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Sinking Feeling…
Maybe I’m just a bitter and angry Met fan — well, I’m definitely bitter and angry — but I’ve got a bad feeling about the impending off-season.
It’s still too early to get a vibe on what Omar, or more accurately Jeff, is planning on doing but there seem to be a few factors working against us:
• $$$$ - The confluence of a bad economy, a ponzi scheme and fewer tickets sold than expected smell like a series of red flags indicating a low budget off season
• a thin free agent crop will create even more competition for the Lackey and Holiday
• Unlike past seasons the Mets don’t have a tremendous amount of $$ coming off the books. Delgado is a nice chunk of change but I still have to imagine the Wilpons want payroll trimmed below 150M
The good news is there are some intriguing second tier FA’s such as Jermaine Dye and Vlad. But the Mets have to be terrified of signing an older player fearing he’ll break down in Flushing.
I dunno, the Mets have surprised me before so I’ll keep my fingers crossed but BMF is going on record that as of now my expectations are very low for this FA season.
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Emma takes her Mets VERY seriously!
November 9th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Sorry to jump off topic here, but I just wanted to post an amazing video of an amazing drummer named Jerry Fuchs who died yesterday day in Brooklyn. He lived there, but was the engine of the band Maserati which was more or less based out of Athens, Ga. It’s a shame that we’ll never get to see him play again, but it’s a bigger shame that some folks never got to see him play at all which I why I’m posting this clip so that you may witness the Amazing One Arm Fill for yourselves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF0ZxA130u4
November 9th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Here’s something to cheer you up BMF: the Mets didn’t actually lose money in the ponzi scheme, reports say they actually MADE $48 million in investments with Madoff. So they’re not hurting like they (Jeff and Fred) would like you to believe. Now that this is public knowledge maybe they’ll actually use that profit to help the team. But, like you, I am maybe a bitter fan so I don’t have very high expectations either.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:29 am
86mets - The Wilpons may have to pay back the $48 million, as it was, technically, made illegally. The Madoff executors have a plan where everyone that made money gives it back and it gets distributed to those who lost money. Those who broke even get nothing back. We’ll see.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:50 am
“….there seem to be a few factors working against us:”
1. omar minaya is the gm
2. omar minaya is the gm
3. omar minaya is the gm
November 9th, 2009 at 9:53 am
“The good news is there are some intriguing second tier FA’s such as Jermaine Dye and Vlad. ”
These are PERFECT minaya signings!!!
Their best years are way behind them; their stats are in steady decline; they are old; they are likely to be injured; they will be expensive.
Oh - wait - they’re not dogs. They’re actually real pros and solid guys. No chance omar signs them. They need to add bad attitudes and lack of hustle - THEN they’d be perfect omar signings.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:22 am
BMF,
I agree on feeling uneasy about this offseason…but more because I worry that again, they’ll try to force themselves into competitiveness buy overspending on FA’s.
As for your points…
1. Yes the Wilpons were overall winners in the Ponzi Scheme, so I don’t think they’re hurting that much and not doing anything to give the fans hope will hurt them in the wallet more than attempting to spend to fill the holes.
Although I will say, The Wilpons may have money in the long run, but that’s like us saying…”I invested $100k dollars, I withdrew $150k throughout the life of the account…but when it when the scheme collapsed, I was supposed to have $250k in the account.” Losing that money that you thought you had is still a big deal, you’re still gonna be hurt by losing that big time investment.
Also, I know it sucks because a lot of charities and people who can’t afford to lose anything lost everything…but unless they can prove the Wilpons had knowledge that they made money off an illegal scheme, i don’t see how they (or anyone else) should be held responsible for other peoples losses.
Point #2, While the FA crop is weak, (and it’s always gonna be) there are plenty of B+ talent players who could be signed relativity cheep who could make a improvement on the roster. It might also force the Mets not to be over aggressive and let the younger players develop more before dumping them off in favor of an older player on the decline.
