currently a minority owner so he knows how the baseball finances operate, and of course he is a Billionaire where buying the team is not going to break him, the Mets would then have one of the richest owners in baseball vice one of the poorest and stingiest.
    Mack I do have a question as to the Mets finances, how come they are loosing 50-100 million a year and SNY making 200 Million (from what I have read not sure if correct)? Is it because SNY has a great deal to air the Mets thus making them money while costing the Mets?
    Will we have a season of course is a concern, are our stars going to opt out of playing? We might loose a few but I think the majority will play, if any of the players have or a family member has an underlying conditions they Should Not Play! Otherwise I'm not real sure there is any more of a risk then anyone else who is working during these times. Speaking for myself my life has changed a little, I still golf a few times a week with friends and go out to eat a couple times a week. The players will need to stay to them selves more vice going to the bar after games and mingling with all the groupies. I also am unsure about going home to families every night but then again thats just me a retired 30 year Navy guy who has missed plenty of time with my family during my career. Bring on the Season and LFGM!

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  5. tom -

    I forgot one more SNY add...

    Nelson Figueroa on a noon/pre game show

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  6. Zozo -

    Cerrone is still leaving comments on Twitter but I am not sure if he is currently doing anything else right now nor am I sure he is 100% disassociated with SNY.

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  7. Unknown -

    The cost of owning and operating a baseball team in New York is huge. It is not just fan revenue. You must throw in debt (to people that built the stadium) salaries to people in the organization, utilities, etc.

    I agree with you here and have questioned the claims that they lose 50-100 mil a year, but people tell me that the number is accurate.

    As for the 200 bil offer for SNY, I was SHOCKED when I read this. Have the Mets confirmed this number? I haven't seen a confirmation.

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  8. Jimmy

    Removed your comment due to political commentary

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