“He did pause, though to say that his son, Jeff , the Mets chief operating officer, is doing a “excellent” job, and seemed to back Omar Minaya by responding to a question about the general manager.”
- Fred Wilpon as per Daily News sportswriter, Matt Ehalt.
First off let me preface it by saying that I am only going by the perception that the media paints Jeff Wilpon. I do not know Jeff Wilpon personally, so I do not know what goes through his mind and how he approaches the way he helps to run the Mets day to day operations.
That being said, I have to ask what I think is a simple question. Should the child of a corporate magnet be made the C.O.O of his parents business? I honestly think that the answer is no, especially when it comes to the New York Mets. First and foremost I have to say that the reporter that asked Fred that question must have had his head up his ass. What father in his right mind would say to reporter – ” No I think my son has done a piss poor job of running the crown jewel of my empire?
The reporter asked a valid question, but to the wrong person. I do believe that Jeff is a self made man, who worked his way through the ranks of Sterling Equities to be where he is. The problem is that in my opinion, Jeff has no accountability in the eyes of his father. I mean what father wants to admit that his son ( who was groomed for the position) is not making the best decisions for his company? Can or will Fred relieve Jeff from his duties if the Mets end up in a situation in where the Mets hit true rock bottom like they did during that six year stretch from ’77- ’83? And this doesn’t just hold true with the Mets. Look at James Dolan with MSG, or Peter Angelos’s sons down in Baltimore – they have driven once respectable franchises ( Orioles, New York Rangers, New York Knicks) into deep abysses that they have yet to climb out of.
I hate to say this but the Yankees got this right also. Although Hank and Hal Steinbrenner do have a say in the day to day goings on while their father George was still alive, C.O.O Lonn Trost and team president , Randy Levine along with general manager, Brian Cashman, are the ones that ultimately are the ones in charge. We know that neither Trost, Levine nor Cashman would think twice about ridding the contracts of either Olivier ” The Sultan Of Suckitude” Perez or Luis ” Slappy” Castillo.
Look I have no vendetta against Jeff Wilpon, he does alot to help the less fortunate of New York, but with that being said I feel that if the Mets will ever gain a credibility again. Jeff will have to move into a hands off role, and he along with Fred must hire a expirenced baseball man who can right this ship, because lets face it folks if the Mets come back from this road-trip at 2-4 or worse – it’s going to be very quiet come mid August in Flushing. And Jeff Wilpon along with his father Fred should shoulder alot of the blame.
Â
                                                                                                
                     ” You are a good man Jeff – I just don’t believe you should be running the Mets .”
Â
And with that said…. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
Today would have been original Mets middle reliever, Clem Labine’s 84th birthday (1926) .
It would also have been original Mets pitcher, Herb Moford’s 82nd birthday (1928) .
One of the most hated mets of the past decade, pitcher, Victor” Fixed In Fifteen Minutes” Zambrano is 35 (1975) .
Sadly on this date in 1993, original Mets pitcher, Bob Miller passed away.
New York Mets purchased pitcher,Ralph Terry from the Kansas City Athletics on August 6, 1966.
New York Mets traded minor league infielder, Greg Veloz to the Washington Nationals for back up shortstop, Anderson Hernandez on August 6, 2009. Lets face it, Anderson replacing the injured Jose Reyes was like putting a band aid on a severed arm – it wont stop the bleeding !!!
And last night after the Brooklyn Cyclones game, Mo Vaughn got into a fist-fight with former MLB star , Greg Vaughn when Mo claimed that Greg’s son, Corey was in fact his child !
39 comments
stickguy
8/6/2010-11:44am at 11:44 am (UTC -4)
as you noted, it is a risky thing to put the kids in charge. You really need to go out of the way to make sure they are even more qualified than an outsider. It is understandable why it is done, but many businesses have been run into the ground this way.
for baseball, the yanks are probably a good analogy.
what I think is key is having the owner/jeffy focus on the business side of the equation (tickets sales, stadium, real estate, promotions, etc.). And have a “professional” baseball guy in charge of all the talent and on field/operations side of the house. So no meddling in player decisions.
set the budget, and let the pros run that part of the business.
Kingman 26
8/6/2010-11:49am at 11:49 am (UTC -4)
Set the budget at $220 million, and let the pros run it!
