ESPN Radio NYC Theory On Mets

[Wolf Hopper]

Heard this one driving home this evening on 1050 AM ESPN Radio in NYC- -

When A-Rod left Seattle, he REALLY wanted to come play for the Mets - it was his first choice, assumed by many, because of all the things playing in NYC could offer - - plus, the Mets were just coming off a WS appearance and looked like a contending team for a while. This was a deal that should have been easy to reach.

But, as we all know, the A-Rod talks with the Mets bombed at the start - - and Steve Phillips was the guy who the public heard as pulling the plug - - - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/bas..._rodriguez_ap/

The New York Mets pulled out of the Alex Rodriguez sweepstakes on Monday, saying some of his contract demands would make him unable to fit in with the rest of the team.

"It's about 25 players working as a team," Mets general manager Steve Phillips said. "The 24-plus-one-man structure really doesn't work. I don't mean to cast aspersions on Alex Rodriguez. ... But I don't think you can give different rules and separate one player from the rest of the team."

"It would compromise the fabric of the team," Phillips said. "It might be different in a different city without the same caliber of players. I understand why Scott is asking for it. He is a very unique player who is one of the best or the best in the game."

A-Rod and Boras were shocked and confused by all this - it made no sense to them.

Now, on the radio today, the host's theory is that it was really Fred Wilpon who nixed signing A-Rod - - because having him on the team would drive up the value of the team - - and Wilpon was in the process of acquiring the remaining 1/2 of the team from Nelson Doubleday in a bitter takeover situation - well documented here - - http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/...20814109.shtml

Nelson Doubleday agreed Tuesday to sell his 50 percent of the New York Mets to co-owner Fred Wilpon, settling an ugly lawsuit filled with accusations of misconduct.

Wilpon sued Doubleday last month in federal court to try to force a sale of his partner's 50 percent share based on a $391 million appraisal of the team made in March by Robert Starkey.

There was no immediate word on the price Doubleday will receive as part of the agreement, which was first reported Tuesday on Newsday's Web site.

Under the Starkey appraisal, Doubleday would have received $137.9 million -- half the team's value, after adjustments for the team's debt.

Now, the theory continues that the act of Phillips taking the blame for Wilpon's attempt to drive down the value of the team, via the A-Rod no sign, is what has saved Steve Phillips' job all these years - when clearly the majority of his moves have back-fired and have resulted in getting the Mets to where they are now.

Think part of this, or all of it, can be true?

I have to say, it's sorta thin, but, it also fits.

Really, how else has Phillips survived?

And, Doubleday even claimed later that Bud was cahoots with Wilpon - to drive down the value of the Mets for his takeover - - http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0806/1414829.html

Nelson Doubleday, in papers filed Tuesday in federal court in New York, said the commissioner's office was "in cahoots'' with Fred Wilpon, his co-owner, to put an artificially low value on the team. Wilpon is attempting to buy out Doubleday under the provisions of an agreement they made when they bought the team in 1986.

"MLB orchestrated a sham process that not only mistreated Doubleday and betrayed his trust; it actively favored Wilpon and engineered a result that served MLB's other and conflicting interests,'' Doubleday's lawyers said.

Say it is true, is what we're seeing on the field now for the Mets a form of baseball karma?

If you're a Met fan, is this all is proved true, how would you feel about it?

[KCBOOMER]

Wasn't this lawsuit settled sometime last year and Wilpon and Doubleday kissed and made up? Didn't Doubleday also state publicly that he didn't mean to cast any aspersionon the Commissioner or his office?

Also, were the Mets really ready to pay Texas style amounts for ARod. I don't think so, but I don't know either.

It would be interesting to see how adding ARod has effected the value of the Rangers. I mean it is not at all unlikely that signing a player for ten years at such a hefty price (still 50% more than any other player in the game gets)could actually be a drag on the value of a team rather than a boost.

[sweaver]

Originally posted by Wolf Hopper
Say it is true, is what we're seeing on the field now for the Mets a form of baseball karma?

My karma ran over my dogma.

As conspiracy theories go, this one is certainly compelling. It would answer a lot of questions. Of course, incompetents with poor results keep GM jobs all the time, so this explanation isn't necessary, just satisfying. And I wonder if Hicks didn't spend SO much on A-Rod, just to combat the possibility of the Mets re-entering the bidding, if the numbers were low enough to tempt them.....

