Mets Mess: Short and Tweet - GM Alderson Hints at Grim 2012

Article first published as Mets Mess: Short and Tweet - GM Alderson Hints at Grim 2012 on Blogcritics.

In a story featured in the New York Post, we learned that Mets GM Sandy Alderson has discovered the joys of Twitter. Unfortunately, this does not equate with any joy for fans of the New York Mets. Of course, at this point, any joy in Metsville seems to be unexpected for the upcoming season.

In the tweet Alderson writes: “Getting ready for Spring Training-Driving to FL but haven’t left yet.” He goes on making things even more dismal. “Big fundraiser tonight for gas money. Also exploring PAC contribution.”

After this was revealed in the Post in all its inglorious splendor, Alderson contacted the newspaper to say he was driving because he had to get his dog to Florida and needed a car while there, but this helped light up the phones on sports talk radio here in New York. The general feeling of the fans calling in was that the first tweet was not meant to be funny as the damage control is trying to spin it. The reasoning is that Alderson has to drive to Florida because with the Mets' financial woes he cannot afford a plane ticket.

This leads to the even bigger fear that the Mets are done before they even get started in 2012. The way it seems is that the team will be back mostly intact, which should send ticket sales at Citi Field down into the black hole that has been created with the Bernie Madoff scandal that is still sucking the life out of the team ownership. We start to get the picture that Fred Wilpon doesn't have two cents to rub together, meaning a dismal 2012 for fans of the New York Mets.

Right now I believe we have to wait and see what takes place, but don't be surprised that the team will be out of contention well before the July trading deadline. Which means get ready to say "Hasta la vista" to David Wright and Mike Pelfrey and whoever else can bring some young players to a team that has no choice but to look toward the future, no matter how many years from now that may be.

As Mr. Potter asked George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (one of my favorite films) "Do I paint a grim picture, or do I exaggerate?" In this case no exaggeration is necessary. It is going to be a grim 2012 for Mets fans and we had better get used to it.

Photo Credit: ESPN.com

Mets Mess: MLB Gave Mets $25 Million Last Year

Article first published as Mets Mess: MLB Gave Mets $25 Million Last Year on Blogcritics.

If the dire situation on the field was not enough for Mets fans, the situation in the executive offices can make them worry even more these days. Today, the New York Daily News is reporting that team owner Fred Wilpon borrowed $25 million big ones from Major League Baseball to help "shore up the team's liquidity." In other words this was a one-time bailout that helped the team get back on its feet.


At the heart of all this is the shadow of Bernie Madoff, Ponzi schemer extraordinaire who bilked many investors, including Wilpon, out of hard earned money. While this may make Mets fans squirm as they hear about this loan (that, by the way, must be paid back), they think about the future of this organization and fear things are quite grim indeed.

Last month Wilpon announced that he was searching for a limited partner to buy a stake in the Mets. It seems everyone from Donald Trump to Justin Bieber has been rumored to be looking to get involved, but what price will be ultimately paid besides money? How will this affect day-to-day operation of the club, and more specifically, what happens on the field?

Right now Mets fans have little if anything to look forward to this season. Johann Santana will probably not pitch until after the All Star break, and with no major trades and returning players who, besides David Wright and Ike Davis, inspire little if any confidence, 2011 is shaping up to be a long wait until next year exercise in more futility.

The only bright side is that perhaps this revelation will lend credence to Wilpon's plea that he too was a victim of Madoff. We will have to see what happens in court in regards to that, but right now we Mets fans might as well settle in for the bumpy ride this season; from all indications things are going to get worse before they get any better in Metsville.


Photo credit: Simmons/Daily News

Mets Mess: Trump Wants to Buy a Stake In Team

Article first published as Mets Mess: Trump Wants to Buy a Stake In Team on Blogcritics.


Donald Trump - the man known for strange hair and the iconic line "You're fired" - has made it known that he would like to buy a piece of the New York Mets. Why, you may ask? To help a friend? Well, yes he and Mets owner Fred Wilpon are chums. Could it be exposure? The Donald likes exposure as much as the south wall of your house. What other reason is motivating Trump to get in on this? My thoughts are that he probably thinks the Wilpons are going down, and who better to be there to pick up the pieces and take on the whole team once Fred and Jeff are gone.

