As we sit here waiting for this painful season to end and wait for the off-season to begin the Mets have quite a few questions that need to be answered. Unfortunately the biggest question is probably one we as fans have no way of knowing…. how did Bernard Madoff effect the finances of the team and how will that effect our 2010 payroll. As we know the Wilpon family reportedly lost between 300-700 million dollars so while a cut in payroll would be painful, being fair it would probably be justified.
However, taking the “human” element out of it, myself as a fan could really care less about the finances of Fred and Jeff Wilpon. The Mets according to Forbes magazine are worth close to 1 billion dollars, so if money is such an issue…. sell. If the Williams sisters can buy a piece of the Dolphins how about Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin James and Chris Rock anteing up for part of the team? How about Mexican billionaire (and baseball fan) Carlos Slim? Since we don’t know what the payroll will be next year it has become more difficult than usual to formulate a “realistic” off-season plan. If the Mets are willing to keep their payroll at the 130-140 million dollar mark then they can be in on the Matt Holliday’s, Jason Bay’s and John Lackey’s of the world and still fill other holes on the team.
If however the payroll will be slashed from 137 (or so) to around 120 (as rumored) the Mets should think long and hard about trading Carlos Beltran. I, myself am a HUGE Carlos Beltran fan and to this day feel he is greatly underrated by Mets fans. That said outside of Beltran and Johan Santana (a contract that can’t be traded for value due to the amount of years left), the Mets “core” is young.
By trading Beltran (not in a salary dump, but for legit talent to a team like the Red Sox, Cubs etc) the Mets would have about double the money to spend that they would have normally (recent projections have the Mets with 20-25 million to spend on FA) and also potentially free up money to resign both Jose Reyes and David Wright. Now let me clarify, if the Mets finances are fine and the Wilpon’s have the ability to spend then I want to keep Carlos Beltran. Remember, Carlos Beltran will be a FA in 2 seasons. Do I believe he will be good next year at 33 and the following year at 34? Absolutely. But dealing with Scott Boras likely means he will aim for 4-5-seasons added to that which should cause the Mets some reason to pause.
But with a weak FA market with only two”premiere” bats and 1 “premiere” pitcher, the Mets may be better off using 2010 as a true “rebuilding” year allowing players who are likely not 100% ready (Josh Thole, Fernando Martinez, Jon Niese and later in the season Brad Holt, Jenrry Mejia, Ike Davis and Reese Havens) to get significant playing time.
I am not throwing away the 2010 season at all. The Mets absolutely can compete even with a reduced payroll. This more a matter of “is 2010 worth more than POTENTIALLY reloading for 2011 and beyond?”
22 comments
fongy2
9/22/2009-11:11am at 11:11 am (UTC -4)
Even with the Wilpon’s cash issues, this off-season would be the worst tine to “rebuild”.
Considering the injuries,we’d get minimal value/return for guys like Bel-Tron & Reyes.
Also with little close to ready in our system, what kind of team would we be fielding.
The one plus for the Wilpons however would be the fact that with the new stadium they’d
keep on getting big crowds no matter what type of product they put on the field.
metro
9/22/2009-11:20am at 11:20 am (UTC -4)
The Mets have actually “lost” TONS of money in concessions. Selling tickets is one thing but when the fans don’t want to show up and see a bad team then people don’t buy food, shirts etc. I would never trade Reyes and certainly not coming off this year. He also doesn’t “save” us much money like trading Beltran would. Beltran still has a .938 OPS this year and certainly would have teams like the Cubs interested in giving up some significant talent should he be made available.
stickguy
9/22/2009-11:21am at 11:21 am (UTC -4)
more paragraphs please! These laptops have tiny little screens…
I am glad you specified only beltran. People often throw around rebuilding, which to me implies trading away the vets for kids. But, that would only make sense if the core was say 34 and close to done.
The Mets could also compete next year without Beltran, if A) the return was solid (and if it isn’t, you don’t deal him) and B) they invest the savings wisely (say, holliday and Lackey).
The key, of course, is to put together a team that is overall good enough. So losing beltran hurts, but if you can make up for it by improving elsewhere, it can still work.
I honestly don’t think they will trade him, or even cut payroll significantly. But, if they did (and not in a pure salary dump like the wagner deal), I can live with it.
also, IMO, no way should they consider extending his deal. His jnees at 35+ don’t give me a warm fuzzy. Not for those $$S! At least wait until after it expires, offer him arb (if he is still productive) and go from there.
fongy2
9/22/2009-11:26am at 11:26 am (UTC -4)
I dont disagree, while I really like Bel-Tron as a player and he does seem a real class
act, I’ve always had problems with him given the contract he rec’d.