Point #3. The Mets projected payroll for next year right now is $92mil…They could spend $40mil in for FA’s and still lower payroll. Honestly…I’d rather have them spend money on two SP’s and fill the LF void with a sort term contract on a Dye type player…and see how F-Mart, Murphy, Davis and other younger players develop and address the long term OF strategy after the 2010 season.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p4ew-fwu2XT3cpPRtt9qIGw
November 9th, 2009 at 11:28 am
The issue that I plan to write about is the overall philosophy of Sterling Mets and the organization as a whole. Or lack thereof because it doesn’t appear there IS a philosophy. If we lose out on some of the FAs this offseason, I don’t think it will be that bad - I would like to take a gander on Jon Garland who I have had a fanboy crush on for three years or John Lackey whom I love simply b/c he was an Angel but we can always use more pitching. The rest I can take or leave. Adrian Gonzalez is someone I’d like too. But ladies and gents. Newsflash: unless the Wilpons DRASTICALLY change their philosophies regarding playing over slot in the draft, we are NEVER going to see any change in the way the team plays. It will be more spending money, high payrolls and NO payoffs for the fans. It sucks. That’s the sinking feeling. Unless the team is sold, the top management changes and they get rid of Jerry Manuel, nothing is going to change.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:35 am
OH! and another thing that pissed me off. The Mets lowered their ticket prices. Woop-a-dee-do. Not b/c the team was horrible and they realized that most Mets fans are a.)not going to pay for a craptastic product but lowered prices due to the economic realities. Are you serious? The team was horrible, you expected us to pay for it and realized just how wrong you were? Whatever.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I’m confused why people wouldn’t want the Mets to sign stud free agents like Lackey and Holliday, which will also allow youngsters in the farm system to grow. It’s not an either or situation. If F-Mart is ready, they’ll move Francouer. If Niese or another pitcher is ready, they’ll dump whatever crap they have in the #5 spot (assuming somebody else hasn’t already broken down). If there’s something to be learned from all this, it’s you can never have too much QUALITY depth. So saying let’s just see what the kids can do isn’t a great option, because there’s no fallback. And if they do show they can play, you have a good decision on how to best capitalize on it.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Coop, Agreed on some points…The lack of a solid philosophy or Five year game plan is obvious. I believe the best way to build a winning franchise is to plot out your depth chart for five years and have a solid plan to stock up the system as best you can with players from within the system and fill any potential hole via free agency. I would also project what FA’s will be available in future year to fill team needs. Once you have that figured out, you can then figure out a strategy on who and when you may need to sign a FA. I believe should sign multiple Type-A free agents one year and let your Ranked FA’s walk the next. That way, every other year you focus on signing high draft picks for the future.
The current philosophy is more like sticking your finger to plug holes in the damn. Sometimes, you just gotta let the damn break and rebuild a better one…
I’d also front load big contract instead of back loading them. I hate the idea of paying a guy big money at the end of a contract when he’s only worth a fraction of what he’s making. It’ll also make it easier to trade a vet with one or two years left on his contract.
Also, I’d sign Lackey first and either Wolf, Garland or Marquis to fill in the #2 and #3 spots in the rotation.
But the team is never gonna be sold…hoping for that is a waste of time…
I don’t see a reason for firing Jerry. He has had success as a big league mgr and the problems this year was more about injuries and lack of depth to and patience to weather the storm. I this years playoffs prove anything, it’s that it’s not about who the mgr is, but rather how deep the team is…
No knock on Girardi or Charlie Manuel, but La Russa, Scioscia, Torre, Francona and Gardenhire are the better (or at least considered better) managers in the PS. And don’t for get Jim Leyland and Lou Piniella are both “HOF” managers with BIG payrolls, and they’re season was just as disappointing as ours was.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Man, what a depressing team…
November 9th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I just wish someone would leak the Jeff Wilson sex tape already—Omar has to have something pretty serious on him to still have a job at this late date.
I would not sign Vlad or Dye or anyone who’s best years are behind him. I would invest in as much pitching as possible, and give Murph, Francoeur and F-Mart a chance to learn more in the bigs.
I do not want to hear the words:
“catch lightning in a bottle”
“almost looks like the old *fill in the blank name of former HOFer here*”
“hamstring”
“prove he’s still got it”
“injury-prone”
etc
Also, no more players from the frigging Nationals!
November 9th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I’m thinking if they can get just shed as much salary as possible this winter, perhaps they can sign both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Then we’ll be all set, because those guys can do anything.
November 9th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
In case folks didn’t know, ESPN is running a series of articles in honor of Veteran’s Day. They started the week with Ralph Kiner. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=mergler/091109&sportCat=mlb
November 9th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
As far as what 86Mets said…not exactly true. Yes, they put in something like $300 million with Madoff…and came out with something like $340 million at the end. However, two factors make the assessment that they made money either wrong, or not correct yet.
A) While they made 40 or so million on the deal (certainly a ton to us regular folk) they were working under the assumption that they had upwards of 700 million in the bank with Madoff…so they likely extended themselves elsewhere with that number in mind……so really, it was a loss.
also,
B) Bankruptcy law is complicated…and Madoff’s bankruptcy trustee will (and might have already) likely sue Sterling and company in an attempt to get back anything withdrawn from Madoff over the past few years so that losses can be spread evenly over those who were ripped off….Sterling being one of the companies who “profited” could mean they are forced to give back some if not all of their “profit”.
So, in the end, they likely lost money, and could possibly lose more.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Metsblog is reporting a possible 3-way trade involving the Mets. Castillo to the Cubs; Milton Bradley to Toronto; and Lyle Overbay to the Mets. Presumably, we then go out and sign Orlando Hudson to replace Castillo ast 2B.