#Moneyball, #FireSandyAlderson, #Mets. The 3 hashtags on Twitter that have made me absolutely furious the past 36 hours.
Now, like most Mets fans on Twitter, we know who petals 2 of those at nausium. But it wasn’t that person specifically who’s driven me nuts. It’s the other Mets fans who have just thrown babble out there that is crazy talk.
Like most fans, I speak my mind (@ttlsportsblog) and it’s usually a knee-jerk reaction to what has just happened on the field or from the front office. Granted its mostly a sarcasm laden, 140 character or less, sometimes profanity laced, tirade. But not today.
When I look at my Twitter timeline, I can pretty much decipher the fans who “get it” from those who just spew anything that comes to mind.
What Mets fans have to do is just come to grips with the current situation. I know that’s going to be tough, but what Sandy says is right. In order to sustain a winning team, you must be able to have a revenue stream that allows you to add pieces when you need to. The Mets lost $70 million last year. $70 Million!!!!! So if that means not spending $106 million over 6 years for Jose Reyes, that’s what he needs to do. Basic economics tell you that if you spend more money than revenue you generate, your business cannot operate.
So while a team like the Marlins, who are under SEC investigation http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/02/2529191/feds-open-sec-probe-into-miami.html for the financials surrounding their new stadium, is spending money like the Yankees, the Mets are sitting in a financial downward spiral that may not end for years.
So what is a GM to do? Fix the problem. That’s what he’s paid to do. No matter what the ownership tells the public (which seems to have been nothing but lies), his job is to set the team up for years to come. Not just the current season.
I pose this question to all Mets fans. Other than Mike Piazza, what long-term contract that the Mets have given out in the last 15 years, has “worked out”? Let’s have a little hashtag fun with those contracts.
Perdro? #AyePapi
Bobby Bo? #CompoundingInterest
Ollie Perez? #@*&=¥!!!!!
Louie Castillo? #Vomit #BadKnees
Jason Bay? #JasonBayMicrowavesKittens
Tom Glavine? #IHateYou
Carlos Beltran? #BlameBeltran
Johan Santana? #RotatorCuff
K-Rod? #VestingOption
Kevin Appier? #MoVaughnAteMe
Cliff Floyd? #AnyoneHaveASpareKnee?
Kaz Matsui? #JoseAtSecond
Mike Cameron? #HaveYouFoundMyCheekBone?
Scott Schoenwiess? #Meatball
I can think of 3 contracts that have worked out. Wright, Reyes, Wagner. Granted they all had their ups and downs, but over the total length of the contract, they performed to expectation. Sure, Wagner had a bad post- season in ’06, Citi Field is in Wright’s head (along with a Matt Cain fastball), and Jose’s hammys were a bit of a problem. But they all got paid and performed to their contracts.
Now that that’s out of the way, Sandy stated in an interview on WFAN the other night that the less multi-year contracts that we have, the better we can manage finances.
So here Mets fans. Please take a look at Cot’s Baseball Contracts. This is a great site that breaks down contracts on every team. https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tfJWfaPG4VXbDyBscIZf1MQ&output=html
I encourage you to look at 2014. That’s 2 seasons from now. There’s $8.5mil on the payroll. That’s it. And those are the possible buyouts on Santana and Bay.
For the 2014 season this could be (and with a bit of wishful thinking) the Mets starting lineup and salaries.
C. Free Agent
1B. Ike Davis – Arbitration year 2
2B. Daniel Murphy – Arbitation year 2
SS. Ruben Tejada – Arbitration year 1
3B. David Wright – Resigned 5yrs/$90mil ($18 mil)
RF. Lucas Duda – Arbitration year 1
CF. Kirk Nieuwenhius – $500k?
LF. Matt Den Dekker / Corey Vaughn $500k?
Bench: Jordany Valdespin, Reese Havens, Justin Turner
SP. Matt Harvey – Rookie Contract
SP. Jon Niese – Arbitration year 2
SP. Zach Wheeler – Rookie Contract
SP. Jeurys Familia – Rookie Contract
SP. Dillon Gee – Arbitration year 1
SP. R.A. Dickey – You never know? Could be Wakefield
CL. Jenry Mejia – Rookie Contract
RP. Bobby Parnell – Arbitration year 3
RP. Pedro Beato – Arbitration year 1
RP. Daniel Herrera – Arbitration year 1
Just think about this for a moment. The Mets have the best farm system they have had since the early 80′s. I’m not saying that all these kids are going to pan out, but if even 4 of them do, that would be incredible. With all the young players and hopefully the Madoff mess in the rear-view mirror, 2014 should be a great start to the “New Mets”.
Other than the Yankees, this is the way you need to build a team. You need solid young contributing players, especially pitchers, who are under team control. Teams will ALWAYS overpay for young arms. Hopefully the Mets will have one of those and will be able to use one to aquire a superstar player when needed.
Sandy and Co. have a plan. Just because they haven’t sent you an Email via the “Flushing Flash” doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Frank Francisco and John Rauch are middle of the road relievers that sadly enough, are big upgrades in the pen. Ramon Ramirez is a solid setup guy (who by the way, was that one who drilled Shane Victorino this year that sparked the massive brawl), and Andres Torres is supposedly a great defender and clubhouse guy. From what I have read recently, Angel Pagan has become a poison in the clubhouse and had a terrible attitude. So you know what? Good. See-ya Angel. No one was looking to pay his arbitration salary that would have been probably just over $5 million.
Stay patient Mets fans. Just because Jose Reyes isn’t here, doesn’t mean there’s no one steering the ship. Jose Reyes isn’t Tom Seaver. Things will get better. Ya Gotta Believe the will.