Kingman 26
8/6/2010-11:48am at 11:48 am (UTC -4)
I truly hate to do this my friend, but I must make a correction here—the all-Vaughn fistfight was not over the issue you cite, it happened when they entered the clubhouse after the game and discovered that there was only one rib roast left! PS–Mo won, stuck a fork in it, and ate it like an ice cream bar.
Good and rather scary points about the Dolans and Angeloses. But whetever the Steinbrenner kids are doing, after they missed the playoffs in 2008, they all just decided to spend 50 million more than the next highest spender. That’s why they’re winning.
I’d love to see the Yanks, Sox, Twins, Rays, Rangers, and Angels with equal payrolls. We’d see how many playoffs the Yanks would miss then!
rustyjr
8/6/2010-11:56am at 11:56 am (UTC -4)
Damn my faulty sources !
gategem
8/6/2010-12:16pm at 12:16 pm (UTC -4)
You make it sound as if the Yankees just pulled the money out of their rear and spent it. The Yankees can afford to spend it because they have an insane revenue stream and they have that incoming revenue because they win in NY. It’s called the economics of winning and it works in NY. There are some venues where that approach will not bring success. These teams desperately need a salary cap to compete but the union will not allow that to take place. But it works for the Yankees and they put that revenue back into the team to give the fans a successful product and the fans respond by attending games and buying Yankees merchandise, etc.
BTW I was there when the Yankees had bad teams and the people did not come to the Stadium.
rustyjr
8/6/2010-12:20pm at 12:20 pm (UTC -4)
Was that adressed towards me? I was just contrasting a team that does have a sibling that is in charge as opposed to a team that doesn’t
gategem
8/6/2010-12:26pm at 12:26 pm (UTC -4)
No it was in response to Kongs statement that the Yankees “just decided to spend 50 million more than the next highest spender.â€
Your statement about the kids running (or ruining) the franchise made me recall a statement to the effect that these kids are there by virtue of their father’s sperm I also recall someone saying (again I paraphrase) that these kids started the inning already standing on third base.
Kingman 26
8/6/2010-1:04pm at 1:04 pm (UTC -4)
Someone in MSG called the Dolan kid “triple” because they said “he was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.”
Kingman 26
8/6/2010-1:03pm at 1:03 pm (UTC -4)
The NFL has something called a “salary cap.” The NFL has champs from cities like Green Bay and New Orleans and Indianapolis and Tampa Bay and Baltimore and Pittsburgh; and they mostly KEEP their stars.
With the exception of the 2003 Marlins, for the last 15 years only top spenders have won in baseball.
The Yankees, if they win again, will have continued to make a total sham of baseball, as they now spend about $220 mil to the $160 mil spent by the next spender, and the $70–$150 mil spent by just about everyone else.
I don’t make it sound like they pulled it out of their rear, I just think pro sports is a unique cooperative environment, which the NFL and NBA and its owners understand. It’s not like car or sneaker companies, where one might do a lot better if another is weak and goes out of business.
“The economics of winning” exists in the NFL too–but the way they wisely share the spoils is among the many reasons the NFL is much more popular than baseball. The true competition fostered there makes the sport much more interesting and popular.
In the NFL, you actually have to make good decisions. The Yanks don’t. They can throw away tens of millions on Granderson (and maybe Burnett) and just spend more. That’s ridiculous.
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-1:27pm at 1:27 pm (UTC -4)
Pittsburg routinely lets stars go cause it can’t afford them. See, Randel El, Burress, Faneca, a myriad of defensive players. Just saying.
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-1:53pm at 1:53 pm (UTC -4)
That, and they have good owners.
But agreed that if you have money to burn, it’s easier to take risks on players and not feel the sting if they don’t pan out.
Kingman 26
8/6/2010-1:56pm at 1:56 pm (UTC -4)
And they continue to keep lots of them too and stay competitive.
Note how the Pittsburgh NFL and NHL teams have a handful of titles in the last 20 years.
The Pirates’ last winning season was 1992, and since they let Bonds, Bonilla, and Drabek go, they have been horrid forever.
Pittsburgh as a city is perhaps the single best example of what I am saying above.
gategem
8/7/2010-12:00am at 12:00 am (UTC -4)
Baseball has the strongest union in pro sports and the union will not allow the implementation of a salary cap and will not allow the inclusion of a salary cap in the CBA. Thus there are teams playing in markets where even if they win with skilful baseball and business people will not develop a revenue stream that a team playing in NY will enjoy. So what would you ask the Yankees to do? Would you ask them not to reinvest their profit into the team thus keeping the playing field level? I can tell you that such actions would not go over well with their fan base and the union and their sources of revenue would diminish. The Yankees would be foolhardy to do so. The Yankees play within the rules. The problem is a league problem not a Yankees problem.
