We’ve got Jose Reyes reaction, and some NBA and a brand new title for the daily blog posting, here goes:
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Like any morning after something major happens people begin reflecting and beginning the phase of rebuildi patching up what’s left. That’s what Met fans are left to do and mostly what Sandy Alderson and co. will be left with as they face a new era minus Jose Reyes. Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the time is right to deal David Wright. Meanwhile John Harper and Andy Martino of the Daily News say that money issues have put Sandy Alderson in a tough position to find results while being limited in what the front office can spend. Ken Davidoff of Newsday wants to cut a deal with Mets management: if the Mets aren’t contending by July, start selling off assets like a rockstar in bankruptcy court. Then there’s Mike Vacarro of the New York Post that asks the question that I’ve been asking Why believe anything the Wilpons are pushing Sandy Alderson to say?
There isn’t a good way to spin this Jose Reyes deal. In fact, Sandy Alderson said ALL the right things because they were the only things to say. In New York, like it or not, the word rebuilding can NOT appear anywhere close to the vicinity of your team otherwise its like a black mark that won’t go away. The Mets have been going down this road for the last few years so it was no surprise that Jose Reyes was sent out with nothing, not even an offer because well, the fact is that the Mets didn’t have the money to give him that offer. You can even say that if this was the plan all along, to just wait for the market to play itself out for Reyes and hope against hope that there wouldn’t be some hard pressed fool willing to give Jose Reyes the Carl Crawford money, it was a stupid plan. In fact, it hurt the franchise more than anything. Sandy Alderson played the market wrong just like the Wilpons have done for so long. And you know what? Not for a minute do I believe Sandy was that dumb.
Last season prior to the trade deadline rumors circulated that the Tampa Bay Rays contacted the Mets about Jose Reyes. They would’ve had to offer them some kind of gravy boat offer, much better than Victor Zambrano for Scott Kazmir anyway, that would’ve netted the Mets something in the vicinity of decent prospects to work with. But the Mets held on because there was some faint hope of a playoff run. Then they got this deal for Carlos Beltran for a top prospect that the front office drooled over and pulled the trigger. The Mets may have never gotten such an offer for Reyes, but you have to believe that the Wilpons put a kibosh on any Reyes trade talk because they hoped the Mets would make a run deep into September that would’ve given them a few extra dollars. You know. To pocket for the long term. Because every single article pertaining to the Wilpon finances are right. The Coupons are facing a cash crunch and moves like allowing your homegrown player to leave without nary a call to check in leave you wondering exactly HOW these guys are even running a New York franchise.
I would appeal to Bud Selig to put an end to this reign but Selig is the Coupon’s biggest enablers. The Coupons have been milking Selig’s favor into interest free loans that by the way they STILL haven’t paid Major League Baseball back on. They have pending litigation in the Madoff trial that will force them to pay some kind of settlement but not in the hundreds of millions that Met fans had hoped that would’ve left them in no other financial position except to sell.
The Mets are a profitable team if run the right way. In fact, if the Coupons sold the franchise today to someone say the reputation of Mark Cuban the gates would be pouring in with new customers and a revived fan base; confident that ridding the Wilpons would be the equivalent of getting a star franchise player. Yesterday I woke up resigned to the fact that Reyes was gone, today I woke up angry. Angry that the franchise I love is run by a bunch of ass clowns that hold on stubbornly to a team they should’ve let go of a few years ago. A whole family of morons who blindly invested in a guy that gave them hand written statements but only when they asked for it because they thought he was good for it. A family of idiots who built a shrine, not for the team they own, but for a team that left 50 years ago and relocated to Los Angeles. That is if the Coupons even recognize the existence of the LA Dodgers.
Somehow baseball ran off Dodgers former owners the McCourts rather quickly citing concerns that he was using moneys gained from the baseball operation to fund his own wild lifestyle. But here the Coupons are, still plowing forward selling us on an impossible dream. Ready? The Mets think that Ike Davis and Johan Santana won’t regress following their surgeries and won’t see any DL time. They believe that Jason Bay and David Wright will hit 25-30 home runs each now that the walls have been brought in closer. They believe that Mike Pelfrey will get better in basically his last chance in a Met uniform. They believe that with $15 million to spend virtually they can fix the bullpen, get two quality back end of rotation starters and then some bench support including back up catcher.
I’m not kidding. That’s the Mets plans. Those are the lofty dreams that the Mets front office is pitching to Met fans. This may be coming from a place of anger. But don’t bother sending me offers to buy packages this season. I’m done. If you win, then I’ll come and partake but don’t bother selling Met fans on something that has NEVER happened. Is there a remote possibility that this all can play out? Sure. But these are the Mets. We know how this story will play out. The Coupons are playing us for fools. I won’t be played. I can’t be. I say after the third inning, Met fans stage a walk out of every single home game. That is, whoever still decides to support the franchise. Nobody believes for a second that whatever team occupies Citi Field next season will have any real hope of doing anything closely resembling productive.
I am in agreement with Sherman and Davidoff. I say start trading guys left and right. Screw it. You’ve given up on the season already. Don’t sell your fans hope that isn’t there. Don’t insult them with talk about optimism that isn’t there. I could understand if this were a team in Wichita, Kansas or Duluth, Mississippi. But it isn’t. This is a New York team. Unfortunately no matter where this franchise would be, I wouldn’t believe the Coupons to lead it.
As NBA free agency sure to heat up, the Knicks are still in on Grant Hill according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Also within that report, Kurt Thomas and the Knicks (namely Assistant GM Allan Houston, his former teammate) talked and the game that was supposed to bring Carmelo back to Denver was not rescheduled within the context of this new 66 game schedule set to be released by today. Nets PG Deron Williams said he would guarantee a contract extension if the Nets were to trade for Dwight Howard according to Stefan Bondy. Zack Lowe of SI writes about how players will test the new CBA in many ways. In Bill Simmons second post to his twelve days of Christmas series of articles, he looks at the list of available free agents and who is destined to be overpaid. Then there’s Adrian Woj’s Yahoo Sports column about two GM’s making a race to trade for Chris Paul AND Dwight Howard. As reported in the Newsday blog Knick Fix, Alan Hahn says the Knicks are undeterred by reports that New Orleans will do no deals with New York because of their lack of assets believing they can pull off a trade to land CP3 and complete the trifecta that CP3 toasted about at Carmelo’s wedding prior to last season. Finally, a story that may interest only me, but the amnesty clause will NOT be used on Brandon Roy, one of my favorite non-Knick players according to Jason Quick of the Oregonian.
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