I’d certainly be open to moving him BUT we MUST rec a suitable replacement as
well as another piece or two AND I dont see that happening.
stickguy
9/22/2009-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
one more thing about the idea of a new owner. If anything, that may decrease payroll faster, since ost poeple coming would would be taking on a ton of debt, and need to make up for it somewhere.
A team also has to pay it’s own way. So if the mets are turning a profit, the wilpons shouldn’t have to cut payroll, since it is their big investment.
I just don’t see a rich guy coing in and throwing 10s of millions into the team if it is not making more money back
metsfan4decades
9/22/2009-2:11pm at 2:11 pm (UTC -4)
I couldn’t agree more. To me, new owners means we should expect not to really compete for at least that initial year, if not a few after. It’s a business and the idea is to make a profit. I can’t imagine them just handing over free reign to the GM and say ‘do what you want’, here’s X amount of bucks to get it done. At least not initially.
prismo
9/22/2009-11:29am at 11:29 am (UTC -4)
Wow look at all these posts so far today! Color me impressed!
Anyway, it’s certainly not the time to rebuild. It’s time to “reload”, though the farm system should certainly be rebuilt.
fongy2
9/22/2009-11:35am at 11:35 am (UTC -4)
I just hope (and Pray) this whole Omar and Jerry will be back for next season thing
is a smoke screen. The day the season ends,if Tony LaRussa still doesn’t have a contract
you go out and give him whatever he wants.Have him bring Duncan w/him AND ask HIM who
he can best work with to be the GM!
stickguy
9/22/2009-12:30pm at 12:30 pm (UTC -4)
well, I will be willing to accept jerry and the coaches gone, and Omar in a lesser role (which seems to already be happening).
Of course a new GM/baseball guru would be great, but lets at least get some coaches to maximize the talent on the roster (and yes, there is quite a bit of it), instead of the bunch of clowns they have now.
usually you start at the top changing an organization, but lets take what we can get!
metsfan4decades
9/22/2009-2:12pm at 2:12 pm (UTC -4)
I’d like Duncan but you can keep LaRussa.
trs86
9/22/2009-12:35pm at 12:35 pm (UTC -4)
I am willing to give it one more year. I really think they should again spend right up to the cap as normal and go out and get a piece for our major holes. If that does not work it is THEN time to rebuild. This year is the time to go after Lackey and Holiday because they won’t cost us a #1 pick.
njstuckintx
9/22/2009-1:21pm at 1:21 pm (UTC -4)
When was the last time that the Mets ever truely did a “rebuild”?
trs86
9/22/2009-1:29pm at 1:29 pm (UTC -4)
Hmmm, in the 70′s maybe. When was the last time either NY team did it? When was the last time any large market team did it?
njstuckintx
9/22/2009-1:41pm at 1:41 pm (UTC -4)
I guess that is kind of my point. When have we ever truely rebuilt? The Mets will only be a reload team, especially being in the #1 market, have their own network, etc.
And TRS, regarding your going after a top notch type , you are right, now is the time. Would money spent in other directions be wise… possibily, but with not losing a first rounder, they should effectively strengthen both the pro team and minor league team.
trs86
9/22/2009-1:46pm at 1:46 pm (UTC -4)
Why not go after Lackey AND or Holiday AND and see what happens. You can always trade Beltran or one of them after 2010 right?
stickguy
9/22/2009-2:08pm at 2:08 pm (UTC -4)
you see this lunacy that the Mets are considering giving Francouer a 3 year contract (buying out arb + 1 year of FA)? Not sure who reported it, but it is in the side bar.
Will this group of idiots ever learn their lesson?
trs86
9/22/2009-2:20pm at 2:20 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I think it was just speculation. Now, however we do need to think about it slightly if a couple of conditions are met. Of course we will most likely keep him next year and after arbitration he would make 4.5-5M and then we would most likely offer again at worst following next year. I would not see us just letting him walk, he would have some trade value. That year would most likely cost 5-6M.
So if it were something like 3/15? Maybe it will save them more money and make him more attractive in a trade. Again, I have no idea and most likely it’s not even true.
whataputz
9/22/2009-2:58pm at 2:58 pm (UTC -4)
reload..if I have to watch another pointless season I’m gonna cry.
trs86
9/22/2009-3:02pm at 3:02 pm (UTC -4)
Why exactly do you have tears left? Are you not a true fan?
whataputz
9/22/2009-3:05pm at 3:05 pm (UTC -4)
I figure I’ll have the winter to reload…especially if my Jets are for real..please be for real.
stickguy
9/22/2009-5:03pm at 5:03 pm (UTC -4)
don’t worry, there will be a SB team in the meadowlands again this year. They just won’t be wearing green!
Mr North Jersey
9/22/2009-5:17pm at 5:17 pm (UTC -4)
GO GANG GREEN!!!