Ceetar

I don't get worked up about them too much, huge or tiny, or fairish, good players/teams will tend to win wherever they play. I think they're fine though, the moving in of the wall in LF particularly, where sometimes it'd steal a homer from guys that legitimately yanked one down the line but not quite hugging the line. Still plays a little big, but you don't really get as many "woah, I thought he crushed that" moments anymore. If there's any sort of letdown for players thinking they hit one and flying out, that's mostly alleviated without creating the opposite effect of pitchers thinking they had enough movement to keep a guy from squaring up on the ball and it leaving the park anyway.

Edgy MD wrote: His distinction is gross vs. net. They made 80 million gross (before accounting for expenses). They lost 10 million net (after accounting for expenses. But of course, that 80 million figure is rather goofy. They made far more. And they spent far more than the team's payroll. right, it's goofiness is a large part as to why we really have no idea what the financial picture is. I think that that's strictly ticket/stadium sales versus payroll. But I'm not even sure it's accounting for the deals with Aramark or Union Square Hospitality Group. Hell, we don't even know if the Mets get a cut of hot dog sales or get a flat fee from Aramark. It might not even count ad sales or parking fees.

seawolf17 wrote: Jose Molina, I believe, is the Patron Saint of the Framers. so glad the Yankees let him go.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I think I lost you at your first sentence. Doesn't losing $10M mean losimg $10M? Payroll would have had to have been zero for the Mets to have made $80M. they spent 90 and lost 10. so how much did they make? (Gross, not net) 80. what's payroll currently at for 2014. $47. The Mets are currently estimated to make $33 million in 2014.

Edgy MD wrote: Yeah, I try and get across that much of it may be pie in the sky, but it's five wins, not five WAR, as they're not comparing him to a theoretical replacement, but to John Buck himself. well, WAB anyway.

This framing stuff is fascinating. I need to read up some more on the stats. Quantifying it of course is still way up in the air, so 5 WAR might be a bit much, but damn..if he can hit a little having a good framer is a big deal. And hell, Wheeler is still a little wild at time. But if his strike zone is bigger with d'Arnaud (hmm..Wheeler DID get better later in the season..) and Gee is a control/corners guy anyway..hell, even a little offense goes a long way if d'Arnaud can improve what was already a pretty good rotation.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: After his stint on the bike, [Jeff Wilpon'll] hit the computer and scan the net, Googling for everything related to the Mets that day, until exhausting his search to the point where he has nothing left to read anymore. I wonder if Jeff lurks here. Sounds like he would. He probably hates me if he does. (Like just about everybody else here) I know for a fact they get a digest of Mets news from the major places, but whether they get one from blogs/twitter/forums I don't know.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Ceetar wrote: expected to lose more than 10 million, and waaaay more than that coming off the books implies the Mets have a lot of money they can spend to break even. Both articles stress that the Mets are able to keep losses low only by slashing costs (i.e., payroll) rather than by increasing revenues. So I'm not so sure that I agree with you there. It appears to me that the Mets will need to keep payroll at current Mickey Mouse levels to avoid losing significantly more money than they lost in 2013. sure. Payroll was about 90 million this year. If they lost 10, that means they made 80 million. (Of course, that's a sketchy number as no one knows if it includes naming rights (probably not) or even MLB licensing money) Megdal floats ~$47 million after arbitration. rough, because guys might get non-tendered or agree to deals slightly lower than expected via arb. Fine. That's still $33 million dollars covered by revenue, that the Mets don't need to 'find money' for or be covered by the Wilpons. Of course, that's assuming they're assuming equal attendance, but if they spend even some of that I doubt they lose much in that dept. So again, it boils down to if the Wilpons were budgeting way out years ago with the expectation of being able to pull money from the Mets accounts in 2014+ by never signing anybody. It's possible, but I don't know if that's the case. Additionally, as the Wilpons desire to refinance and creatively account probably hinges somewhat on the amount of money they actually have, they might be better off projecting a 0 balance from the Mets. Especially if keeping them is a priority. "See Chase? We have no expected income from that, your best interest is to refinance". Hence the "Alderson is free to spend" meaning he's free to spend Mets money, as he's always been free to, there just hasn't been any. Now there is. Let's see.

expected to lose more than 10 million, and waaaay more than that coming off the books implies the Mets have a lot of money they can spend to break even. Is anyone really suggesting that the Wilpons will be planning to reach into Mets profits to make payments? It seems if they were that strapped that they were banking on the team being profitable in 2013 so they could milk money off the top, they'd have lost control years ago. It is looking like the Mets will be profitable next year. That seems to be part of the plan of hiring Alderson to start with and it's a good base to work with. See? Things are looking up.

