Tag: Jeff Wilpon

Mets Links: Matthews, Offseason Review, Wilpons

Mike Piazza

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I read a great post by Matthew Artus at Always Amazin’ about the Gary Matthews, Jr. trade. It’s become somewhat comical that the offseason hot stove activity has turned into such a frenzy for mainstream media and bloggers alike. Every team is interested in every free agent at some point if you keep reading for long enough. And every pending deal gets up prepared for a blockbuster that almost never happens. Such is the case with the Matthews deal. The Mets acquired a fifth outfielder for a middle relief pitcher. That’s it.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports does his offseason review of the Mets entitled “The Mets are getting little traction”. What?!? The Mets already had $100 million in payroll committed to 2010 when the offseason started, meaning they already had most of the “star” players that they needed. They got Jason Bay to fill the hole in left field and the middle of the lineup. The offseason still has five more weeks to go and there are still several capable starting pitchers without contracts. Things don’t seem that bleak to me.

Greg Prince of Faith and Fear in Flushing writes a great piece about the Mets ownership history and current situation with Jeff Wilpon at the helm. It’s a must-read post about how we got where we are today with this team. Considering the fan backlash against the owners in recent years, like the one capably written on this site, the post by Prince is very timely.

Voice Of The Fan: Mets Ownership

FLUSHING, NY - FEBRUARY 12: New York Mets owne...

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Since the 2009 season was a complete bust for the Mets and there hasn’t been much to get excited about since May, I decided to try something new during this downtime for Mets fans. I’m going to run some posts that highlight opinions from other Mets fan like me. I may ask other Mets fans that have blogs of their own but I decided to start by asking some of the fans that frequently leave comments here.

Everyone is welcome to leave comments on this site but I wanted to put the spotlight on some of the fans that really make this site fun for me to write. If you feel that you’re up to the task of being in the spotlight, contact me and we’ll work something out. I wanted to start with Robin Schwartz, whom you know as RobinTheBoyWonderingWTF in the comments here.

Continue reading “Voice Of The Fan: Mets Ownership”

Audio: Mets Management On 2010

NEW YORK - JUNE 23: General Manager Omar Mina...

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As part of their press tour today, we got to hear the Mets brass talk about their disappointment in 2009 and commitment to winning for 2010. What else would they say?

You won’t know just how committed they are until free agency starts and they can start spending. That’s when we’ll find out.

Dave Howard, Jeff Wilpon, and Omar Minaya spent quite a bit of time with Mike Francesa on WFAN this afternoon. He did a nice job of hammering them on Daniel Murphy among other things. It’s a two-part audio you can listen to below.

Mets management Part 1

Mets management Part 2

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Mets Fire Coaches, Players Next

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 02: New York Mets chief o...

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The Mets had a press conference today to announce that they’re firing Sandy Alomar Sr. and Luis Alicea. They’re also re-assigning Razor Shines and Sandy Alomar Jr. Apparently, Alomar Sr. has been asked to stay with the Mets in another job.

I always think it’s interesting that the coaching staff is the first to take the fall after a miserable season like the one the Mets just finished. Sure, a 70-92 finish means that changes will be made. Honestly, how much difference does a coach really make at this level? It’s the players that make or break a team.

I don’t have a problem with these changes. Clearly, Shines wasn’t the right man for the third base coach job. He just doesn’t have good judgment there on close plays. But he seems like a well-intentioned guy that could have a positive impact elsewhere.

The real news will come after the World Series when free agency begins and the Mets can make some meaningful player moves.

You can hear the audio clips below from the press conference today.

Jerry Manuel audio

Jeff Wilpon audio

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Mets Cancel Fall League To Save Money

Multiple media reports today are covering some comments that former Mets GM Jim Duquette made on Sirius XM Radio. Duquette says that the Mets canceled their fall instructional league to save roughly $300,00. That’s the cost of running the league and housing and feeding the players and coaches.

Duquette says it’s a big mistake to reduce costs by cutting instructional time for the team’s young players. Of course, this adds credibility to the stories that we’ve heard about Fred Wilpon experiencing serious financial problems. So serious are those problems that it’s reported that he may be forced to sell the Mets next year.

Besides the obvious concern about the financial condition of the Mets, there have been serious questions about the quality of players that the Mets are developing. The Mets spent the least money of any team in Major League Baseball on their high draft picks this season. And Jeff Wilpon recently went to Buffalo and Binghamton to apologize to fans for fielding teams that weren’t even close to competitive this season.

The writing will be on the wall in the off-season if the Mets reduce the payroll from their current $140 million. That will be the tell-tale sign of financial trouble for the owner. In a brand new stadium, with new sources of revenue, there’s no reason to cut payroll. Until the free agency period gets going in a few months we’re left to speculate and have plenty of reason to be concerned.

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Mets In The News Aug. 18, 2009

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 02: New York Mets chief o...
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Whether it’s a fastball bouncing off David Wright‘s helmet or an almost-forgotten closer returning from Tommy John surgery, the Mets always have something happening to peak our interest.

Here’s the Mets news for today:

  • Matthew Artus of Always Amazin’ hopes that we don’t see David Wright on the field again this season
  • Dave Singer of NY Sports Dog tries to come up with some names for David Wright’s hideous shirt
  • Tejesh at Mets Prospect Hub has his 8/18 links up. The Mets are done, it’s time to keep an eye on what players can help this team next season
  • Dave at Mets Lifers has a great post up comparing the offensive deficiencies of Brian Schneider to Charlie O’Brien. Must read!
  • Joe Janish at Mets Today writes about Jeff Wilpon’s trek across New York state apologizing for the pathetic teams that the organization is fielding, the journey started in Buffalo and should end in Flushing
  • Kerel Cooper of On The Black recaps the Giants series and doesn’t want to see Livan Hernandez start another game for the Mets
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