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According to a text message from SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, Fred and 
Jeff Wilpon met side-by-side with with reporters today and talked about a variety of topics.
Fred Wilpon said that he expects the team to go far in to October, and he is happy that Carlos Beltran showed similar confidence to reporters over the weekend.
For more on Wilpon’s talk with reporters, go t o the Journal News and Newsday.
By the way, Moises Alou will arrive in camp later today. He will talk with reporters tomorrow.
Burkhardt will have one-on-one interview with Jose Reyes, as well as video from the day in camp, and clips from Wilpon’s Q&A, during tonight’s edition of SportsNite on 
.
divide in the clubhouse? wilpon backs beltran. wagner and willie do not
You’re kidding, right? You’re actually going to start a thread about dissension in the first week of camp? Please tell me you’re just kidding….it would be much too depressing for me to see someone engaging in bottom-feeder behavior before we have lineup cards made out for the first friggin intra squad game.
Wagner never said Beltran shouldn’t have said it. Just that he has to back it up now. He also never said he doesn’t expect him to back it up.
im just stating the fact that willie played it down and laughed and joked about it. wagner’s comments that were posted this morning made it seem that he was talking bout just another nl OFer. id like too see some more team unity
“My teammate, I got his back,” Wagner said.
That kind of unity?
“You can’t say it and then, you know, not start off well or things don’t go well and say, ‘That’s not what I meant.’ Now, you have to lead, you have to stand there and take the punishment and the bad games, and you have to be there to answer the questions and deal with that. You can’s t say, ‘I was just kidding.’ You can’t.”
thats what i mean
You’re not taking the full context of that quote, just the least supportive part of that interview. The quote I posted was the last thing he said in the interview.
The first thing he said was this:
“I’m not going to say that Beltran’s not telling the truth”
He also said this:
Like I said about Jimmy, I’m not going to fault somebody for saying that. If he believes that, then good; there’s no use showing up if we don’t believe that we are that type of team.
There’s a lot of people around here that are very quick to beat up on Wagner. I agree that he does say some stuff to the media that shouldn’t be aired publicly, but when you actually read his full quotes with a critical mind, he’s not even close to the idiot that a lot of posters here make him out to be.
to give an example, I remember last year in spring training he was complaining about not being used enough and he wanted to be fresh. Now he’s complaining about being used too much and he wants to be fresh. Not to be a debbie downer but if the Mets make the playoffs it will fall on him for a majority of the games, that’s something im not looking forward too.
also, that wasn’t the quote I chose, it was the quote MatT chose for his post earlier in the day
Question: Do you think the Mets’ handling of Wagner has been perfect, or do you think they could’ve handled him better?
Personally I fall into the latter camp, although of course there’s no way of telling when you’re about to embark on a string of 7-8 games when you have save situations. But the club has tended to allow Wagner to go unused for long stretches and then use him every day for long stretches – neither of which is ideal.
In that context, both of his quotes seem realistic.
In the postseason’s not like last September when we had 19 games without a break. There’s plenty of rest days, so I’m not unduly concerned about Wagner holding up in October. For a start, let’s get there first.
The lesson there is, don’t get your news exclusively from blogs… even if they’re good blogs, their purpose is not to inform.
im not talkin bout him getting injured, its just his inability to pitch well in big games. thats the one thing I agree with the angry puppy. and yes the mets have used him fine, if you read yesterday’s newsday his two examples he used (Hoffman and Rivera) were wrong. he gets paid to be the ace closer, and he has pitched like one mose of the time except big games. he has some valid points about willie’s bad usage of the pen’
Wagner is a dope. Hard to imagine that anyone on the team really pays attention to what he says.
Besides, Beltran and Wilpon (and assuming this year goes well, Willie) will all be on the team long after Wagner is gone.
He is signed for 2009 too, right? no options or anything?
Yup. Maybe he’ll waive his no-trade clause and Kunz learns from Billy how to close, minus the diarrhea of the mouth.
I enjoy his comments, i dont want to hear the same bland, canned PR comments all the time. i like to know that baseball players are actually normal guys that have opinions and arent afraid to let people know. When Wagner is gone, people will miss his fire….
Preach on Billy!
Agreed… it’s strange how much more tolerated Lo Duca was.
Wagner’s a much better closer than Lo Doca is a catcher, and it wasn’t Billy making comments about “waiting to lose” last September, which probably just added to the Mets’ eagerness to see the back of Lo Duca.
I don’t have a problem with Wagner. I think that’s part of what makes him successful, being in your face and feeding off the energy. Really, he’s not even in your face, he tends to just be honest and not spout platitiudes.