The other leagues were able to include a salary cap because the unions are weak (the Hockey and Football strikes failed) and if it were not for the salary cap those sports would gravitate to the ways of baseball. As it were look at what Miami was still able to accomplish in the NBA.
GravediggerHebner
8/6/2010-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
Unfortunately I can’t recall where I read/heard this so I can’t source it right now but I read/heard recently that the Mets are not run “to make money” they are run “to break even.” So assuming that’s true for the sake of discussion then maybe Fred is pleased with Jeff because under him the team has been breaking even?
ceetar
8/6/2010-12:15pm at 12:15 pm (UTC -4)
I remember reading that too, that they budget to break even and playoffs would be basically pure profit.
That seems to fit too closely with trying to win for most fans though.
Maybe he wasn’t set up to rip his son in UCONN, or maybe he _is_ doing a good job and someone else is the problem.
rustyjr
8/6/2010-12:21pm at 12:21 pm (UTC -4)
Steve Phillips said it grave
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-12:25pm at 12:25 pm (UTC -4)
Then it must be so!
GravediggerHebner
8/6/2010-12:27pm at 12:27 pm (UTC -4)
I think it’s open to interpretation. I can see some thinking of the break even strategy as “trying to win” because by winning you then reap your profit, but
I can also see some thinking of the break even strategy as “trying to break even” and being more concerned with not losing money than with winning.
An alternative would be spending more as a risk/reward geared toward winning while acknowledging it might not work out and then you’d lose money. The break even strategy could easily be labeled the “I don’t want to lose money” strategy.
gategem
8/6/2010-12:34pm at 12:34 pm (UTC -4)
The Yankees were lucky and have reaped the rewards of Steinbrenner’s temporary banishment from the game. Stick Michaels and company built the foundation of the present team the traditional way and when Steinbrenner returned he kept the successful cycle in motion by reinvesting the additional revenues generated by the winning back into the team to keep them winning.
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-12:36pm at 12:36 pm (UTC -4)
it pretty much flys in the face of “we’re mega rich and we got there by our breaking even strategy”. Maybe if your biggest concern is what to do with that extra 100 million sitting in your swiss account, then breaking even may be something you are apt to do, but to me that premise goes against everything that they did to make all the money they had in the first place. Then again, breaking even, making the overall portfolio/value of the Mets/SNY grow and then selling it (AKA, the real estate method) might be what is in mind. Not saying they are planning on selling, but one never knows. Other than the Shadow, of course.
GravediggerHebner
8/6/2010-12:43pm at 12:43 pm (UTC -4)
Totally unrelated but I found it interesting and worth passing on.
Toby Hyde notes that Capt. Kirk will not, based on service time, have to be protected from the rule 5 draft on the 40 man roster this off season. So, Toby says, if the Mets give Capt. Kirk a September call up, thus putting him on the 40 man roster before they are obligated to, it would indicate that he is in the 2011 major league plans.
That should be interesting to watch.
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-12:46pm at 12:46 pm (UTC -4)
What is the current 40 man roster comprised of? IE, who’s on it now and are there any open slots?
GravediggerHebner
8/6/2010-1:29pm at 1:29 pm (UTC -4)
I’m never 100% confident in the accuracy of it (it is often slow to update after changes) but my only source for that is mets.com and it says the roster is full, actually over-full because 42 names appear.
2 of them are on the 60 day DL though so they don’t count against it and I doubt either player will ever be activated to displace someone currently on it cuz methinks Fernando Tatis and Kelvim Escobar’s careers are over.
If you are not blocked you can look at it here.
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-1:34pm at 1:34 pm (UTC -4)
Figuring Maine, Green, Tatis, Excobar and possibly Francouer would come off that (assuming nontender to Frenchy) they’ll have spots, but no sense wasting a 40 man spot if not necessary, right?
GravediggerHebner
8/6/2010-1:48pm at 1:48 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed. It depends on how many minor leaguers will have enough service time after the regular season ends to be eligible for the rule 5 draft and thus need to be protected on the 40 man to avoid their being drafted.
