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In the Daily News, Bill Madden quotes a National GM as saying of Manny Ramirez:
“If you’re a betting person, you have to figure Manny winds up going back to the Dodgers and for the two years… At his age and without the DH, it makes no sense for a National League team to go out beyond two years for him.”
Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes Ramirez and his agent, Scott Boras, are waiting for another team to be ‘tempted by what Ramirez could do for them,’ and offer more than the Dodgers.
According to Madden, the Mets are not going to sign Ramirez, adding, “They are determined to keep payroll at or just below last year’s $143 million and just as determined to spend their remaining resources this winter on pitching.”
Madden also discusses whether Ramirez could end up on the Dodgers, Angels, Yankees, Tigers or Nationals.
Speaking of outfielders…
The Orioles traded Garret Olsen and Single-A RHP Henry Williamson to the Cubs for OF prospect Felix Pie, according to multiple reports.
fantasy world: “The Mets are determined to win at all costs.”
reality: “They are determined to keep payroll at or just below last year’s $143 million.”
i hate to parrot the lunatic fringe fans on this site but – new stadium with naming rights new ammenities a sucessful sports network and they wont increase payroll?? i think i just threw up a lil in my mouth and it dont taste good
wilpons are FOOLS. this is “vlad’s bad back” all over again. no manny = second or third place. believe it. oh, and the wilpons WILL hear it if that happens!
Not sure if they’ll hear it though because their ears are clogged with budget and profits.
for all who complain about not signing Vladdy,
if they signed Vladdy they dont sign Beltran.
Vladdy doesnt look too healthy now
this is true but it’s their ’spend only when the fan base revolts and there’s a PR nightmare’ mentality that’s the problem.
The luxury tax threshold for 2009 is $162 million. Simple math: Pedo $12 million, Alou $8 million, Ollie’s $7 million; Show $3 million & Endy $2 million doesn’t add up to the additions of KRod $12; Redding $2.25, Putz $4? and Cora $2. So even if they add Ollie $11; and Sheets $9 – that puts them at $148 or so (I know Reyes and Wright probably are getting a little bump this year too). So – only if they sign Manny would they be over and they’d be a 1st time offender. With $22 million off between Delgado and Wagner next year, they’d be way under again next season. Let’s see – biggest market, new stadium and astronomical ticket prices and Manny isn’t even a consideration… I think the Madoff situation looms much larger than they let us on.
Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Johan all have raises this year.
Plus, Church, Maine, Feliciano Sanchez are all up for arbitration.
reed and pagan too
there at 126 million right now including guesses on arbitration guys
You handled my response to this blog, at least someone understands.
Does no one else see a disconnect between:
Doubing or tripling ticket prices
and
Keeping payroll at same level as last year
i thought there was no cap on payroll?
sell the team
We’re going places!
backwards?? :P – damn i hate being negative
Here’s the about spending the remaining money on pitching:
You have to bring in good pitchers, not just pitchers.
Value is what the Mets should be looking for with the remaining dollars. If Perez is out of the price/length of contract range and Sheets turns out to be too risky, spending the money on Wolf or Garland doesn’t bring much value.
I would hope the Mets would either get Perez/Sheets or move on to the offense.
same here casey but this is a team that when we shoulda resigned hampton and tried to sign mussina we turned around and signed trashel and appier
yuck…
am i wrong?
LOL! No! My stomach just turned with a combination of bad memories and fear of a repeat of such an outcome!
lol shall i remind u about jeff d’amico rich rodriguez sean estes and the asian guy we got from the braves??
please stop…you’re bringing me down.
hopefully, omar is reading this.
sorry casey one more name -JOSE LIMA !!! lol
Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, nooooooooooo!
LOL
JORGE SOSA!!! lol
It’s not at all funny.
The one thing NO ONE is talking about the additional expense the Mets take on having to finance the stadium. I know we all expect revenues to increase with the new stadium, but expenses are as well. If the Mets want to keep that $143m budget steady, it tells you the incremental profits from the new stadium are not impacting net cash flow that much.
I seriously hope you are joking.
Besides the (additional) tax-free bonds to finance the stadium (for which they paid no tax on the construction materials), that saves them hundreds of millions of dollars, the Mets are getting 25 million a year for the naming rights (it’s actually a 500 million over 20 year deal according to the Daily News), they pay no property tax, ticket prices are doubled/tripled, the Mets get the first 8 million of parking revenues and no longer have to split that with the city, and the Mets get to deduct any costs of stadium construction and financing from their revenue sharing payments to MLB anyway.