[Wolf Hopper]

Originally posted by KCBOOMER
Also, were the Mets really ready to pay Texas style amounts for ARod. I don't think so, but I don't know either.

It would be interesting to see how adding ARod has effected the value of the Rangers. I mean it is not at all unlikely that signing a player for ten years at such a hefty price (still 50% more than any other player in the game gets)could actually be a drag on the value of a team rather than a boost.

I think the theory is that Hicks was bidding against himself and way overpaid for A-Rod - - and that the Mets, because it was A-Rod's 1st choice, could have got a deal done for closer to $20 million a year - rather than the $25 mill for ten years that Texas paid.

How much impact has A-Rod had on Texas - jury is still out on that. But, getting back on topic, we already can see what his impact would have been on the Mets - - with his bat in the line-up, there's no need to get Mo Vaughn for offense. Not having Mo Vaughn on the team, and dealing with his salary, now and remaining, would help the Mets - mucho. Plus, it frees up 1B and gives Piazza somewhere to go to. So, you don't move Appier for Vaughn. And, if you don't need a SP, maybe you don't overpay for Glavine a year later- which means more money free to get an OF that actually has an all around game (like a Damon, when he was available).

[Wolf Hopper]

Doubleday is still taking shots:

http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=1538852

Former Mets co-owner Nelson Doubleday has kept mostly quiet since he handed off full control of the team to Fred Wilpon late last summer, but that wasn’t the case this week, when Doubleday broke his silence in a scathing interview with the Newark Star-Ledger.
Doubleday, who always had what you could term a dysfunctional relationship with Wilpon, took shots at any number of people within the organization, including Art Howe, John Franco, Tom Glavine and Al Leiter.

The publishing magnate wondered aloud why Howe, a small-town guy stuck in a big city, was picked to lead such a large market club – “This isn’t Paducah,” he said – and spoke with disdain for Franco, a Brooklyn native who is a hand-picked favorite of Wilpon’s and should coast easily into a front office job once his playing career is complete.

“There's a great pitcher,” Doubleday said in the article, published Thursday. “The other night, it didn't look like he could throw it through the hole in a life preserver. But he's from Brooklyn! Watch out! He goes home to Ebbets Field every night. He takes a ride on the Cyclone.”

However, Doubleday reserved his harshest criticism for Wilpon’s son, Jeff, who has moved up to the big club this season after running the show at the Mets’ Single-A affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones. Wilpon’s official role with the Mets is as the team’s chief operating officer, but to listen to sources around the club in recent months, his real job is to roam Shea Stadium and antagonize security guards and team employees. Doubleday touched upon those thoughts:

“He got thrown out of Greenvale (Private School) in the fifth grade for being arrogant and he hasn't improved,” Doubleday said. “I saw a comment in another paper after the (Roberto) Alomar trade, that it was a very good trade, but it would have been an excellent trade if they had included Jeff Wilpon.

“Franco and Leiter meet with Mr. Jeff Wilpon everyday. Mr. Jeff Wilpon has decided that he's going to learn how to run a baseball team and take over at the end of the year. Run for the hills, boys. I think probably all those baseball people will bail.”

For the record, both of the Wilpons declined to comment publicly to the media through PR director Jay Horwitz, hoping to take the high road and let Doubleday’s comments stand alone as sour grapes.

Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of truth to what the former owner said to the paper. Both Leiter and Franco have a good deal of influence upon management regarding player transactions and the like, with Glavine expected to have the ability to chime in this coming off-season when the Mets dip into the free-agent market.

That kind of on-field scouting can be helpful, to be sure, as players in the trenches can often pick up personality traits and such that observers in the box seats or on the press level might not.

But sometimes, personal grudges can get in the way as well. After the 2001 season, Mets infielders Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile dissuaded then-GM Steve Phillips from pursuing outfielder Gary Sheffield in a trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers, believing that Sheffield would become a “clubhouse cancer.”

Sheffield has been nothing of the sort for the divison-rival Atlanta Braves, where he is hitting .327 with 24 home runs and 74 RBI, ranking among the league leaders in nearly every offensive category