You don’t find many Zen Closers out there.
The problem with what Wagner has been saying is the perception. It comes off as negative………instead of rallying behind Beltran and…God forbid….the whole team looking to come out blazing, Wagner’s first comments are all about how “you can’t just say it and then not do it” …..”if you say it and you get off to a bad start, you can’t take it back and say ‘I was just kidding’ ”
How about something a BIT more positive………”hey, Sanchez is back and healthy…we’ve improved our defense…..Castillo had his knee taken care of so hopefully he’ll have improved range and can do a little more running….Delgado is in great shape…hopefully he’ll rebound this season….Pedro is feeling great and looking to build on the last 5 starts from the end of last season… and, uh…oh yeah…WE JUST SIGNED THE BEST PITCHER IN THE GAME !!!!
How about jumping on board WITH YOUR OWN TEAM BILLY !!??
Negativity only breeds negativity !!
As I’ve been saying above, that quote’s cherrypicked from the middle of an interview which started and ended with more supportive comments from Wagner.
Also, Wagner’s made a couple of quotes about how the Santana signing has created an excitement in the team about going out there and playing that was lacking last season, and compared it to a feeling of ‘Look out, we’re good’ that pervaded the locker room before ‘06.
Anybody heard about the prank the Phillies played on Kendricks? Seem pretty desperate for some or any headlines about themselves!
its the most viewed vid on utube today, kinda funyn how last night I saw it and there was only like 10 comments and a couple thousand views. ohhhhh how fast the intranetz workz nublar pwner xo ftw!
I thought it was pretty funny.
i thought it was funny, but its a pretty obvious sign that the mets are in the phillies heads.
In my opinion, all the vitriol and posts claiming that Wagner needs to keep his mouth shut stems from him blowing that 4 run lead against the Yankees in May of 2006. Maybe I’m wrong. Personally I know that’s when I started to doubt him. Unfair? Yes, but so are many of our expectations. In my opinion, blowing that lead against the team we all despise put a subconcious “this guy isn’t as good as he should be” type of thought in fans minds.
Oh I remember that game all too well… I was listening to it on the car radio and almost getting into a fight with a freakin toll booth clerk on the TriBoro Bridge who was rubbing it in… Anyway, lets make this point clear that theres a difference btwn speaking your mind and just commin out and blirting $hit without thinking of the consequences… Wagner tends to do the latter. No matter what, you SHOULD NOT talk ill of your own team to the media. Other teams along with the media eat that up and try to stir up trouble. Im sure theyre gripe sessions within the club throughout the season. Thats when issues should be discussed… Wagner reminds me of the guy Puck from the Real World…
Remember Billy……..don’t ever take sides with anyone against the Family again….EVER.
This makes me more mad than anything that happened last September. There is only one thing that anyone can be confident about and that is that the Mets have not learned one damned thing from last year’s collapse. They know nothing about what will happen and confidence is BS. They now have nothing to be proud of, because those that are confident based on zero games played, like WIlpon, Beltran and Chavez are only showing me 100% that they have zero class.
Wow……..let’s just get out there and just say we suck and we have absolutely no chance at all…………
would that be better ???
Seriously Cver……sounds like you need a little anger management counseling.
“Lighten up, Francis.”
wow cver, I always thought you were one of the more rational posters around here, but you’ve totally gone off the edge with this one. Confidence is BS? What’s the use in even trying this season then? What should they do, go into the season thinking like a team that just collapsed and identify with that? Or go into a season putting that behind them with the confidence to go forward? Some of you people have gone off the ledge with this one, you are taking these comments far too seriously, they’re just that, comments, obviously what happens on the field is far more important, they all acknowledge that. But not having confidence in your team is basically accepting defeat before it even happens. You have to think it to get it. Some of you obviously are still not over the collapse, and maybe you shouldn’t be, but you’re taking it far too personally and holding on to those feelings for far too long. It’s like all you want the players on the Mets to do is apologize for the collapse, not talk about the new season, not be confident, and just wallow in the misery of the collapse, just to make you feel better. It’s a new year, new possibilities, and if you can’t see that, you sadly are very lost.