The new stadium is more than free for the Wilpons.
the ticket prices arent doubled there a little more yes but not that high besides where all the corporate people will be
Thank you Mr Wilpon for that. Actually, it shows that the Wilpons don’t really want to win as much as they want to mkae money. They’ve been paying for that park before now.
they just got an additional 80 mil from the city and omar claims that the wilpons put no budgetary restraints on him – so what is the truth?
Actually, the money thet got was funds that had already been approved for the stadium. The team just didn’t use those funds at first.
Blah Blah Blah BUDGET. Blah Blah Blah EXPENSES. Blah Blah Blah PAYROLL. Blah Blah Blah PROFIT. Blah Blah Blah REVENUE.
What the hell ever happened to WINNING?
I wish someone would ask the Wilpons that question, point blank.
when do u see the wilpons making themselves available ?? jeff in october? those were softball questions mike – the last time i saw anyone challenge them was in 04 when mike and the angry puppy confronted them on the howe firing that september – and i believe fred has been ticked off and embara$$ed ever since
u cant mention mikes last name anymore – rediculous !!
Why would they make themselves available? They are tied up with their payroll and profits at the moment.
Profits blah blah blah Budget blah blah blah. No time for interviews.
lmfao – it remeinds me of history of the world part one when dom deluise as julius ceaser yells “TREASURE BATH”!!!! AND THEY DUP GOLD AND JEWLS ON HIM LOL
haha I never saw that, I’ll have to put that on my to see list.
we can spend 400 million dollars on talent mikey…there is still the reality that money in talent guarenties nothing
Yo Dirty,
Manny is going to cost 400 million? I must have missed that one.
yo mikey
Manny will make us win?? I must have missed that one.
I know that you know what i meant by my statement. Manny will not guarentee anything. We can spend like the yankees but just like them we can very well go 8 years without winning a World Series…no matter who we buy. The mets want to work within a budget…frankly the mets are just one of 29 other teams that follow the same mold. Not for nothing but the popularity and recognition of the yankees around the world trumps us or any other team in MLB(except the redsox maybe but even they are working within a budget). The yankees can spend because they have money to spend but in their spending spree they fail to acknowledge one thing, money does not buy championships…something obvously 8 years later they should have figured out by now.
Is Manny a winner? Yes.
Will Manny make a drastic improvement to the Mets line up? Yes.
Do the Mets have a spot to fill in left field for a right handed bat? Yes.
Is Manny’s defense any worse than what we have in left field right now? No.
It’s not all about the money. This has everything to do with
the Mets needs on the field.
Stop with the Yankees spending cop out. That’s all it is … a big fat cop out.
im curious mike..what exactly makes manny a winner?
My point is very simple and the yankees are the best example of it. Money does not buy championships…spending money on manny and sheets and perez does not mean we will win a WS. You want a team that looks good on paper then go be a yankee. Id take my chances on a team that plays as such…a team. The mets and the other 28 teams in the MLB will NEVER adopt a philosopy like the yankees because they do not and probably will never have the notoriety and fame that the yankees have. Hell there are pobably kids in Japan that have yankee hats bro. Bottom line if you cannot deal with budgets..then be a yankee and you wont have to worry about them. Otherwise deal with it. Mannys price tag is way to high and going below that tag you are risking the type of player you are really getting(based off his reputation). Offense was not the reason we lost two years in a row. Priority wise i would think that does not put it that high as Bullpen and Pitching.
Just look at history. Every team Manny has ever been on has been good … even back to his Cleveland days.
No one is stupid enough to say a world series is a guarantee.
Manny guarantees one thing … he will make the team much better. You can’t argue with that.
You don’t have to be “like the Yankees” to sign Manny Ramirez and one other starting pitcher. The Yankees spend money on players they don’t need. The Mets have the need … so they should spend the money.
Finally,
“Id take my chances on a team that plays as such…a team.”
Yeah … obviously, this Mets team has done that. It’s been fun to watch what a good team they have played as. They have such a great team chemistry. Don’t change something that works so well, right? Keep doing the same thing and expecting something magical to happen.
DirtySanchez, the Yankees are irrelevant here. This is strictly about the Mets and their commitment to winning and making the post season and its impact on the fan base, the Mets popularity and revenue sources. Spending money irrationally gives you nothing. However, spending money wisely can have major positive results. And spending money wisely is all I ask.
Since you brought up the Yankees I ask the following questions.
How many post seasons have the Yankees been in since 2000?
How many have the Mets been in since 2000?
How many WS have the Yankees been in since 2000?
How many WS have the Mets been in since 2000?
What is the value of the Yankees franchise?
What is the value of the Mets franchise?
What revenue sources do the Yankees have?
What revenue sources do the Mets have?