Well sure, we can't solve all problems/positions via free agency. But there are trades, there are trusting other guys. If we're gonna roll with Lagares and his complete lack of offense (but hey, he could improve too) and sign only one slugging OF, makes a lot more sense to me to put Duda in LF where the defense becomes less important based on having a good defensive CF instead of statuesque guys like Ankiel. Duda's a + offensive player and the Mets need that. Of course, if you're gonna have to rely on guys already in the system having bounce-back or break-out type years, Ike Davis has more talent and ability than den Dekker, Lagares, Nieuwenhuis, Brown, Young Jr, etc. Might as well try to find the OF and roll with 1B then. More than one way to skin a cat of course, and a lot depends on what the, financial or otherwise, price is for the pieces available elsewhere. Choo has seemingly been floated as 'perfect' for the Mets for years now. He had a really good year this year, seems like buying high, and it seems like one of those pet FA like Orlando Hudson or Jason Marquis that people romanticize as a good fit for years leading up to the time when the actual organization has to decide who/what is a good fit.

Vic Sage wrote: We need a power-hitting RFer, a SS with at least decent offensive production, and reliable production at 1B. I'll take Abreu at 1b, Perahlta at SS, and with that kind of offense from the SS, then take a flyer on a bounce-back from Murphy in RF. need a left fielder too, and probably a center fielder.

metsmarathon wrote: don't forget, in just 15 days, arbitration opens up, and you all can lay a serious financial whooping on me! whoop whoop!

Frayed Knot wrote: The Cruz question comes up as a contrast to the Giants choosing NOT to re-employ Melky Cabrera when his suspension ran out. The Giants, of course, won the WS without him. The Indians started using Jhonny Peralta about a week ago (although not usually at SS) and presumably will do so in however long their playoff run lasts. That was the Tigers. And not only did they play him, they played him in left field, a position he'd never played before even in the minors until I guess a week or two ago.

Edgy MD wrote: Orange guys should all have options. But I'm seeing a lot of disagreement about the option stati of Davis and Duda. The report above also claims that Scot Atchison doesn't have enough time on his card to qualify as a free agent, which is some darn surprising news. They specifically brought up Duda when they did to avoid burning the option this year, so he definitely has one. Or was that to delay arbitration? That was Tejada with the year of control stuff right? So many roster machinations going on this year.. As for Davis.. I trust @tpgmets on Twitter. He's usually spot on with this arbitration/options/etc stuff. He tweeted at Rubin about why Davis wouldn't have an option, seeming to think he should, but I don't think he got a response.

Edgy MD wrote: Dan Warthan also gets a two-year deal. /ceetar's head explodes I was expected it. we all know Sandy isn't infallible in his decision making. Edgy MD wrote: Alderson on whether the Mets could award a $100 million contract: "That�s more of a strategic question than a resource question." Fantastic. Part answer, part deflection. He'd make a great evil genius. Puma quotes slightly differently: Mike Puma @NYPost_Mets Alderson on possibility of signing a $100M player: "It's not out of the question, but will we do it? That's more of a strategic question."

Gwreck wrote: metirish wrote: IIRC Stubhub sets the price when you submit a ticket to be sold, based on comps with similar tickets. I know it did when I had a ticket to sell for a concert(it didn't sell") No. The seller chooses the price. The comps to similar tickets is for the seller's reference. there's a minimum though ($6 i think)