Hi Darkstar. No, what I think is they should play ball and not talk crap about stuff that they know absolutely nothing about. Beltran said: “I have no doubt that we’re going to win in our division. I have no doubt in that.” So, he is claiming to be God and know absolutely without a doubt the future, which I find arrogant. They haven’t learned a thing about humility and you would think they would have. That’s nothing to be proud of, in my opinion. If he had just said, “With Santana and the rest of our team, I really like our chances”, that would have been fine with me – that’s confidence. To me, this isn’t confidence, it’s bordering on arrogance – it’s entitlement again. Let your playing do the talking. No games have been played yet. The Mets last season were all but mathematically clinching their division and couldn’t seal the deal and it’s now the middle of February and he has no doubt. WTF is that based on? I say, shut up and play. I didn’t like when Rollins did it ,and neither did most of you as I recall, and I don’t like it now.
…and I’ll just add that I think it’s also unclassy because it is dissing your competitors, counting them out, before things even get started. OK, they’re fired up and maybe Beltran was joking – who knows. It just seems like there’s a lot of empty talk going on right now. Play ball!
wah wah wah..show some class and respect….please…get a life, dude. Beltran is damned if he does, damned if he don’t.
I remember another team that was full of arrogant SOB’s and played a season with a massive chip on their shoulder because of a disappointing finish to the previous season…
the 1986 New York Mets.
Como se dice “Scum Bunch” en Espanol? :)
I love the confidence coming into the season this year. Screw all the politically correct crap. We are the best team in the NL, weknow it, and if the other teams don’t already know it, were telling them. I love it.
word
what he said
We are the team to beat, we were all year last year and the Phillies beat us. That does not take away from the fact that we were the team to beat.
Looking ahead
My plan
Trade for Dunn in July when the Reds are out of it. He would be a huge addition to our offense and can play for Alou or Delgado.
Can Fmart be ready to start in LF in 2009? If so then Dunn moves to 1B and FMart into LF. If not then you look for a 1 year rental player to play 1B or LF depending on who is available. This has to be the plan as there is no good talent available and we will not get Tex.
Not sure this is realistic. Who’s left to trade? Ryan Church, maybe? Plus, Dunn will be a FA interested in testing the market in the offseason, no?
I don’t think you can have Alou, Delgado, Church, and Dunn on the same team—concerns about playing time, unless Alou goes down (or you force Church into 4th OF status). Of course, he’d make a mighty fine DH come playoff time……
dont think dunn will get traded mid year. considering how bad the central looks cincy has a legit shot and probably wont be very far out by july 31st. im a big dunn fan and would love to sign him in the offseason. i feel like tex will be BLOWN AWAY by the yanks and go there and we can get dunn for fewer years and dollars and he’d be perfect for the 5 hole.
admittedly, i haven’t seen much of Dunn, but to me, he looks like a recipe for disaster if he came to NY.
Why? He strikes out a TON and doesn’t hit for average. He’ll command a huge salary and many years. The boo birds will never, ever stop. Imagine if he has another .236 season like he did in ‘06. This town likes consistency—Jeter, Wright, etc. The Beltrans and the Dunns, not so much.
While he does have high OBP and power, he hasn’t really progressed in the least since he came into the league. I honestly think he peaked at 21.
Why do you rate him so highly ? (not being jerky; it’s a genuine inquiry.)
because he averages 40 homers a 400 OBP and 100 runs and rbis a year
Groovy. But his career OPS+ (I think a much better evaluation tool than counting stats) is more in line with ‘06 Delgado. Very good, but perhaps not worth the mint he’ll command.
I do not want the Mets to commit 5-7 years on a 29-year-old giant. I fear he will not age well. What money/years do you think he’ll get? How much would you be willing to offer/pay?
Of course, we may HAVE to pursue him—I still have nightmares of Mientkiewicz, Jason Phillips, Zeile 2.0, etc.
I remember reading a while ago about how Kenny Lofton might have been of interest to the Mets as an extra outfielder. Has anyone heard anything about this since then? He still is unsigned, and I was thinking maybe the Mets could bring him to camp on a minor league deal. I know the Mets now have Brady Clark and Angel Pagan as insurance, but Lofton probably would be the best of that bunch. If Alou goes down and Endy takes over in left field, having someone reliable like Lofton around could prove to be a worthwhile addition.
I wouldn’t mind adding Dunn for next year to play 1B (assuming he is at least Delgado-level adequate on D). Would be a nice replacement for the LH power bat that CD is supposed to represent.
Remember all……….the 86 team was the most arrogant bunch of ballplayers to set foot on a field………they did ok !
thank you! somebody who knows his Mets history!
This time around, Johan’s probably showing up at the parade, though.
“Moises Alou will arrive in camp later today”
The only thing I care about is: WHat was he driving!
im not bein a douchebag, I just think billy needs to eat some bananas cuz he has diarrhea from the mouth.