Why are the Yankees so universally popular?
Was it the 11th Commandment?
If you go back to the 1980’s the Mets owned NY. Why in terms of revenue producing have the Yankees left the Mets far behind? It has less to do with Babe Ruth and more to do with how the respective franchises have been run over the past twenty years or so.
A “Good Team” is subjective mikey and unless you have an ability to see the future there is not way to tell how manny will impact his lineup for good or bad(i say bad because i doubt you will get the same manny that is playing for 2/60 that you would if you are paying him 5/100 which is what he wants). I will agree that the mets have a NEED for pitching and they should spend but you must also take into account on spending WISELY!! Sheets has injury issues, Ollie is all over the place. I dont know which one they should get as each has their own issues. Manny is a luxury not a need. Our offense was fine last year and unless again you can see the future…there is no way to determine how manny can impact this team.
Clem Kadiddlehopper :
I understand what your saying but if im not mistaken the majority of the 90’s and early 2000’s we have been a 3rd and lower place team that barely got over .500(execpt obviously 2000 and i think 99). Since omar took over we have finished over .500 every single year. All of a sudden since 2006 the expecations of this group has been WS or bust(mind you the same mentality that we rediculed the yankee base for having). Now im not saying that is wrong and that the past 2 years didnt s***…All im saying is very simple guys. 200 + million dollar payroll for the yanks=0 WS…many playoff appearences and first round knockouts and even a WS appearance. Hell the yankess went to the WS in 2003 and lost to the marlins at home!! but they continue to spend..spend…and spend and that has yeilded how many championships…..0. To steal a phrase from mikey “Keep doing the same thing and expecting something magical to happen.”
Their fan base has stayed in tact and so will ours. What your not going to go to the games because they didnt sign manny and feel the mets do not care to win…guess what someone else will go to the games.
Spending money wisely means putting the best player into the hole that you have to fill. The Mets have the money to do that but refuse to spend it wisely.
“What your not going to go to the games because they didnt sign manny and feel the mets do not care to win…guess what someone else will go to the games.”
That’s the problem. Just as long as they sell tix … that’s all that matters to these owners.
sorry to break it to ya kid but baseball is a business..selling tix is the main goal…if you or i dont go…someone else will. Frankly we dont know how much money the mets have(unless your their accountant)..we only know theoretically how much they have to spend because officially they have not said anything specific about their finances. Feel free to speculate all you want to. What i do know is there are 29 teams in baseball that follow some sort of budget. They have to follow a budget because they dont make as much as the yankees make. The yankees can afford to put the best player in a specific hole. The mets have money to spend but are spending it wisley on a priority basis. The priority is pitching….at this point its between sheets/ollie and we(bloggers) argue about the pros and cons on a daily basis as im sure the mets FO is doing. Again manny is a want..not a need. We have bigger holes in the rotation that NEED to be filled. Our offense was not the biggest problem last year.
The Mets can afford to sign both Manny and Sheets. They should be in the business of trying to put the best product on the field … not the business of staying just competitive enough to keep the sheep in the seats.
and im sure you have proof of that….or just more speculation?
Come on man would you cut the crap already? It’s blatantly obvious that Manny gets the “NO” from the Wilpons because of his character issues. If money is the issue what stopped them from trading NOTHING for him at the deadline last season?
They have plenty of money and Manny is just not an option because Fraud Wilpon said so.
It has nothing to do with the “budget”. That’s just the latest excuse that fans like you keep eating up. Yum, delicious.
ok i will cut the crap. Manny is an a****ole. As good as he may be…he plays to the highest bidder. Do you think he will “play” for a team that lowballs him or doesnt give him the money he thinks he deserves….id rather not deal with that headache and the circus that he will bring. You want to pay for that and sacrifice pitching go ahead. Pitching wins championships not hitting.
and do no lump me in with these other gulable fans that eat up anything thrown out there. My point is simple and you have yet to disprove it. Money does not win championships
Dirty for you to call Manny an A_____ is taking it a little too far. Just cause you think he doesnt feel like playing cause someone low balls him makes him greedy, not an A_____. But all of that is avoidable. Dont low ball him. And anyways, when he ” doesnt play” he is still as good as say, Beltran, if not better. Point is dont go ballistic over money winning champoinships. Just think about winning in general.
Oh OK so you don’t like Manny because the media tells you how you should feel about him. I’d rather have the guy in my lineup than to be a parrot. That’s just me.
GET ORLANDO HUDSON.
put him in left feild
I’d like to see them sign Manny as much as the next guy but signing him doesn’t guarantee anything. Case in point: ARod, arguably the best hitter in baseball today, signed the most expensive contract of our day going into last year. How did that work out for the Yankees? Pujols, as good as he is – MVP in the NL, couldn’t carry that team to a division title either.
