|
|
|
…having talked with a variety of people over the last few days, ranging from those who are connected to the team to people connected to player reps to those who work in media and for teams who are following the negotiations, from what i can gather, Johan Santana prefers to be on the 
Mets, where he can a) be in New York City, and b) get out of the hitter-dominant American League…
…the Twins are well aware of this, and are willing to accommodate his request, while also trying to maximize the level of talent they get in return…
…so, over the last few days, if not longer, the Twins have been speaking on and off with the Mets, who are willing to flood them with young talent, but who refuse to provide a major-league ready, immediate-impact player, like Jose Reyes…
…since the Yankees and Red Sox will not part with more than one or two of their best prospects, acquiring up to five or six semi-developed, high-ceiling players from the Mets is starting to be Minnesota’s most attractive option, and they’re comfortable with that - especially considering that santana can ‘strongly suggest’ he end up in Queens, seeing as he has a full no-trade clause…as such, the Mets and Twins have essentially agreed upon what players can and cannot be involved in the trade, and so it’s now up to santana and his agents to frame out a contract extension…
…however, while santana wants a seven-year contract, the Mets - like most teams - will not offer more than five…and understandably so, since a) it is nearly impossible to get such a contract insured, especially for a pitcher, and b) it is widely believed that the Yankees and Red Sox will not have offered him such a long-term deal either…at the same time, he is the best pitcher in baseball, and believes he should be compensated at or above the same level as Barry Zito, which is understandable, as well…the thing is, i do sense that he and his agents are willing to work out a solution to get him to Queens, and so they will not take a hard-line position like zito and Scott Boras did…
…in other words, from what i can tell, if santana doesn’t end up on the Mets, it most likely means that either a) he and the Mets could not agree to the terms of a contract extension, b) the Twins simply chose to keep him for one more opening day, or c) the Twins had no choice but to skip over the Mets to accept a much-better offer that they couldn’t refuse, and santana did not stand in their way, which all is still very possible…
…i still do not have my hopes up, but i do have hope…
 |
 |
RSS 2.0 Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
freddie coupon. =(
open up that purse will ya…
ps..if the mets and twins do agree and we decide not to open up the purse strings…it will be like…
a-rod, guerro, kazmir all over again……
mets not doing what it is necessary to win….and go for the gusto.
Do you really think the Mets would even be talking to the Twins re: Santana if they didn’t already get the okay from ownership?
and is there some way to institute a ban on the nickname “freddy coupons” on this site? it’s not funny, it never has been, yet people continue to use it any time a story remotely involves ownership.
Agree with you both that 1) The Mets would not be talking to the Twins about A-Rod now if they weren’t prepared to meet Santana’s price. and 2) Freddie Coupon is not only so tired and cliched but also not a very apt nickname for all the money the Wilpons are spending these days. Remember, most of the cost of the new stadium is being funded by the Mets.
Agreed–the nickname is unnecessarily, especially if it means that the answer to all our problems is just to throw more money around.
Oops, of course I meant the Mets wouldn’t be talking about Johan now, not A-Rod.
I like Freddy Coupons. Whoever thought it up is clever.
For starters Wilpon and Coupon rhyme. Maybe it should just be Freddy Coupon. Would that make you happier?
Also, the Wilpons are cheap. I’ve come over the past few months to realize that I don’t believe they care about winning, just about making a profit. Yes, they spend a lot of money on the team. But they have to. They are in New York and generate a ton of money. If they didn’t spend $100mil per year they’d be accused of tanking. What they actually do is spend just enough to get a decent team on the field to keep the fans interested and coming to games buying $6 beers.
Fred Wilpon has several times the wealth of George Steinbrenner and look at the difference in our franchise. I know almost all of us hate the Yankees, but be honest we’re all jealous. At least I am. George and now his lunatic son Hank will stop at nothing to put the best team they can on the field. They make a lot of mistakes, but they’re always trying. I don’t think you can say that about the Wilpons.
where did you find $6 beers at Shea?
that’s exactly what I wanted to know.