Capt. Kirk won’t have reached that point as Toby Hyde notes so the only non-stupid reason to call him up this September would be the organization considering him a viable candidate to be a member of the 2011 NY Mets.
metsfan4decades
8/6/2010-1:03pm at 1:03 pm (UTC -4)
Hard for me to relate…and I won’t pretend to know the inner workings of some muli million dollar corporation(s) but….
I think this probably has to be considered on a case by case basis.
If reports are to be believed George Steinbrenner joined the family business with that shipping company. I don’t think his father owned it outright but it was a family business. It had been moderately successful but had been struggling. He worked hard to turn it around and then purchased the company from his family. From there he parlayed that into a multi million dollar corporation that eventually included the NY Yankees. His father was dead set against him getting involved with the sporting industry.
In this respect, I guess you’d have to say the son was far more ambitious and maybe thereby more successful than the father.
metsfan4decades
8/6/2010-1:33pm at 1:33 pm (UTC -4)
O.K. if the Knicks/Dolan can bring Issiah Thomas back into the fold as a ‘consultant’, then just goes to show you that owners are loath to eat contracts even if the ‘employee’ is so obviously under performing in whatever role they were hired to perform.
I don’t follow basketball at all but even I know from just listening to sports news that Thomas was a failure as a GM, executive, talent evaluator, whatever….but they’re paying him so they want to get something out of that money.
Oh boy…hope Wilpons are not paying attention…..
rustyjr
8/6/2010-1:36pm at 1:36 pm (UTC -4)
See – I rest my case!
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-1:38pm at 1:38 pm (UTC -4)
They kind of are, with Ollie.
metsfan4decades
8/6/2010-1:44pm at 1:44 pm (UTC -4)
Well..we all know Jerry won’t be back after the season.
And what’s the big difference between Jerry and Ollie? That $36MIL/3 year contract.
I’m starting to wonder if Jerry had another year left on his contract, even for some paltry sum, if they roll the dice with him another year…..
fongy2
8/6/2010-1:56pm at 1:56 pm (UTC -4)
Rustoleum, You left out the single
most important and infamous thing
that happened on THIS DATE(August 6th)
in New York Mets history!………….
In 1965 a Baby Boy was born to Italian
and Croatian immigrants in Hells Kitchen,NYC,NY…He would go on about
7 yrs later to become a Met fan and as
a result would incur great hardships
including daily mocking by school mates, friends and even most of his
family who were all Yankee fans.
He would go on to see some of the worst baseball ever played during
what has become know as “The Dark Days”…That stretch b/t the mid 70s
and mid 80s. It was during this time though that his loyalty was cemented
with inexpensive weekly trips to Shea
Stadium. That loyalty was rewarded during the teams great run of the mid
to late 80s which included a Worlds Championship in 1986! Since then it’s
been a series of ups and downs for
both The Mets and the Die-hard who
has become known by bloggers as
FongulAlou…Or simply Fongy!
But life is indeed good AND some day
hopefully before another 24 Birthday’s
pass, I’ll get to celebrate another
Championship!!!
rustyjr
8/6/2010-2:04pm at 2:04 pm (UTC -4)
Happy b-day fongmeister general
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-2:05pm at 2:05 pm (UTC -4)
The site & world wouldn’t be the same without your snarky-ness. Happy Birthday.
fongy2
8/6/2010-2:07pm at 2:07 pm (UTC -4)
True Dat!
Mr North Jersey
8/6/2010-3:02pm at 3:02 pm (UTC -4)
Happy Fongy Day!
GravediggerHebner
8/6/2010-3:39pm at 3:39 pm (UTC -4)
Italian and Croatian. Mystery unraveled.
To my surprise google translate says “Happy Birthday” in Italian is “Happy Birthday” (perhaps a glitch in the system?) So all I’ve got is the Croatian:
Sretan rođendan
njstuckintx
8/6/2010-3:48pm at 3:48 pm (UTC -4)
It actually translates into Happy Birthday, but with hand guestures. Alright, back to work. This being Friday and the call of the pabst blue ribbon being loud, it is increasing my TRDMB time and reducing productivity at work. TGIF.
metsfan4decades
8/6/2010-4:05pm at 4:05 pm (UTC -4)
Oh, Happy Birthday, Fongy. Enjoy.
1965? There goes my hope that maybe I wasn’t the oldest poster that frequents TRDMB…..
gategem
8/7/2010-12:05am at 12:05 am (UTC -4)
You’re not the oldest. I am. You’re just a young whippersnapper. LOL