One guy does not make the team. We need all the pieces to make it happen. Pitching, pitching, pitching.
Pitching is just another Wilpon excuse. If they were THAT concerned with pitching they would not be watching the “budget” so much when addressing the pitching.
They are looking for bargain basement deals for pitching as well.
“Pitching” is another Wilpon code word for “we’re not going to spend enough on the team for them to win”.
If we go into ST with what we have now, I’ll come back and agree with you. I was fine with Lowe going to Atlanta – 4 years guaranteed for a 36 year old? I don’t think so….
I can see not trading away the farm for better pitching right now. That leaves them dealing with FAs. Get Ollie and Sheets – and yeah, if that puts us over their self imposed budget – so be it. Get those two, we’ll be in good shape.
Somehow I just don’t see the Mets getting both Ollie and Sheets.
If they sign Ollie their offseason will be done right there. Budget blah blah blah Budget.
I hope I am wrong.
of course there are no guarentees if manny is signed. but he GREATLY increases the mets chances for WIN NOW. just ask matt, tim, beltran, omar, and davey J…..and 91% of met fans. sign manny!!!
There is a guarantee if the Mets sign Manny; 2 actually. 1) We’d be a LOT better team. 2)We’d have the most dominant hitter on the market on our team with out losing any talent to acquire him.
And he would see more jersey’s then anyone in baseball. He creates money. He is worth the investment and oh yeah he wins too! Everywhere he’s been he wins!!!
I wish manny would put these dudes on the hot seat by openly stating he is interested in playing for the Mets.
LOL – you know that Boras told him to keep his mouth shut and let him handle it….
I’d like someone to ask Martin Silver if he would sign Manny if he owned the Mets.
He’d sign manny and get us complimentary vodka shots on the way into the stadium.
Martin Silver is a wonderful man.
Would Martin Silver sign Manny, Sheets, AND Ollie? We need them, but is his commitment to winning that intense? How can we get some feedback on this subject? If Silver replies in the affirmative, regardless if Wilpon wants to sell or not, we as fans can have him gone in like 3 years if we just vow not to show until he sells. Might be the best course of action for the Mets in the long run….it’s like a re-building process initiated by the fans…..the incumbent owner isn’t cutting the mustard, we have to start over.
who is m silver?
Martin Silver(a real Mets fan) is a Long Island liquor mogul who makes the popular Georgi Vodka amongst others. He offered to buy the Mets from Wilpon after Madoff ripped them off. It might have been partly in jest, but it was a sizable offer. If Silver would spend what it takes to win, I hands down want this guy over the Wilpons who won’t even sign Manny.
As I said, Sheets, Garland, Manny. That is what we need to do right now if we want to avoid missing the playoffs. At least get Sheets and Garland. Manny would be the best decision to make regarding offense though, and the Wilpons need to realize that NOW.
The only way to show how much not singing Manny means to the fans is to join together and not go to the games. This seems to be a franchise willing to raise ticket prices and build new stadiums but break its fans hearts every year. Im not going to a game until ownership makes an effort to win a world series. We shoulda been watching Vlad’s bad back him homers for us for the last 6 seasons. Im tired of it.
This team needs a power hitting right handed left fielder and the best one in the last 25 years is just sitting there and they won’t even entertain the idea until we find out whats up with Jon Garland!!!!
you are exactly right bro
Martin Silver for new owner of the Mets!!
who is silver?
He owns Georgi Vodka, he’s a Mets fan who wanted to buy the team once already. He’s from Long Island..the guy wants to win, and I want to win. Seems like a perfect marriage. Get these Wilpons outta here if they don’t share the same enthusiasms of the fans. BOYCOTT!!
I couldn’t agree more! Ill throw in some of my check this week for Manny! Thats how much this means to me. Im sure im not alone. I feel like seeing the Mets win a world series means far more to me then the Wilpon’s or Omar!
It does mean more to us, if it meant as much to them as it does to us they would have signed him already.
We’re all willing to pony up, but they think we’ll do that anyway with out Manny I guess??? I hope they’re in for a rude awakening, and Martin Silver steps up again.
Don’ buy over priced tickets to the Wilpon’s dream stadium!!!
I refuse to go watch my team get outplayed and out hustled by the Phillies in a nice stadium or a dump!!!
Get Manny!!!
I want to start Mannyorwilponsdie.com
spend it on pitching huh? i haven’t seen that lately,why be so cheap they know they have the money and manny brings alot of money into your pockets
And Manny=pitching. You don’t need as much pitching if you sign Manny. Manny would bring far more to this team then Garland, Sheets or Ollie.
