I have been waiting for days to write about David Beckham and his latest act of selfishness, but something keeps on coming up. Today's story: Mets Owner Fred Wilpon blasting the team's core in a recent interview with the New Yorker. I know you are interested in my take on it, so I thought about it long and hard while mowing my lawn tonight.
I think the first thing we all need to realize is that as owner of the team, Wilpon is allowed to say whatever he wants to. He's paying the bills - he can say (and do) what he wants. I get the sense that we all agree to that...but I think what has a lot of Mets fans (and media) riled up is whether he should be saying it.
For those who have not read his comments yet, I direct you to the article, which is basically a rag to riches tale meant to paint Wilpon as a hard-working guy who was unknowingly ripped up by best friend Bernie Madoff. However when talking about the current team, Wilpon had the following to say...
-about David Wright: "Really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar"
-about Jose Reyes: "He thinks he's going to get Carl Crawford money. He's had everything wrong with him. He won't get it."
-about Carlos Beltran: "We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series. He's 65 to 70 percent of what he was."
It's definitely some powerful stuff and I think if we all take a step back, the exact thing the entire fan base is thinking. We all know that Carlos Beltran has been underwhelming. even in his first three years when he was healthy and productive, he never lived up to his contract. We all know that Jose Reyes has been injury prone. Sure there were a couple of amazing years, but there has also been a lot of time lost due to injuries. Add in his career .336 on base percentage and maybe, just maybe he doesn't deserve a Carl Crawford type deal. As for Wright, he had the chance to be a superstar, but something happened to him after 2006. He stopped hitting the ball to the opposite field. He started to shoulder more of the burden and is swinging for the fences every time. On defense he has continued to let bad throws get in the way of becoming an elite fielder. This team's core is flawed.
So let's get to the question of whether Wilpon was right in calling out the stars a quarter of the way into the season. I'm not a fan of Mike Francesa, but I think his take on it is right on. "It’s funny, you’ll hear people annoyed, but this is the kind of stuff that people have demanded of Fred for a long time. They say, ‘Why doesn’t he make the Mets accountable, like George Steinbrenner,’ who has called players a toad, said they ‘spit the bit,’ he called Dave Winfield ‘Mr. May.’ Steinbrenner had many, many players in his sights through the years and every one loved it, but that was George. It’s not Fred. Fred has this nice, patriarch, grandfatherly, nice-guy image. Two things you’ve heard from Mets fans that really are the knock on Fred are 1) that he doesn’t care about winning – and here you saw a little different side of that ...”
So yeah, maybe he is finally tired of losing. Maybe in his old age he is finally going to make people accountable. I think this is a good start. I mean, personally, I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of blaming Minaya. I'm tired of blaming the coach. I want the players to shoulder some of the blame. I want to have players that can handle the spotlight. If Reyes and Beltran are offended, then so be it. They are gone after the year. The only thing that could go wrong is if they get into a funk and see their trade value go down. As for Wright, I don't see this being a problem. I don't know if he is part of the future or not (I really do hope so though) but I don't think this is going to affect him. His dad was a cop...he's fine with a little tough love.
What about the other players? How do they proceed after Wilpon said that they were a "shitty team?" Well, I'm not a master motivator, but Terry Collins is. How can he not use this as motivation to get the most out of his players? It's so easy, it writes itself: "The owner is against you. The fans are turning on you. The media thinks you stink. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters are the 25 men in the locker room. Believe in each other. Play for each other. Win for each other."
Now I don't have a segue for discussing the long term effects of Wilpon's rant, but honestly, who cares if free agents will be turned off by signing with us? Steinbrenner could get away with calling people out because the Yankees won. The Mets don't have that luxury, so it is entirely possible that combined with a decreased payroll that no one will want to come to Queens. Let me ask you...does it really matter? I mean, what have Beltran, K-Rod, Bay, Delgado, Santana and Glavine gotten us over the past 8 years? Answer: 1 NL East championship, No World Series appearances and certainly NO World Series titles. Maybe we need to detox and let the youngsters play. I know they're hungry. I know they want to play for the Mets. Why not turn the team over to Ike, Thole, Turner, Tejada, F-Mart, Wilmer Flores, Niese, Gee, Matt Harvey, Mejia and whatever they get in the Reyes and Beltran trades? what do we have to lose? I mean, maybe they stink, but maybe, just maybe they get a good thing going and make us feel good about the blue and orange again?
So yeah, I have no problem with Wilpon's comments. At this point, what do we have to lose? Of course though, I could be out to lunch, so I would love to get others opinions on it.
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