Mets: David Wright, Cory Mazzoni, Mike Piazza, Howard Megdal, Bernie Madoff

Photo by Mack Ade

Best Hitter: David Wright, 3B  He missed significant time with injury for the first time in his career, when a stress fracture in his lower back forced him off of the field for two months. It was the first time he didn't make the All-Star game since 2005. Wright hit .254/.345/.427 with 14 HR, 61 RBI, and 13 SB in 102 games. Wright seemed like he could become the best all-around hitter in the game after 2008, when he was still only 25 and averaged 29 HR, 112 RBI, and 22 SB with a .311/.394/.534 line during his first four full seasons in the majors. The opening of Citi Field in 2009 however famously seemed to sap his numbers and he has hit .284/.364/.463 during his first three seasons in the park. As Robert said earlier however, they are moving the fences in. I don't know how much this will help Wright and other hitters, but it shouldn't hurt. http://www.faketeams.com/2012/2/6/2775041/fantasy-baseball-spotlight-new-york-mets

RHP Cory Mazzoni - The Mets' 2011 second round selection out of NC State signed just early enough to get his feet wet in pro ball, pitching in six games for the Cyclones as well as St. Lucie. In that short time he showed why many are excited about his future and why many -- like BP's Kevin Goldstein -- consider him a breakout candidate going forward. That's because the 22-yr old Mazzoni is the rare college pitcher that blends refinement, results and top shelf stuff yet was still on the board beyond the first round. First and foremost, Mazzoni's fastball reaches into the mid-90's -- touching 97 mph. Then pair the fact that he features pinpoint command and you're already talking about a very interesting talent. He also features a decent curve/splitter mix that is inconsistent but developing.  http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/2/6/2768128/2012-amazin-avenue-mets-top-50-prospect-15-11

There he was, down in the Veterans Stadium tunnel under left field last weekend, rubbing shoulders with Mike Marshall and Greg Brock, stroking batting-practice pitches from Manny Mota, bleeding the same shade of blue as Tommy Lasorda. Mike Piazza blinked, just to make sure he hadn’t died and gone to Dodger Heaven. Piazza, a junior at Phoenixville High, reacted to all this heady company he was keeping the way your average 16-year-old would. He was a bit in awe. But, really, there was no reason for him to be star struck, because he’s having a better year than Marshall and Brock. http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/mike-piazza-in-high-school-near-philadelphia/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Yesterday, Howard Megdal revealed over at the Journal News that he will not be credentialed by the Mets for the 2012 baseball season. According to Megdal, Sean Mayer, the sports editor at the Journal News, received a call from Jay Horwitz, the Director of Media Relations for the Mets, telling him that while the Journal News can continue to receive credentials, the Mets would not be credentialing him. When asked for a reason, Horwitz answered the Mets “don’t like Megdal’s reporting.” You all know by now that Megdal has been following the Mets financial situation closely. He wrote a book called “Wilpon’s Folly,” which details the fallout of the team’s investments with Bernie Madoff. He’s been at the forefront of this reporting, as not until a recent article by Adam Rubin of ESPN NY, have we seen detailed discussion on the issues by the mainstream media. Most of the reporting has been Mets and MLB sourced material; both of which have a vested interest in keeping the public in the dark and controlling the message. As a matter of fact, none of Rubin’s story discounted the facts in Megdal’s book. http://nybaseballdigest.com/2012/02/07/clubhouse-access-not-essential-to-entertaining-factual-reporting/

The New York Mets may never recover from the Ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff. The Metropolitans owner Fred Wilpon got hooked and lost millions to the scheme. The New York Mets moved into their new stadium Citi Field in 2008-09 under a cloud of questions from New York City tax payers. The Mets are selling their star players to the highest bidders while at the same time asking fans to pay higher prices for tickets, parking, and food. The ownership of the new stadium is also in jeopardy and the fans suffered through another mediocre season. MLB turned its head and continued the 2011 season. The Mets continue to stink on the field with players like pitchers R.A. Dickey and Dillion Gee, outfielders Jason Bay and Lucas Duda, and infielders David Wright and Ike Davis.  The final straw, The Oakland A’s baseball organization sold their three All Stars within months after the 2011 season ended. Closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney went to the Boston Red Sox, Trevor Cahill went to the Arizona Diamondbacks and starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez to the Washington Nationals.  http://blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Editorial_46/The_MLB_FRAUD.shtml

The $90 Million Dollar Question

"Is $90 Million Enough For a New York Sports Team?"

I think most Met fans have seen that the 2012 estimated payroll for the Mets is around $90 Million Dollars. Thats nearly $90 Million more than I have in my bank account, but at the same time... it seems like nothing.

Looking at 2011 Team Payroll Figures: Link
The Mets at or above the level of the other major market teams. Sure... the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, White Sox and Cubs spent more... but the Mets are at least appearing like they play in a city with lots of people, lots of money, and lots of love for the sport of Baseball. $90 Million puts the Mets well below the rest of the major markets and amongst the ranks of the Milwaukee Brewers. Do the Wilpons think that the City of New York is not capable of supporting a team more expensive than the City of Beer and Cheese?

The Disturbing Trend is Easy to Spot:

2008: #2, $138 Mil
2009: #2, $149 Mil
2010: #5, $134 Mil
2011: #7, $119 Mil
2012: $90 Mil

Brian Costa:

"After today's signings, Mets projected to start 2012 with a payroll somewhere in the range of $90 million, down from $143 million in 2011."

So The Question Is:

Should The Wilpons Be Allowed To Own The Mets?

