Reese Kaplan -- The Ugly Change Is Indeed Happening

Word filtered out that part of the deal for acquisition of the NY Mets by Steve Cohen is a reversal of position in the hierarchy where the Wilpons aren't going away entirely, but will retain a 7% stake in the ownership of the ballclub.  Well, once you get past that involuntary gag reflex, recognize that Cohen was a former part owner and apparently had no ability to influence getting anything done.  So too we can only hope that the Wilpons experience the same lack of authority and influence in their new-found role on the sidelines.  

 

We also heard that Cohen has agreed to take on the existing debt, thus freeing the Wilpons from acting like responsible businessmen.  That too will cause the nausea to broadcast itself up your throat and into your mouth.  Perhaps it's the unwritten rule among thieves that you do what needs to get done in order for the deal to proceed forward.  Could you imagine J-Rod or the other buyers agreeing to anything so ludicrous?  

 

The deal is happening.  Keep your eye on the prize, not the onerous path taken to achieve it.  The Wilpons are no longer going to be a factor in the ballclub as a 7 percent solution is as useless to them as it was to a young Sherlock Holmes in the 1976 namesake.  The kings are not dead but no one is proclaiming, "Long live the king(s)!" as they make an ignominious departure from the day-to-day running into the ground of a New York baseball franchise.

 

Personally, I am so happy that they will depart that I won't be wishing them any ill.  The ill has long since been embraced, over tolerated and we've survived the affliction.  There will hopefully be no more middle of the night firing of managers, no more insistence that rookie ballplayers get squandered in the minors for far too long, no more lawsuits from pregnant employees and no more back page headlines for anything unrelated to what's happening on the field between the lines.

 

Do I expect Steve Cohen to be a bastion of sweetness and light?  No, of course not.  He has a checkered past fraught with ethical and integrity issues that somehow are going to be swept under the rug to get Major League Baseball out from under the woebegone Wilpons.  That's the league's way of welcoming with open arms another Steinbrenneresque owner and pretending that what happened in his business life was overblown.  That way they can save face about maintaining a relationship with the Wilpon family while quickly shutting the door in their faces.

 

Whether you think the change at the top is a cause for champagne, a keg of your favorite beer, a cask of a preferred wine or cases and cases of the hard liquor necessary to expunge the Wilpon years from your memory, the fact is you can still celebrate.  It is a change long overdue and most welcome by the fans as well as the league itself.  Remember, they were metaphorically tarred and feathered for the way they handled the Dodgers and didn't want a repeat of that.  

Consequently you can rest assured whatever peccadilloes are on Cohen's long resume will just be boys being boys.  It's not right, but if it's necessary to get the change to happen, clap your hands, drink until you forget and move onto 2021 with your head held slightly hungover and moderately high.