Steve Cohen and his extra hurdle to purchase the Mets
by Brian Joura
We saw a little preview of the upcoming CBA negotiations with the scuffle between players and owners regarding how the 2020 season would play out. And now we hear of another issue being potentially impacted by a looming labor crisis. In Thursday’s New York Post article by Josh Kosman and Thornton McEnery giving an update on the sale of the Mets, there was an ominous close to the piece. Here’s the final sentence:The owners will want someone they can trust to help in their upcoming collective bargaining talks with the players, a source said.
There have been a few constants in the history of labor battles in MLB, even beyond the obvious one of owners trying to give the players the shortest stick imaginable. One of these is that while owners think they’ll be able to achieve their goals by dividing the players, the reality is that owners are always, always more of a fractured group.
You can find many examples of this but perhaps the best Mets-related one is back when Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon were co-owners, they backed different horses when it came to who would lead the owners in the future. Doubleday supported then-current Commissioner Fay Vincent while Wilpon aligned with then-Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig.
Unfortunately, Wilpon chose well.
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6 comments:
In the end though the Mets selling to the highest bidder gives the most value to the other franchises and it sets a new market rate.
The Wilpons don't care about their legacy. If they did, they would have tried to win and competed for top talent, top scouting and not shied away from the best available players due to financial considerations. The right thing to do is to take the high bid, hit the road and not look back.
Trying to hold salaries down as per the Commissioner's wishes, the same Commissioner that helped you buy the club below value, it all makes sense. But wait, why didn't that same Commissioner not eject Clemens when he threw a bat at Piazza in the World Series? Mets played the game under protest when he was not ejected and Bud Selig denied the protest. Guess his loyalty only went so far.
Dallas, when the Red Sox were sold, when part of the proceeds went to a charity, for Pete's sake, MLB orchestrated it so that its preferred buyer got the club, even though two other bidders submitted higher offers.
Never underestimate MLB's ability to play favorites.
I don't trust Cohen (or anybody who is a hedge fund manager) but he has the deepest pockets. Personally, I'd rather see the A-Rod/J-Lo team take ownership however their problem will be cash. It would be like spending every penny to buy the house of your dreams but you don't have enough money to buy any furniture. If the Mets are to act like a big market team Steve Cohen is the only answer.
Owners could sure use a real Commissioner like AOC, who'd make it simple - either all players make $100,000 a year or $10 million a year. Flatten that salary curve. Easy breezy. Might flatten the game too, but we need to look at all options here, in the bizarre year that is 2020.
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