The short answer is no. So is the long answer, but it involves a bit more ranting. Many of you can guess what the next block of text will be about so if it doesn't interest you, just skip the RED text. When we some of you were young your parents may have given in to your demands to get a dog on the condition that you take care of it. You'd need to walk it and feed it and brush it every day. Most kids who duped their parents into this deal would know that their parents would still end up doing most of the work. What the Wilpons are doing is no different than being a snot-nosed kid who wants the puppy... but none of the work. They own a franchise that we, as fans, support. We buy tickets and merchandise, watch games on TV and make them money. In return they are supposed to infuse the team with an appropriate amount of that money so the team we, as fans, are watching is still relevant and good. Instead they are using the team to make money without regarding the fans. Should the Wilpons be allowed to own the Mets? NO!

Now that I have that off my chest I need to explain a major issue. The Wilpons WILL lose ownership of the Mets. It's only a matter of time. While the Wilpons own the Mets, it will be like swimming in ski boots. Sure if you are a strong swimmer or naturally buoyant you can keep your head above the water, but it's a pretty dumb thing to do and eventually you're going to drown.

NOTE: Whether the Wilpons needed to pay $1 Billion or $386 Million I never thought they still had the money to pay. Eventually... 2013... 2014... 2021... they WILL lose this team. The longer they hold on, the worse things will get. Bud Selig should step in within the next year and do something or loyal fans will jump ship.

My Two Birds With One Stone:

Governor Christie of New Jersey recently stated that he'd leave politics to help run his New York Mets. Frankly, Christie being a Met fan fills me with a small amount of revulsion but I'll soldier on. Yet, let us say that a new ownership board is formed and that they chose Chris as their President of Operations. Not only would this get the Wilpons out of my baseball team, it would get Christie out of my state's government.

While I loathe Christie's policy of attacking education as a vile and cancerous growth on the country. I highly doubt that his hatred of educators would matter much in the baseball world. In fact, his no nonsense swagger that makes him such a popular Republican would probably be welcomed by Met fans (Conservative and Liberal alike). I also would bet that the NJEA would kick in a little money to help get Christie out of Trenton and into Flushing.

P.S.

If the Governor's staffers happen to read this, I'd love it if you could get moving on doing something for the residents of Little Falls, NJ BEFORE the Flood of 2012.

The Greek Tragedy of the New York Met Fan

In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity. The OBVIOUS question, Was Sisyphus a Met fan?

The various legends of King Sisyphus do bring an eerie remembrance of Bernie Madoff to mind. He tricked his wife into slaying his rival, betrayed a Zeus to improve his portfolio and even tricked Persephone into letting him out of the underworld so he could scold his wife (for obeying his commands).

So because of the SINS of our team's ownership... have the Mets been doomed to watch the team struggle forward and fail for the rest of eternity?

The tragic fate of this Jerk of a King is similar in many ways to my experience as a Met fan. The Mets begin to climb back into relevance with Mike Piazza. They reach the world series (a year late) and fall to the Yankees. Then... that team starts to crumble. Then... they re-build. They bring in Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine. They promote Jose Reyes and David Wright... The team makes in to the NLCS and would go onto the World Series... but Yadier Molina... Then... the team starts to crumble. They try to cobble things together to keep that boulder from sliding all the way back down... but nothing works.

Here we are. At the bottom of the hill. The boulder that is the New York Mets is heavy, and reaching the top seems impossibly hard. Perhaps this time will be THE time, and we'll finally escape the MLB equivalent of Tartarus. Perhaps we're destined to watch that boulder backslide a few more times.

Time will tell.

Spending Other People's Money

How Much Money Do The Mets Have?

If you trust the Wilpons... none. The Wilpons claim to be losers in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme and... frankly... I think they probably were (overall). Do I think that they'll get off paying NOTHING? No, they'll need to pay. Picard had to have some sort of evidence to try the suit in the first place. They won't be giving back $1 Billion, the won't be giving back $300 Million, they'll be giving back something, but I'm pretty sure David Einhorn's money will cover it.

So the Mets have? Listen, it's not like I have access to their books. It seems to me that the Mets should be able to field a team at or above $120 Million simply based on geographic location AND having their own network. That isn't so far above what I would call the poverty line for major market teams ($100 Million). The Wilpons and Alderson know that they cannot field a team below that point without risking severely negative fan response.

Why They WON'T Spend Money: Beyond Jose Reyes, there aren't a lot of players the Mets could uses. They aren't going into the Pujols derby, (as much as I'd like them to) they aren't going to pay the posting fee for Darvish, they aren't going to over-pay for Wilson, so... who are they planning to spend the money on?

Why They WOULD Spend Money: How do you energize a fan-base who are frustrated and disillusioned? You sign someone who would (just by putting on a uniform) bring fans to the ballpark. Jose Reyes is one of those guys but it's not the same when you're bringing him BACK. There are only two other "Wow Factor" players hitting free agency: Albert Pujols (32) and Prince Fielder (28). The issue, as we all know, is that there is nowhere to play them. So... unless you sign Albert and trade Ike Davis that doesn't make sense. Think you can make a splash that would get the fans excited? I would love to see another solution to get the fans excited. If they can't get someone really good, I don't think Alderson wastes time and money with too many people in between.

Impact Free Agents:
Albert Pujols (32)
Jose Reyes (29)
Prince Fielder (28)
Brandon Phillips (31) [If his $12 Mil option is declined]
Yu Darvish (25)
C.J. Wilson (31)
Carlos Beltran (35)
Grady Sizemore (29) [If his $8.5 Mil option is declined]
Lance Berkman (36)
Heath Bell (34)
Jonathan Papelbon (31)
Francisco Rodriguez (32)