Adam S. Wolf

So, apparently on April 20, 2011 Fred Wilpon, CEO and Principal Owner of my beloved NY Mets was interviewed by Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker (link). In that story, Fred threw his team and many players (by name) under the bus.

Now granted, on April 20, the Mets lost and their record was 5-13. I can MORE THAN understand his frustration. Heck I’M frustrated and I’m ‘only a fan’ – Freddy writes the checks.

Here’s what was wrong about what he said – ASIDE from calling out individual players.

Now, remember, Mr. George M. Steinbrenner III did this for years. Just a couple of examples: he called his most expensive (at the time) player (Dave Winfield) “Mr. May”; he called a pitcher they were paying a lot of money to (Hideki Irabu) a “fat toad”; he told Derek Jeter he was partying too much (and then made a Visa commercial to mock it!)

Difference?? There are a couple:

1) George would do it to the press directly and the story would be in the paper the next day. Fred told it to a magazine writer and the story doesn’t come out for almost a month. Since then the Mets have played “OK” and are just below .500 – yes I know that’s not good enough, but it beats the hell out of .278 (which is where they were at 5-13).  If you’re trying to light a fire under your team, having the story come out 4 weeks later isn’t the way to do it.

2) George would do it fairly regularly. In the 30+ years Fred has owned/part-owned the Mets he has NEVER done it. It’s out of character.

3) Fred knew the story was coming and didn’t go to the players to at least warn them about it.

Yes, Fred was wrong. Yes, Fred is under a lot of pressure. Yes, this team IS better than a .278 team (but, they’re not much better than a .500 team), and Yes, I understand his frustration. But if you’re going to call them out, do it the right way – even Hank and Hal have realized they are not their father – notice how quiet they’ve become in the past couple of years.

So Fred, we forgive you. Apologize to your player and explain the frustration. BUT, please also look for a competent new owner. I think it may be time to go.

Moyer plans elbow surgery but not retirement

The story (link here) is basically that Jamie Moyer (age 48) will have elbow surgery but is NOT retiring from MLB and plans to pitch in 2012.

Why do I love this story? Because when Jamie Moyer does retire, I will then be older than every MLB player. Jamie is my last shot, my one single thread to the fact that there are (well, IS) a MLB player older than me. Once that’s gone, I feel I will truly never play in the majors (yes, I know I’m slightly delusional.)

So, G-dspeed Jamie on your surgery and I hope to see you on the mound in 2012!!!!

Listen up. I’m already tired of reading the “Mets will listen to offers on X” (insert ANY player here) bull. OF COURSE they’re going to listen to offers on ANYONE. AND, it doesn’t matter if their record is 79-83 or 162-0.  You HAVE to listen to any offer. Look, I love certain guys on this team and don’t want to see someone like Wright get traded, but if the Cardinals (for example) are offering Pujols, Wainwright, Carpenter and their top 5 prospects, D Wright is a Cardinal.

Now, I’m not saying that the Cards (or anyone else) are offering 3 top players AND 5 prospects, but if Mike Lynn was dumb enough to trade his entire draft (which was 5 players AND EIGHT draft picks for Herschel Walker and 4 middle round picks) then someone COULD do the same.

So, please – the Mets will listen to ANY offer and I now have some faith in the front office to decline the bad ones. But if someone calls and asks about Reyes, Wright, Ike Davis, Beltran or anyone else they’re not going to slam the phone down – not without listening first.

Listen folks, you need to understand a few things.

1) This (the Mets) as is, are not acceptable in this market. But they aren’t THAT bad. They aren’t the Cubs who are 20+ games under .500 and haven’t won a WS in 100+ years. They aren’t the Pirates who haven’t sniffed .500 in 18 years. This is a franchise who was in the WS this century and has been competitive almost every year since. Yes, it’s not acceptable the way they are now but it’s not tragic.

2) 1 or 2 players will not fix this. I’m hearing all this BS about trading Wright and/or Reyes and/or Santana, etc. You have a better shortstop? a better 3B? a better SP? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

3) People are mixing up the things that are ‘wrong’ with the Mets. There are numerous things, but some need to be seperated out. The fact that they are the only team that does not offer their “plan” holders any discount, or the fact that I’ve been a ‘plan’ holder since 1985 and the best row in my section that they will offer me is 13 (out of 17) or things like this are DIFFERENT than what’s wrong on the field or in the ‘front office’. BTW, these things NEED to be fixed and I think the Mets need a new Marketing/Fan dept – but that’s another rant.

4) Why did the Mets win in 1986? Remember where they were in 1980 when Wilpon/Doubleday bought the team:

1977: 63-99, 1978: 66-96 , 1979: 63-99, 1980: 67-95

81=strike year

1982: 65-97, 1983: 68-94, 1984: 90-72

Why the turnaround? Yes the new owners spent money that DeRoulet would NEVER do, but they did 1 VERY important thing: They hired  a ‘baseball’ guy to run the show. Frank Cashen ‘fixed’ this team. Period. End of Sentence.
Jeff Wilpon may be a nice guy (maybe), he may be a ‘former Minor League catcher’. He may know business. BUT THEY NEED TO GET A GM AND LEAVE HIM ALONE! Set a budget (whatever it is), and enjoy the games from the box.

This team does NOT need to be gutted. I can even live with Frenchy and a .250/15/65 season IF you get production from somewhere else (ie: Dan Uggla at 2nd). I’d say 80% of the pieces (players) are here. You CAN win a WS with Wright and Reyes. To make a trade for the sake of making it, or for the sake of shaking up the team is foolish at best. Get new players (at any position) when they make your team better. Keep an eye on what you have and move quickly if you feel they are better (read: why was Ike Davis in AAA in April and why was GMJr on this team at all?) Keep some $$ in reserve for a push when you need it. Be flexible.

The 2010 Mets aren’t a playoff team (most likely) and when you play in NY and spend their budget dollars they should be, need to be and must be. BUT trading players and getting rid of front office people just for the sake of change isn’t the answer. This ain’t 1979. They’re not 63-99. Let’s all come in off the ledge.

-a