Jeff Wilpon to Speak on Sunday

[nymr83]

Centerfield wrote: “We would loved to have shopped at the top of the market this year. Unfortunately with our GM situation haveing been unresolved at the start of the offseason we just didn’t have enough time to lay the groundwork for such large investments. That being said we feel very confident about the moves we made. We feel very lucky to return great veterans like Bartolo Colon and Jose Bautista. We think 2019 is going to be a great year.”

You forgot to announce the early April "David Wright [crossout]money grab[/crossout]Day" and "Jose Reyes Sleeveless White T-Shirt Day"

[smg58]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Is he throwing Sandy Alderson under the bus? Wilpon declined to offer specifics on the Mets' budget or offseason plan, putting both under the stewardship of the incoming GM. He similarly said that many of the Mets' more austere policies in recent seasons, including their relatively small analytics department and their hesitance to spend on premium free agents, were due to recommendations from outgoing GM Sandy Alderson.

He's mostly throwing Alderson under the bus. I do think Alderson was reluctant to pull the trigger on long-term commitments, and not just for short-term payroll concerns. But it's clear enough he worked within the restrictions of the budget he was given.

[seawolf17]

smg58 wrote: He's mostly throwing Alderson under the bus. I do think Alderson was reluctant to pull the trigger on long-term commitments, and not just for short-term payroll concerns. But it's clear enough he worked within the restrictions of the budget he was given.

Yes, I agree with this. Although in Sandy's defense, isn't his whole MO making good baseball decisions while saving money? I think that's literally why he was hired. It's the Moneyball thing.

[dgwphotography]

seawolf17 wrote: smg58 wrote: He's mostly throwing Alderson under the bus. I do think Alderson was reluctant to pull the trigger on long-term commitments, and not just for short-term payroll concerns. But it's clear enough he worked within the restrictions of the budget he was given. Yes, I agree with this. Although in Sandy's defense, isn't his whole MO making good baseball decisions while saving money? I think that's literally why he was hired. It's the Moneyball thing.

It's easier to do the Moneyball thing when no one else is trying to do it...

[seawolf17]

dgwphotography wrote: seawolf17 wrote: smg58 wrote: He's mostly throwing Alderson under the bus. I do think Alderson was reluctant to pull the trigger on long-term commitments, and not just for short-term payroll concerns. But it's clear enough he worked within the restrictions of the budget he was given. Yes, I agree with this. Although in Sandy's defense, isn't his whole MO making good baseball decisions while saving money? I think that's literally why he was hired. It's the Moneyball thing. It's easier to do the Moneyball thing when no one else is trying to do it...

True. Rather than corner the market on some sort of secret thing, they just hopped on the bandwagon and did it poorly. ("Hey! The Sox play Sweet Caroline! Let's try that!")

[smg58]

In Alderson's defense, he was handed a broken team and got to the World Series in fairly short order. And, notwithstanding the irony that it wound up hurting more than helping, he wasn't afraid to pay to keep the team's key pieces in Queens. You can definitely be critical of a few things (the Brewers paid less for two seasons of Jhoulys Chacin than the Mets paid for two seasons of Jason Vargas), but the injuries were not his fault.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The Mets didn't want Alderson, he was foisted upon them because they needed someone skilled at operating on a low budget, and was definitely thrown under the bus if I read Jeff's comments correctly.

This was set in motion when Fred saw to it that he got an alternate channel of front office influence in Collins and Minaya; yet he never saw it necessary to have replaced Alderson's own right-hand man in DePodesta.

Alderson got a shitty team that slashed payroll in an inflationary market to the World Series. The next GM should be so incompetent

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The Mets didn't want Alderson, he was foisted upon them because they needed someone skilled at operating on a low budget, and was definitely thrown under the bus if I read Jeff's comments correctly. This was set in motion when Fred saw to it that he got an alternate channel of front office influence in Collins and Minaya; yet he never saw it necessary to have replaced Alderson's own right-hand man in DePodesta. Alderson got a shitty team that slashed payroll in an inflationary market to the World Series. The next GM should be so incompetent

I still don't believe that first part.

Jeff's comments definitely weren't flattering, and were lies/untruths, but I think the purpose of them was to try to deny that he meddles more than knocking the way they operated with Alderson.