Edgy MD wrote: You have me up until that last paragraph. The third party knows what they're doing and have compooters minimizing their risk. Every dollar they lose selling you a discounted Mets ticket, I'm sure they gain back ten times over selling a seat to U2/My Morning Jacket at $285. A charitable thought for them is nice, but I don't think they need it. Especially at this point, most of those third party people are NOT U2/My Morning Jacket resellers, they're just other fans that bought season tickets because for some reason they like their 10% discount and knowing their section and all that jazz and can't get to every game or try to resell a couple of minimize the annual cost. On the other hand, it's these same people that would balk if the Mets put every ticket on sale for $5 in September. And the Mets don't want them thinking about how much more reasonable it almost always is to buy individually and create your own plan (at least for the non-full season stuff) because they'd much rather have their money in the bank in October than sporadically throughout the season. Well sure, it doesn't address the credibility but really no one (Mets or other franchises/sports) cares about credibility when you've got the demand. I think perhaps scalpers, and amateur scalpers (guys that buy 15 game plans with the intention of selling the Yankees/Openers to pay for the others or selling the others to pay for the Marquee games and the like) masked how bad the situation was after 2009 and 2010. So many bought with new stadium and good team in place expecting to make money. So while 'in the house' attendance was down, the tickets were still sold and the money spent. But those people never had intentions of going to the games, and it took a little longer for the demand to dissipate from the primary market. Suddenly people stopped renewing after 2009 was not a fluke, and the Mets were perhaps shocked at how many of them didn't convert to lesser plans or day of game sales. It sucks that they gauge us for the games we want to see and the best deals are for the midweek games, but I'm not sure I can complain about that. The midweek Yankee game probably shocked them, at both stadiums, wouldn't be surprised to see the premium prices drop slightly next year, but the train charges me more during rush hour, the parking lots cost more, a movie ticket is more in the evening. The bridge tolls are more during rush hour.. Hotels on the beach cost more in the summer...the premium stuff is always going to be overpriced.

Edgy MD wrote: Anybody else having trouble seeing the image? yes, but the filters here at work are really crappy, so I'm only 50/50 that it's on your end.

the only thing they need to do is win. That's 99% of the attendance/revenue and that 1% 'everyday low price' is probably not worth giving up the added revenue of pricing the good games higher. If the Mets win more than 80 games next year, 2015 attendance will at least approach 3 million again. No matter how or what they market it or what they price it at.

Ceetar wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Oh, and superclassy move by Terry jogging out to CF pregame and acknowledging the 7 Line fans who filled the Big Apple seats. Not a huge fan of the mgr, but he pulls one out of his hat now and again. Way to go. Terry's probably the second classiest guy on the team. During the close play at first that ended the..5th? where the runner dropped his helmet and what looked like a shin guard, Wright while jogging off the field picked it up for him and tossed it to him. (He dropped it.) Wright also was (presumably) thanking the umpires after the game.

MFS62 wrote: MFS62 wrote: I'll welcome him back as long as he doesn't bring Hudgens with him. Hudgens isn't one of TC's guys, he's one of Sandy's guys...and from the sounds of it, his approach is pretty much what Sandy preaches (let pitches go by until you have 2 strikes on you...and then still don't swing because the guy may throw like a little league pitcher that is more likely to throw 4 balls than 3 called strikes...this approach works great for 300 pound gorilla Lucas Duda, who sports a .385 OBP despite hitting .200 with a .300 slugging percentage with no speed on the basepath)... He has done a good job teaching the players to wait until they get a decent pitch to hit. But once they get one they should be able to handle, they don't seem to be able to get hits. Is it the technique? I don't know. But I can't think of one hitter who has gotten better under Hudgens' coaching. Later Well, Duda depending on how you look at it. Eric Young Jr. Ronny Cedeno. David Wright, as compared to immediately before. Ike both did and didn't. he had two really bad halves and two really good ones. seems like Hudgens should either get both credit and blame, or none of it. none of it's where I lean. Most of these players are bad. Maybe this philosophy didn't jive with some guys that will never be good at pitch recognition (Nieuwenhuis, Lagares, Murphy?) and are better served expanding the strike zone and just doing what they do. Murphy's got great contact skills, so he manages, but the other two might just not be major league hitters.

themetfairy wrote: metirish wrote: The 7 Line crew are great, made lots of noise, how does one go about joining them? Buy a ticket and show up at one of their events. It's that easy. @the7line They do about a dozen games a year group sales, Opening Day among them. They're organizing a trip to SF next year.

G-Fafif wrote: Oh, and superclassy move by Terry jogging out to CF pregame and acknowledging the 7 Line fans who filled the Big Apple seats. Not a huge fan of the mgr, but he pulls one out of his hat now and again. Way to go. Terry's probably the second classiest guy on the team. During the close play at first that ended the..5th? where the runner dropped his helmet and what looked like a shin guard, Wright while jogging off the field picked it up for him and tossed it to him. (He dropped it.) Wright also was (presumably) thanking the umpires after the game.

metirish wrote: Loved Mike's line about teaching his son how to hit " and I told Jeff that the Mets will have first crack at him....... But he won't be cheap", big cheers. Leiter gave a nice tribute from the MLB studio, Surprised Zeil wasn't there and Lenny Harris. Tributes from Chris Christie, and ..The KISS guy..Neil Simmons? inbetween innings.