Madoff's Curveball" by Jeffrey Toobin & other Wilpon stories

[batmagadanleadoff]

From this week's long New Yorker article on Wilpon and the Mets which I am right now reading -- but paused to post this here quote:

Fred Wilpon on Reyes and Wright:

In the game against the Astros, Jose Reyes, leading off for the Mets, singled sharply up the middle, then stole second. �He�s a racehorse,� Wilpon said. When Reyes started with the Mets, in 2003, just before his twentieth birthday, he was pegged as a future star. Injuries have limited him to a more pedestrian career, though he�s off to a good start this season. �He thinks he�s going to get Carl Crawford money,� Wilpon said, referring to the Red Sox� signing of the former Tampa Bay player to a seven-year, $142-million contract. �He�s had everything wrong with him,� Wilpon said of Reyes. �He won�t get it.� After the catcher, Josh Thole, struck out, David Wright came to the plate. Wright, the team�s marquee attraction, has started the season dreadfully at the plate. �He�s pressing,� Wilpon said. �A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar.�

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/30/110530fa_fact_toobin#ixzz1N9EKqKUR

[bmfc1]

"We're a shitty team"

Ike Davis, the sophomore first baseman and the one pleasant surprise for the Mets so far this season, was up next. �Good hitter,� Wilpon said. �Shitty team�good hitter.� Davis struck out. Angel Pagan flied out to right, ending the Mets� threat. �Lousy clubs�that�s what happens.� Wilpon sighed. The Astros put three runs on the board in the top of the second. �We�re snakebitten, baby,� Wilpon said.

[HahnSolo]

Oh, mother of god.

[metirish]

Read this on the train in , brilliant stuff from Toobin , reading it again to let it soak in.

love this line from Toobin

Wilpon must prove that he was a dupe rather than a crook

[G-Fafif]

Fascinating article. In his Fred from Locust Valley mode, he actually sounds like a Mets fan, which is something it's never occurred to me he is. Of course, like many of the Freds from Locust Valley who call Steve Somers, I'm not sure I'd want him owning my team.

Madoff: What a sociopath. Even more so from his comments.

Koufax: Must be sorry he stayed in touch with Fred.

Rich guys giving themselves clubby nicknames and globehopping in search of better weather: Cringe.

Pedro Beato: "Who's that weird old guy yelling at me about Brooklyn?"

The Dodger overkill: At least he admits it was.

Sell. Find Jeff something else to do with the rest of his life.

[Ceetar]

He does sound like a Mets fan. But I don't care about his baseball opinions, we already knew they were poor and he's admitted himself in October with the Alderson stuff that he's not smart enough to make baseball decisions. Well fine, gimme your money and let Alderson do it (and if you don't have money, get lost). Falls back to the autonomy thing.

Actually, reading that quote about Reyes is actually rather tame. Carton and the radio/twitter were blowing it up, but all he said was he's not getting paid as much as Crawford, which people have been touting as the 'ceiling'. Has Reyes? maybe, but it could just be the media too. Is it any different then Cashman telling Jeter that he should test the waters?

[Guest themetfairy]

I'm just shaking my head here.

G-Fafif - you nailed it.

[metirish]

it occurs to me that this is not a very good way for Fred to drum up business at the gates.

[seawolf17]

I'm just shaking my head. It's crazy.

[smg58]

metirish wrote: it occurs to me that this is not a very good way for Fred to drum up business at the gates.

It's also not a very good way to drum up confidence in his players.

[metsmarathon]

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Stunning (and I'm only a third of the way through). Though I suppose it speaks for his propensity to have not known wtf he was doing when investing, or anything else.

[metirish]

Jeff in his box at Citi showing off models of private jets ......nice

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

At least I have a new sig line

[Centerfield]

Holy crap.

[batmagadanleadoff]

"Don't worry, Dad. As soon as Bernie gets out jail and starts a new fund for us to invest with, everything'll turn out OK".




"What, Dad? What's with the Herman Munster face?"


"How come you never smile?"


"What are you talking about?"

[Benjamin Grimm]

I have such Wilpon fatigue.

[metirish]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I have such Wilpon fatigue.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Fred Wilpon wrote: [Reyes] thinks he�s going to get Carl Crawford money.... He�s had everything wrong with him.... He won�t get it.

When I read this quote, I thought that Fred meant that no team would pay Reyes that kind of money --- not just the Mets.

[Centerfield]

You just don't say stuff like that.

What a fucking idiot.

[TransMonk]

Maybe he shouldn't have said what he said...but, personally, I don't disagree with any of his statements.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Centerfield wrote: You just don't say stuff like that. What a fucking idiot.

Fred just made it that much easier for Wright to go elsewhere when his time is up here. Players don't forget comments like Fred's.

[metirish]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Fred Wilpon wrote: [Reyes] thinks he�s going to get Carl Crawford money.... He�s had everything wrong with him.... He won�t get it. When I read this quote, I thought that Fred meant that no team would pay Reyes that kind of money --- not just the Mets.

Is Steinbrenner said it he'd be alive obviously but it would be seen as a hard line stance....nothing wrong with it I think.

[Edgy MD]

Centerfield wrote: You just don't say stuff like that. What a fucking idiot.

Well, folks do all the time. Fans do all the time.

But owners don't say that about their company and employees while on the record. Makes me wonder if his mental capacity is on the wane.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Fred also said: "Seaver thinks we're going to erect a statue in his honor at Citi Field. But he blew too many no-hitters. He's no Sandy Koufax. He won't get it".

[MFS62]

It answered one question that had never been answered before, but had been danced-around:
Omar did have full autonomy to make those moves (since Fred blames the "schmuck").

Later

[metirish]

I think by that schmuck he meant himself.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, judging by the rest of the article, it's hard to blame a dimming mind. More likely frustrations with a terrible start and lousy judgment.

Funny to see this cartoon woven into the text.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

It answered one question that had never been answered before, but had been danced-around: Omar did have full autonomy to make those moves (since Fred blames the "schmuck"). Later

No effing way he's referring to Omar there, nor does that remark answer your question.

[Centerfield]

He had to have meant those comments to be off the record. No?