No, it’s just not accurate to say the Wilpons are cheap. Fact is, they’ve done a lot of spending the last few years using a “credit card” (backloaded contracts). As such, their luxury tax payroll was very close to Boston’s this year.
And of course they care about winning. They just like to do it within the Luxury Tax threshold because the Wilpon’s support the intent of it. They voted for Luxury Taxes. The Yankees didn’t. Staying under the threshold has also been the practice of Boston and the Angels. And both those teams are big market clubs. So if the Wilpons are cheap, so are those 2 teams.
Fred Wilpon has several times the wealth of George Steinbrenner and look at the difference in our franchise.
It’s irrelevant. No owner regularly dips into his own pocket to fund his team. That’s one of the biggest fallacies that I see some fans repeat over and over again. If you think Steinbrenner funds the Yankees from his own wallet then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
Sometimes owners will use their own resources, but it’s rare.
As for being jealous of the Yankees — not a bit. I dislike that team and the way they’ve made it harder for smaller market teams to compete. Their payroll is a disgrace to baseball.
The Mets try just as hard as the Yankees. They just have a much smaller budget, shaped by the Luxury Tax threshold. I can’t blame them for sticking to it. The Red Sox and Angels do the same thing.
Also, I doubt the Wilpons will put such a limit on Santana’s contract IF the Twins and Mets agree to a trade.
If they do, I’ll say I’m wrong, change my tune, and chime in with the rest of you who call him “Freddie Coupon.”
I predict there is no way the Wilpons will be a stumbling block to the Mets getting Santana. If it doesn’t work out, it will be because the Mets and Twins can’t make a deal in the first place.
VCARVER EVERYBODY!!!
Great post…
I don’t usually support the VC but . . . ehh bad pun.
I agree, good post!
well, the 4,50 Hdogs/4.50 waters anf 7.25Beers are actually from us fanatics paying for the stadium . The wilpons only have it because we dont learn, and they are now just respending our money from 14 parking and 35 tickets among other great services in the sheaflushbowl.
so santana is ours. the only thing they have done without fan input is the drastically bad prior trades, and actually offer lesser services to balance the increase of the tickets/concessions/parking.
everything else is fan driven.
7-train,
A business owner trying to make a profit? Well, I’ll be damned
Couple things:
Steinbrenner makes money with the Yanks.
VC, well thought out points as always. But I am in disagreement with you. Maybe I am wrong about them being cheap and they just aren’t good talent evaluators.
pochemunyet, are you one of those goofs who says KEW-pahns? Actually that would still rhyme. Maybe you don’t speak English.
You are most definitely wrong about them being cheap. I’m not one to gush over VC’s posts but he’s absolutely right. This Freddie Coupon crap is dopey. It sounds lame and it doesn’t make a lick of sense.
Anybody remember when everybody was coming up with ways to pay A-Rod if he left the Yanks? The biggest thing I saw then, I havent seen yet, to pay Santana. What happened to the 20 mill from the naming rights? You know, the one we were going to use to subsidize A-Rod’s contract. Shouldnt we just use that for Santana instead? So it,s not like the money isn’t there to sign him. In fact, it wouldn’t suprise me that that money is the real reason Santana says he wants to come here, knowing that they can use that money to pay him what he wants.
My bad, someone mentions it way, way down below.
if the mets trade for santana and keep reyes wright beltran maine and perez…. it is a good-great trade…. if they keep all of those and either gomez or fernandez it is a great-excellent trade… id be slightly sour tho if they had to give up maine or perez because we need those arms as well… id prefer to give up both gomez and fernandez…. but if it just turns out that they keep their core and maine perez, and gomez or fernandez… it would be an amazing trade
who is this fernandez you speak of? I would love to meet him.
he is making up a new name for F Mart…he;d better not be included in the santana deal..I’d deal pelphrey or ollie before him.
this dude will be big time in 2 yrs. keep F Mart and shop the Ol-Yipper
You named three times they messed up, and two are very valid in Vladdy and Kazmir (which was not a money thing tho).
