This video is from 2009 and will take you to Fox, please come back after watching.
Maybe I’m projecting my own feelings on to the world but I’m pretty sure that none of us has any idea what we’re talking about when it comes to the latest Wilpon news. So here’s my opinon.
We hear “Wilpons selling!” and we react several ways…
We assume that control of the team instantaneously changes. As Lupica (and MetsBlog and several people who tweeted me @metspolice) points out, “The Steinbrenners” only own about a third of the Yankees, yet somehow they are not considered to be buffoons, crooks, not wanting to win or not in control.
Immediately we’re bringing in the Dolans and Mark Cuban. Yes I did it too. This is based upon what exactly? Idle minds. And what makes you think “Mark Cuban” would be better than “Shannon Shark” running the team. Sure my wonership will have nice uniforms and Old Timers’ Day but then what? Does Cuban commenting on umpires make the team better? The Mavericks have been to the finals once by the way..in 2006. And lost. (I personally find Cuban very entertaining.)
I don’t really know anything about owning a team. I have some ideas about marketing a team, and like most of you I think I could manage 9 innings especially if I had a pitching coach sitting next to me (and maybe Mookie or someone who knows the signs, and maybe someone who studied the opposition – but dang it, I’d know when to take Ollie out!)
If you understand this next section (via Bloomberg) after reading it just once you are smarter than I am:
After yesterday’s announcement, $30,000 of the 5 percent bonds due in January 2046 and backed by Queens Ballpark Co. LLC traded at lower prices than earlier this week.
The average price in three trades of $10,000 each was 70.95 to yield 7.31 percent, compared with a price of 103.5 to yield 4.57 percent when the bonds sold in August 2006. As recently as Jan. 26, the bonds traded among securities firms at 75.56 to yield 6.85 percent.
Got that? Understand the Wilpons finances better?
…
This video of Dave Howard on Fox News in 2009 is a must-watch again. Let’s remember that the situation may have changed since then (for example a billion dollar lawsuit on the horizon) or that Mr. Howard may not have been privy to his owner’s bank statements.
And while you’re feeling all rosy, here’s Bob Klapisch to scare you:
Trouble is, there’s no timetable here, no sense from the Mets how quickly they’ll need the bailout. It’s hard to trust anything Fred and Jeff Wilpon say anymore, which doesn’t bode for fans who are hoping to see Jose Reyes re-signed before free agency.
Another fun day in Flushing. Hopefully back to Piazza and quirky stuff tomorrow, although the way the Sunday papers work don’t count on it.
Except in an extreme worse-case scenario, which seems unlikely, thi doesn’t really affect us one way or another from what I can tell.
The only thing I know about Klapisch is that it’s pretty hard to trust anything he says.
Klapisch, Wally Matthews, Bill Madden, these are three of the biggest writers on the Yankees payroll, believe nothing they say when it comes to the Mets. They might be right, but that is the exception rather than the rule. They are anti-Mets, and hate the team, and will say anything that will paint the team in a negative light. Whether it was true or not.
I’m the first to admit that I don’t understand high finance. I wish we were talking about actual baseball instead of off-field issues.
The obscure passage on bond prices doesn’t really mean anything. They’re illiquid muni bonds trading in tiny size during a general panic in that market. It has nothing to do with the Wilpon/Madoff drama.