The article is very long (I suggest you read it anyway) and it mostly focuses on the Wilpons association with Bernie Madoff.
There's some interesting backstory in there: the Wilpons and Madoffs first got together when Jeff Wilpon met Mark Madoff at Roslyn High School.
The story doesn't really shed new light on whether Wilpon knew that Madoff was a fraud. But it does raise a pretty good refutation: if Wilpon did know the nature of the scam (a Ponzi scheme) why did he keep $550m of paper money in his Madoff accounts?
I think it's more likely the Wilpons suspected he was doing something illegal or questionable (insider trading maybe) and chose to look the other way. I doubt they would have thought a Ponzi Scheme of this magntitude could have lasted this long.
Barring all that, here's the part of the article that has everyone talking:
"In the game against the Astros, Jose Reyes, leading off for the Mets, singled sharply up the middle, then stole second. “He’s a racehorse,” Wilpon said. When Reyes started with the Mets, in 2003, just before his twentieth birthday, he was pegged as a future star. Injuries have limited him to a more pedestrian career, though he’s off to a good start this season. “He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money,” Wilpon said, referring to the Red Sox’ signing of the former Tampa Bay player to a seven-year, $142-million contract. “He’s had everything wrong with him,” Wilpon said of Reyes. “He won’t get it.”
After the catcher, Josh Thole, struck out, David Wright came to the plate. Wright, the team’s marquee attraction, has started the season dreadfully at the plate. “He’s pressing,” Wilpon said. “A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar.”
Wright walked.
When Carlos Beltran came up, I mentioned his prodigious post-season with the Astros in 2004, when he hit eight home runs, just before he went to the Mets as a free agent. Wilpon laughed, not happily. “We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series,” he said, referring to himself. In the course of playing out his seven-year, $119-million contract with the Mets, Beltran, too, has been hobbled by injuries. “He’s sixty-five to seventy per cent of what he was.” Beltran singled, loading the bases with one out.
Ike Davis, the sophomore first baseman and the one pleasant surprise for the Mets so far this season, was up next. “Good hitter,” Wilpon said. “Shitty team—good hitter.” Davis struck out. Angel Pagan flied out to right, ending the Mets’ threat. “Lousy clubs—that’s what happens.” Wilpon sighed. The Astros put three runs on the board in the top of the second.
“We’re snakebitten, baby,” Wilpon said."
Let's take all the claims separately:
Jose Reyes is not going to get Carl Crawford money because he's always hurt. Indubitably that is accurate.
David Wright is a very good player, but not a superstar. I could publish reams of statistics supporting that claim but I don't think I need to.
Wilpon was a "schmuck" for giving Carlos Beltran $119m. I disagree with this one, but its a popular opinion. He had a very bad 2005, a great 2006 (marred by one negative image), very good 2007 and 2008, then two years ruined by injuries.
Ike Davis is a good player on a "shitty team." Wilpon said that when the team was 5-13. Even now at 22-24 I'd agree with the assessment.
I just don't see how anyone can take issue with anything he said as far as its veracity, whether an owner should be that honest is another matter, but I personally enjoyed his candor.
As for him hurting the trade value of Beltran and Reyes, can you imagine any GM in the majors who changed his opinion on either of these players based on Wilpon's comments? That's a false argument.
There's a lot of hate for Fred Wilpon (much of it comes from anti-Semitism I believe) and very little of it has any basis in fact. He's not cheap, he's spending $144m for this last place team. He's not the problem with this franchise, payroll is in the top 10, results are in the bottom 10, that's the fault of the players and front office (his blame for that ends and hiring those fools). And he's not ripping his players, he's just being honest.
Honestly, I'm glad that he said those things, even though he should've said them privately. It makes me think he cares about winning and to some extent feels our pain as Mets fans.
ReplyDeleteJleary, Reissberg, you and I have been asking for rebuilding for 3 seasons now. I want to see it done. I so happily would trade 2-3 more years of a non-contender for the opportunity to have legitimate sustained success.
Wilpon does not get a pass solely because he was being honest. He is no Jerry Macguire. There is absolutely no reason to make a point of saying that Wright is "not a superstar." Wright is a very good player. Wilpon should not be lauded for acting like an asshole.
ReplyDeleteConch, he said David Wright is a very good player. So basically you are not upset as his comments because they are untrue, you think it's not befitting the owner of the team to make such opinions public.
ReplyDeleteI granted that as a reasonable reaction in my original post, but I like Damino personally appreciated the comments. I took the same message as Damino did, he wants to win and is frustrated by the recent results.
And clearly I agree with Damino's second point too. Tear it down and build a real winner. True Mets fans will wait.
His comments were ill-timed and ill-advised, and leads me to beleive there may not be a fire sale. Otherwise why would you devalue the teams assets before trying to trade them. I have a hard time beleiving he got stupid overnight. However, Wilpon gets a lot of blame in the media for ownership not spending money and not building a contender - its time the players received their share of the blame. In 06 they should have made the WS and the next two years they choked it away down the stretch. That had nothing to do with ownership.
ReplyDeleteSadly, its probably time for Fred to sell the team
I agree with Poop -- most, if not all, of what he said was true. But this sounds like a guy who has given up. I hope he sells the team as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think he knew exactly what he was doing and it was calculated. Now when he doesn't keep these high priced players he can claim it is because he doesn't value them and not financially driven. the only player he didn't have something negative to say about (or backhanded compliments) was ike who makes no real money and won't anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI think you're letting Fred and Jeff off the hook a little here. It's widely reported that they have meddled with decisions over the years and that ultimately the men hired for the front office decisions aren't making the signing and trade decisions, the Wilpons do. And those acquisitions haven't been good ones in some time.
ReplyDelete