HOWEVER: Pedro they gave the extra year that no other team would, Beltran they overpaid to keep him from Yanks (his desired destination), Castillo got the extra year, Humber got the signing bonus that scared other teams off, Wagner was overpaid to come to NY, Schowenweis was overpaid by a lot (to a fault), Glavine was overpaid to prey him out of his hometown… there’s more but I don’t feel like looking them up.
vlad was a money thing. plain and simple.
how does boston opperate near where we do. there payroll was 160 million and ours was 115? how is that even close????
1) I said Vladdy was money, no one ever said it wasn’t. Kazmir was not money, however.
2) Boston operates at the same level as the Mets the franchise is valued approximately the same by Forbes, and they recently added 2,000 seats and make $155 million in gate, while the Mets don’t even make $100 million from Shea tickets. Average ticket price at Fenway is more than double that of Shea, and the capacity is larger as well. Their net revenue is $17 million more than the Mets. The Mets launched SNY recently, but the Red Sox have had an 80% share in NESN for longer time, creating more revenue. The Sox also earn $7 million more than the Mets in brand management.
So while the Mets play in a larger market, the Red Sox are able to capitalize on their market better by being the only team in the area, whereas the Mets contend with the one team that earns more than the Mets or Red Sox, and have twice the market share.
The Mets spend more than any other team though, so stop complaining please.
It’s not the money, it’s the length of the contract.
I would bet that the Wilpons would be more comfortable with a 5 year deal at $150M vs. a 7 year deal at $140M.
of course they would…Omar has also said that they would be comfortable going up there dollar wise, but not so much length. They used that approach with Zito last year as well
Giving more money for less years is a STUPID financial decision. The present value of a 5yr, $150m contract is $113m. The present value of a 7yr, $150m contract is $104m. That’s a difference of $9m of today’s dollars. Doing what you suggest (a 7yr, $140m), which you say is something the Mets would favor LESS than a 5yr, $150m is, well crazy. The present value of the 7yr, $140m contract is $97m, or $16.4m less than the 5yr, $150m contract.
If Johan wants his 7 years, I would prefer the Mets to give him the $140m deal and be done with it and not waste money just to have him off the books earlier.
I agree.
Pay more up front or less long term? Hay-low. That’s an easy one. Just THINK of it being 140M for 5 and the last 2 years are free.
You guys aren’t factoring in the ability and the price to insure that contract. With megadeals like this insurance is extremely important, especially when the contract involves a Pitcher.
whatever, get santana.
Insurance for a 7 year contract of that amounts could cost 7 digits. Now why would you want to pay 35 million a year for a 25 million a year contract? And I thought it would be needless to say, but every team interested in Santana has already stated they have absolutely no interest in paying Santana $25 million a year.
By 7 digits you either mean 1 Million+, or are mistaking this for seven 0’s, which is 10^7 - in the tens of Millions +?
If the former, what is the big deal about 1 million of ins when you pay 140 for the entire contract?
Even if it is 10 million ins, that is <10% of the entire deal…big whoop!
Keep FMart and get that 10million insurance done!
You misunderstand… 10 million annually. As in 10 million ever year of the contract.
$10,000,000 has 8 digits. (just sayin’…)
Do you have actual knowledge that a $25 million per year contract can cost >$10 million to insure, or are you guessing. Even in these inflated times, that sounds a bit high.
pifman, you are soooooooo not using logic. why would a team opt to ensure a player at that high cost? the idea of insurance is to pay a risk adjusted price for the effect of an unlikely event. to help, think about your car insurance payments.
For a 5 year 20 million a year contract it costs 3 million to insure a year for a pitcher at Santana’s age. So I believe it is safe to say if you increase the money be 5 million annually and the years to 7 it will increase more than double. And even if it is double, 6 million a year for insurance? That is a bit ridiculous. And yeah I guess I just hit 7 instead of 8 my bad.