I read things on the internet that defend the Mets for having a large payroll, and they do – but Paul’s Random Stuff sums up the feelings of many Mets fans…
The Mets released a statement saying “we want to emphasize that the New York Mets will have all the necessary financial and operational resources to fully compete and win. That is our commitment to our fans and to New York.”
I don’t know how to take that statement any more. I am grateful that Fred Wilpon hasn’t instructed Sandy Alderson to start making trades to reduce the team’s payroll, which will come in between $130-$140 million next year.
But thanks to some bad decisions (Ollie Perez, Luis Castillo) and bad luck (Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez, Jason Bay), it’s disingenuous to pretend that we’re going to be looking at a $130 million team on Opening Day.
Do the right thing and check out Paul’s site – he has been crushing lately. I think Randy from The Apple has wrapped up my 2010 Blog of the Year award but Paul will be a strong contender for 2011.
Only Johan is not on the opening day roster as of this moment. Sure, you’re unlikely to get value on the $18 million for Castillo Perez (especially Perez) but no team gets value on invesetment like that. Wright and Reyes will both likely overperform their dollar->performance ratio. As will Pelfrey, Dickey, Niese, Pagan, Davis, etc.
@Shannon – Thanks for linking to my post!
@Ceetar – In the next paragraph after the one the last one Shannon quoted, I acknowledged that Bay, Rodriguez & Beltran are just question marks for Opening Day. But do you really believe that all three will be healthy, all-star caliber players in 2010? I have my doubts, mainly about Bay.
I do believe that, yes. Bay had a concussion..and while his numbers were definitely down (although not as bad as it’s made out to bE) , it wasn’t like I expect that to override his other years. Frankie’s fine, he’s just a reliever anyway, and Beltran, while definitely a question on long-term health, is healthy right now. While anything can happen, he was healthier when the season ended than when it started, and I’d imagine the offseason shouldn’t only continue that path.
I like that the Mets are showing financial restraint, but I also believe any team builds on consistency, and nothing builds consistency better than an Ace pitcher.
SIgn Lee. This is a big NYC team. No excuses.