You know, the same bs he says every time he opens his mouth. He's not blocking the GM from signing anyone he wants. Of course, there are caveats about budget. of course the budget is fungible depending on various things, and the pitch, and the attendance. blah blah blah.

Luckily he didn't come out and say "We have to be big players for the big FA" though. There's zero value in that. It allows those guys to use the Mets as a way to try to inflate the market, it too easily telegraphs a move that isn't his to make (and blows the whole 'I don't meddle' bit to shreds), and already leads his future GM down a path he might not want to make.

[Edgy MD]

You wanna talk Machado, I'm all ears. Bryce Harper can get lost.

[Benjamin Grimm]

My Spidey sense tells me that the Mets are going to go after McCutchen.

[smg58]

It's not that Harper can get lost so much as we really don't need another left-handed corner outfielder. I suppose you could argue that's he's played some center, but the outfielders the Mets currently have all had a better year defensively (at least according to the Fielding Bible and Fangraphs). Conforto had a comparable year in 2017, and Nimmo had a better year this year. You could plug multiple much bigger holes for what Harper would cost.

Or you could go for Machado instead. If we can afford to pay somebody $210M over seven years, then we can afford to bench Todd Frazier. That would be nice and simple.

[Lefty Specialist]

Machado wants to play shortstop, not third. Just saying.

[Centerfield]

Let's see what Alderson inherited:

Pitchers:
Jacob deGrom
Matt Harvey
Steven Matz
CY Winner RA Dickey (who he turned into Noah and Travis)
Jeurys Familia
Jennry Mejia (I know, but he used to be good)
Bobby Parnell (also used to be good)

He also inherited a productive and healthy Carlos Beltran that he turned into Zack Wheeler.

Position Players:
Daniel Murphy
Lucas Duda
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Justin Turner
Wilmer Flores
Juan Lagares

We should all inherit such shitty teams.

[Ceetar]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Machado wants to play shortstop, not third. Just saying.

I suspect money talks, and that part of that was his desire to be more marketable. He did put in 16 games at third with the Dodgers.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I'm not getting sucked into big-time FA signings this off-season. I just looked
at the Los Vegan odds, they list Machado to the Mets at 110-1.

[Edgy MD]

Harper signs with Philadelphia. I'm calling it.

[Lefty Specialist]

Edgy MD wrote: Harper signs with Philadelphia. I'm calling it.

Yeah, sounds logical. He could do a lot of damage in that park and Phils are willing to spend.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: Harper signs with Philadelphia. I'm calling it.

Not a bad prediction. The Braves have also shown an ability to spend, and they have a vacancy in RF with Markakis leaving. And the Dodgers and MFY's (I think) got under the cap this year, so with the re-set they can probably spend a ton.

If the MFY's lose Wednesday, the might just sign every free agent this winter.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: My Spidey sense tells me that the Mets are going to go after McCutchen.

Too early. They'll wait another year, so that McCutchen's more diminished, and most importantly, cheaper. Cheap is as cheap does. But that's Sandy's fault. /rolls eyes.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'd look at Machado as the guy who forces the Mets to trade Frazier.

If they don;t get him, I hope they get another guy who forces them to trade Frazier.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'd look at Machado as the guy who forces the Mets to trade Frazier. If they don;t get him, I hope they get another guy who forces them to trade Frazier.

I'm not as worried about who the Mets should jettison (though Bruce would top that list). But if they're already probably going to trade guys to make room for other guys, there might be a different choice than Machado anyway.

I mean, not really. You're not getting a better player than Machado and he's so young that he's a good bet to still be that good for a while. Hell, so much so that I almost wish the Mets had put in David Wright at third for the last inning yesterday so we could push the narrative of David Wright handing the 3B job to Machado for a decade and we pretending they were the only two to play there from 2005-2028.

But I digress. Sign Machado.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Sign Machado.

They'll window shop, in the end pop into Korvette's or a five 'n dime.

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: Sign Machado. They'll window shop, in the end pop into Korvette's or a five 'n dime.

we'll see. Doesn't really seem to fit the MO of the last 4 seasons but I guess the new GM will change things.

[MFS62]

d'Kong76 wrote: Sign Machado. They'll window shop, in the end pop into Korvette's or a five 'n dime.

Maybe they can find a Kor-Val brand catcher.
Later