One thing is very certain: if Trump comes on board things will get interesting very quickly. The Wilpons have never been interesting. They don't even register a blip on New York sports pages - except if they are involved with the infamous Bernie Madoff. Living in this town we Mets fan have always had to endure the back page headlines about another sports owner - the late George Steinbrenner (and now his sons). He was always hiring and firing Billy Martin, warning Reggie Jackson (and everyone else from Horace Clarke to Joba Chamberlain), and basically creating for himself a colorful personality that increased the Yankee brand.

Even famed New York Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo couldn't resist creating a recurring cartoon character in Steinbrenner's honor. Mets fans had one too - the oh so lovely Basement Bertha. This figures to be the Mets' fate: the Yankees get a general and we get an overweight woman living in the cellar. That is our lot in this town.

But, oh how things would change with The Donald in charge of the show. Can you imagine the press generated by Trump as he came to games? He would be more exciting than Lady Gaga sitting in the stands in her pajamas. Never one to mince words, there are probably hundreds of different headlines just ready to burst out of his mouth over the course of the season. Trump's presence in the owner's box would be an event, would help ticket sales, and most certainly bolster sagging TV ratings.

Heck, I even propose if The Donald is in that the Mets TV channel (SNY) create a new series - Donald Trump's NY Mets Apprentice. This would be a fabulous weekly series where players had to work for the Donald - on and off the field. Wouldn't it be worth it just to see the Donald sitting across the table from Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez saying, "You're fired!"

As a Mets fan, I am totally behind Trump buying into the Mets. I think lots of fans would agree with me. So come on, Fred Wilpon. Take the Donald's call and lets get the ball rolling. It might not save this season, but it certainly will make for a hilarious time, and we Mets fans need a reason to laugh right now.

Photo Credits:



Donald Trump - celebritysmackblog


Basement Bertha - NY Daily News

NY Mets & Madoff Mess: Wilpons Considers Selling a Stake in the Club

First published in Blogcritics

NY Mets & Madoff Mess: Wilpons Are Selling More Than a Stake in the Club

The long reach of ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff included Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets. The numbers here are insignificant because they are so astronomical, but let's suffice it to say that Wilpon's former pal is still affecting the man and the team he owns. Those bilked out of their savings are seeking to get assets from Wilpon because he invested money with Madoff and actually made a profit. Can he still be considered a victim? Apparently not by those injured parties who seek justice anywhere they can get it.

Now it is reported that Wilpon is considering selling up to a quarter stake in the team. This is because of the lawsuits that could come from Madoff's victims (most of whom did not make money with Madoff the way Wilpon did). There are lots of people interested in buying into the Mets, but therein lies the biggest problem. Up to this point the Mets have been owned exclusively by the Wilpons (since 2002). Not even the Steinbrenner family can say that about the Yankees (they own less than 50% of the team).

Some Mets fans might argue that the Wilpons haven't done such a great job lately, so maybe some new blood is needed. They could argue that the Steinbrenners built a winner with lots of other fingers in the pie, but we also know that old George (and now his sons) controlled that team anyway. So maybe we Mets fans shouldn't worry all that much.

Still, I am worried because Wilpon has deep Mets roots: they go all the way down and curl around the carcass of Ebbetts Field. Wilpon is a dear friend of Sandy Koufax, the Dodger pitching legend. The Brooklyn Dodger's blue blood and the New York Giant's orange blood were the transfusion that gave life to the Mets, a hodgepodge team that was the Frankenstein monster of baseball for a while. Still, despite the sewn up parts of other teams that made up the limbs of that early franchise, those fans came along and stayed loyal - most of them all these years.

So in essence Wilpon is the keeper of the flame. He's the gotta in "You gotta believe!" He's the go in "Let's Go Mets." We know what we get with him, even if it is not an awful lot at times, and we know he loves the team as much as we do (when we're not hating them too).

What is at stake here is not just selling off a piece of the pie, but the legacy of this franchise. If some "investors" come in and buy up a quarter of the team, what's that going to do to the Mets? What will happen could be something most of us dread: they might become something like those arch enemies across the river, and don't go thinking that will be a good thing.

I think the worst fear of a Mets fan is not the Yankees beating the Mets so much as the Mets becoming like the Yankees. I don't mean in terms of winning; I mean in everything else. We don't want that corporate nightmare where winning at all costs means people-very good people-like Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and many others get pushed out the door like damaged goods. Hey, that's like Popeye becoming Bluto, or Batman becoming the Joker. Mets fans would never stand for that.

So my idea is that we, the fans, should start putting money up to buy that quarter of a stake. I've got my twenty-five dollars ready to throw in the pot. Anyone else in?