Update, 3:11 pm:
In a report for SI.com, during which he looks at their off-season needs and targets, Jon Heyman writes:
“Reports have suggested the Mets plan to cut from an NL-high $145 million payroll, but even a small reduction might be a tough sell in their second season in Citi Field. The guess here is the payroll stays about the same. Mets people already are discussing big-name free agent targets - though, of course, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll actually sign any of the big ones.”
Original Post:
In his most recent Marchand Minute for 1050 ESPN Radio, Andrew Marchand cites an associate of the Wilpon as saying the only way to get the Mets to spend money this offseason will be public pressure.
…i am not sure what this means… the buzz around new york has long been the Mets will cut payroll this off season, and only spend around $15 million on new acquisitions… i don’t necessarily believe that… i mean, the club has a ton of holes, it is about to conclude a hugely disappointing season, and they will need to sell new ticket plans and ads for next season… and so, while it might sound prudent to cut budget today, i will not believe it until i see it… perhaps that is the public pressure marchand is speaking of… it’s not necessarily a fan uprising, but a looming fear of empty seats in 2010…
To listen to 1050 ESPN Radio online, click here.
{ 15 comments }
That’ s another reason why i want them to lose and not win. By losing we get the best draft pick possible and it forces the Wilpon’s to spend money. If Beltran and Reyes and Delgado all came back and the Mets had a 19-10 Sept. then they could just spin us some bs. But Beltran is back, maine is back and this team has played horribly. Not to mention it could also get Manuel fired.
In 2010, there will be questions as to how good the team will be and there will NOT be excitement over a new stadium (actually the opposite, they are selling seats with flawed sightlines due to moving seats too close to the field without raising the height between rows so that 3rd, 4th, 5th rows and beyond are looking squarely into the back of the heads of those sitting in front of them and are unable to see what they are trying to look at which is low on the horizon (for example, seats behind home plate, home plate is low on the horizon and unless the section is empty in front of you you will be staring into the back of someones head when trying to look at home plate)).
Given the above, Mets need to generate excitement. They are quickly losing the interest of fans (and the person writing this has been a fan since 1973 and a ticket holder since 2000).
By the way, who enjoys paying inflated prices for tickets and then not being able to resell tickets for even half the price (and on top of that knowing that Stubhub will take 15% of that ). Mets will need to lower prices or risk losing people as well.
I am a promenade club ticket holder. Mets do nothing to protect the value of seats of these holders, as they do with the lower sections. Note, that the price of the promenade club seat is frequently twice or more that of the promenade level seat. When the Mets stink and no one shows up, there is not way to sell tickets even at gross discounts because bargain hunters purchase promenade tickets also at severe discount and then just move down and fill in the promenade club level seats. Without protection by the Mets these ticketholders get the short end. Sorry to rant and what I am sure has been discussed endlessly.
But note this inability to sell tickets has only really effected the second half of this year. If the team does not improve next year … then this will be the case for the entire season. I dont know about you, but I am a full season ticket holder but I can not go to every game. I go to about 30 games. I sell the rest, not at inflated prices but at cost (which is determined by (x) the Mets and (y) the fees charged by Stub hub — 15%). If the mets do not improve then ticket holders will experience an immediate loss upon purchasing tickets.
I paid for two 15-game plans this year (don’t ask, I was delusional), and with the way things have gone, I can’t even give tickets away at this point.
(I have tickets for both tonight and tomorrow, and no one wants them – I would go myself but my kids have soccer games tomorrow, etc.)
Do they really think without dipping into their wallets that I am going to dip into mine next year? If the Mets go out and add a middle-of-the-road #3 type starter and some journeyman platoon type corner OF/IF guy, I may be more comfortable watching the games on my 50″ plasma, without the $20 to park, $50 in food/beer, $20 in tolls and $50 ticket prices.
I have done seasons with 4 others the last 3 years and we are heading to a partial plan or nothing next year. Ticket prices are a joke and there have been decent seats available to most games this year. Why pre-pay for something and then get stuck eating tickets like I am right now.
public pressure? LOL. i don’t care what they do. frankly i would prefer they spend nothing so i’m not even tempted to spend one penny or minute on them next year.
The nicest thing anyone has said about me recently is that I am delusional, but I think Beltran will be traded to an AL team, more specifically, the RedSox. Bay may sign elsewhere, they will need to fill a power void. Ellsbury could replace Beltran for years to come. Add in Casey Kotchman as a place filler until Ike Davis is ready, throw in a AA pitcher with some upside.
Kotchman and Ellsbury probably cost a total of 8 million in 2010, leaving 9 million to spend on a corner or a starting pitcher. it is virtually a three for 1 deal
Mr Agee, I liked both your catches.
I concur; trade Beltran, Wright and Reyes for some young talent.
Really; how much worse could this team be?
If this is our “core”; something is rotten in Flushing Bay!
Frankly, if they’re concerned about the health of the franchise, they should keep payroll at its current level and be active/aggressive on the FA market OR cut payroll as much as they can and NOT sign any Type A FAs and NOT trade any of the top 15 or so prospects. Obviously Option A throws them right into the thick of things in 2010, and Option B basically cements 2010 as a rebuilding year, but signals a commitment to internal growth and comes clean about the Wilpons’ financial woes. The worst case scenario, in my humble opinion, would be to make 1 big acquisition that will A) not be enough to make the Mets a reasonable contender in 2010 and B) cost the Mets an opportunity to improve the farm. Unfortunately, that third scenario is far and away the most likely, since splitting the difference will keep the Mets competitive enough to sell at least some tickets and siphon some payroll dollars back to ownership.
Just one minor flaw in your assessment. The Mets can sign 1 big Fa and still keep their early picks.
The Mets will finish with a Bottom 15 record. This much is certain. All that means, though, is that their first round pick is protected. If they sign a Type A free agent who has been offered arbitration by his former team, then the Mets will forfeit their second round pick, which will be one of the first 15 (and in all likelihood the first 8) picks in the second round. The first rounder is the most important one, but the second rounder is also a high value pick.
Glad to see they are talking about holliday and bay….at least thats a step in the right direction
If the Mets are looking to cut budget and still sell seats next year, there is one investment they must make — Bobby Valentine.
I’m actually a Backman for Mgr. guy, but whether you like Valentine or not, they guy has huge name recognition, reminds many Mets fans of a time when the Mets were winning, winning with some marginal talent, and really relavant to NY. Valentine’s star and aura have only grown in Japan.
Bobby V. may do no better with this pool of talent than Manuel has, but if the Wilpons don’t want to spend big this offseason, but still make this offseason one of anticipation for Mets fans, hiring Valentine is the only way I can think of for them to do that.
The Mets obviously are going to need to be smart with the roster and creative with free agents and contracts. Two things Omar is not.
What’s Omar going to do if he doesn’t have Wilpon’s money to throw at free agents.
There’s no way Omar and company can right this ship.
I think they are going to be brutalized next year. “Shock and Awe” basically. They couldn’t even sell a ton of season tickets this year at prices lower than Yankee prices and with a team that was picked by Vegas to go to the WS.
Going into 2010, they will be a team that has everything to prove coming off a terrible mind-numbing season, and a lot of current ticket holders who are no longer enchanted with the prospect of a brand new stadium.
Shock & Awe.
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