I’ve been supporting the Wilpons this whole time, because obviously Manny does not equal winning. He’d be a great, great addition, but we can win without him and lose with him. However, the fact that they don’t want to increase payroll to make signings is ludicrous. At the very least, the Wilpons owe it to the fans to make some sort of effort to announce their plans themselves, and their financial situation.
what I don’t understand is why the phillies can upgrade there lineup when they just won the world series but the mets who failed to ever get the big hit in september feels they are good where they are. as we stand today, the mets have the third best lineup behind florida and philly.
i know right, the phillies got the right handed bat we needed at the trading deadline even though they won the series, yet upgrading our offense isn’t a priority. i just wanna know how the phillies gm managed to upgrade their offense while simultaneously extending cole hamels contract. he must be smarter than einstein.
They got Ibanez, a left handed bat, to replace Burrel, a righthanded bat. They downgraded…
Because pitching is what got them a WS ring last year. I believe in the regular season our offense was rated higher than philly(i could be wrong about this) but their bullpen down the stretch was unhittable. They kept their pitching staff in tact for the most part so the only thing they felt they could upgrade was the lineup. Our problem was we didnt have pitching or bullpen..which we are addressing now.
I think I read this story YESTERDAY in the Sunday News…
you probably did…we have read this story for the past 2 months…and its still the same story every time…and the same arguements every time…but i guess we will continue them until Spring traning or the regular season starts…
2008 salary ended at 143. mil. we toke off the books 43 mil in free agents check it out if you wish. We added to date 24 mil in new players plus raises. We still have 10 mil to work with for 2009. so Omar get us that championship team.
I meant 19 mil sorry for the typo
ok..
You gotta love the Wilpons and their win at all costs attitude.
yeah, me too
they remind me of stienbrenner almost
Screw Manny. I don’t want a malcontent in my clubhouse polluting the place.
Manny is a loser of a human being. There’s a reason he isn’t signed yet.
Throw a 62 yr old man to the ground, then take yourself out of games lying about a bad knee because your feelings are hurt?
This is the canker sore of a man you guys want on your team!?
NO MANNY
.314 career BA
527 career HR
1444 career runs
1725 career RBI
37 HR last year at 37 years of age
.396 average with Dodgers.
Some major stats that are majorly good by Manny Ramirez.
Real cancer, right?
Oh yea, his behavior, well that is all avoidable. DONT TICK HIM OFF.
And of course, 2 world series titles and the MVP of the one in 2004.
The reason he hasnt signed yet is because of Scott Boras, so that answers that question.
One thing I promise you Manny isnt is malcontent. For you to say that you are out of your tree.
Cancers spread their troubles to the entire club, causing them to miss the playoffs. Manny is not a cancer.
The Wilpons dont want to look bad, so they put out a competitive team….NOT a championship team. WAKE UP WILPONS, you arent fooling anyone.
We have to pay more for tickets but they won’t increase payroll?? Mets will never win with Wilpons as the owners. Manny makes all the difference in the world. At least make a 2-year offer.
I’m disgusted with this. No reason they can’t up payroll to at least $155,160 mil and still make a boatload of money this year.
Right now the pay roll is about 124 mil with manny 20 and ollie 11 it would go to 155 mill. would be great but I don’t think the wilpons would do it
Manny is going to be this years casualty in the Free Agent market. Once the Yankees signed Texiera it was over. I can’t see the mets or any other team going big money for him. I have to say one thing to Manny.
Karma is a bitch.You screwed with the baseball Gods by your antics with the Red Sox and now you are paying the price for your stupidity.
He may still get 2 years but It will be from the Dodgers.
as far as the Mets go-if you can’t put a winning team on the field for $145 mil than you are a sad bunch of talent evaluators
The Wilpons are prideless and they know they will have a packed house this season as all the sheep will ohhh and awww at the new stadium but forget what baseball is about. The METS should be all over Manny Ramirez case closed!! Manny would have lines 2 blocks long at the ticket window but the Wilpons are prideless, cheap, and soft like baby poop to take the chance.
I wish they would have a day at Citifield…Buy a ticket and kick a wilpon in the gnads….Thatsa billion dollar idea.
We all know the Wilpons are clueless otherwise they wouldn’t have signed Omar the clueless to a new contract. Bringing back the Manager who presided over another collapse was also a stroke of genius.
However, in this case I think they are correct. Manny Ramirez is a malcontent and a bad influence. I’d rather they sign Dunn for a year or two.
I meant Omar the Mediocre