My thoughts on two great columns about the lawsuit against the Wilpons

Bob Klapisch makes a very important point about the lawsuit against the Wilpons:

"Let’s stop and remind ourselves there are two sides to every story and Wilpon, no matter what you think of him, deserves the chance to defend himself in court. But it’s just as important to note that Castergine doesn’t fit the profile of your average gold digger.

She’s an Ivy Leaguer out of Penn, a former Division I athlete who came to the Mets in 2010 after working for the Philadelphia Flyers, Orlando Magic and Boston Bruins. Castergine quickly climbed the Mets’ ladder and became the first female senior VP in their 52-year history."

He sums it up with:

"Me? I believe what Castergine alleges in the lawsuit. Every single word."

Keep in mind, Bob Klapisch is a sports writer that has had access to the team's ownership over the years. While he's not privy to internal conversations, he has spoken to people involved with the team in his many years as a sports writer.  Based on his impressions dealing with them, he believes the lawsuit to be true. That's the part that's most troubling for the Wilpons. It's also the part that makes fans tired of the spoiled son of a mediocre owner very hopeful that it could spell his doom once and for all.

Additionally, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports makes equally scathing points:

"For years, Selig's soft spot for the Wilpon family has allowed him to overlook their need for a loan to stay afloat amid the Madoff chaos, their mismanagement of a jewel franchise into the sort that operates like a low-revenue pauper, their public flubs that made #LOLMets a thing. Selig enabled the Mets knowing majority owner Fred Wilpon planned on gifting the franchise to Jeff, an underqualified bully who never would have sniffed sports-franchise ownership were he not bequeathed his last name."

"...Wilpon carried himself for years, as the cock of the walk, the all-knowing executive who, in reality, knew only how to take a proud franchise and run it into the ground. He directs the Mets with the vision of a mole, and people around the sport – from players to agents to executives – wish he would learn to burrow into the ground like one, too."

Notice how Passan also cited "players to agents to executives" when writing about Jeff Wilpon. I think this is just starting. I don't see it going away soon, unless Jeff Wilpon goes away very soon to rectify it.

Dear Misters Wilpon, the town is here for the taking. Take it back for the Mets. | Mets Police

Well said Shannon. Well said.

Jeff Wilpon and the myth of a free-spending Mets winter to come | Capital New York

Howard Megdal pours some cold water on the hopes of Met fans thinking the club is capable of spending money this offseason:

"So now consider the real winter ahead for the New York Mets owners. They have less than a year to either find a way to pay J.P. Morgan Chase $320 million, or convince the bank to give them more time. And they'll have to do so with more than just a Fred Wilpon press conference sunnily declaring his money problems a thing of the past. If the bank believes, unlike Standard and Poor's, that the Mets are on the cusp of profitability, or that a forced sale now will produce less revenue than giving ownership more time, then a stay of execution is possible.

But it's more complicated than that. Any additional time built into this loan needs to also pass muster with the group holding the more than $600 million in debt against ownership's S.N.Y. holdings in 2015. The structures of the two loans, both held by ownership's parent company, will need to be reconciled.

At that point, can the Mets spend money to sign new players? In theory, if J.P. Morgan Chase decides that an infusion of new talent is worth seeing a bunch of money go to, say, Shin-Soo Choo ahead of the bank to help turn the Mets profitable. And if the S.N.Y. creditors agree."

5 Truths for Mets Fans in 2012 (and my take on each of them)

A fan op-ed submitted on Mets Merized Online summed up a number of important points about the 2012 New York Mets. I don't have any experience to comment on #5 (5. Shake Shack is Ridiculously Overrated) because I have often looked at the Shake Shack line and preferred to watch baseball during that time instead (you know, like you're supposed to do at a baseball game). However, #'s 1 through 4 are pretty accurate, which are listed here with my thoughts on each:

1. The 2012 Mets Don’t Suck - They are not the worst team in the National League and have the unfortunate position of being in the NL East with teams that have not weakened. I think the Toronto Blue Jays can relate to the Mets' predicament.

2. The Mets Pitching Staff (Including Mike Pelfrey) Doesn’t Suck - The pitching staff's key issue is health (for Johan Santana and Jonathan Niese) and effectiveness (for R.A. Dickey and Dillon Gee). If Johan stays healthy (big IF) and if Niese endures a full season, they will be reliably solid. Pelfrey is just Pelfrey, so consistent that he underwhelms everyone. Dickey needs to stay with the hard knuckler and hope Josh Thole manages it catch it 95% of the time. Gee needs to show he has the smarts to make adjustments since he doesn't have the stuff to blow anyone away. And if he fails, hopefully Jeurys Familia and/or Matt Harvey aren't too far behind in Buffalo.

3. The Offense Will Score a Lot of Runs - Same as the pitching, health is a big key here. Also, people forget that Ruben Tejada is just 22 years old. As Patrick Flood pointed out recently:

"Ruben Tejada, SS – Since 1961, middle infielders to have career .330 or better on-base percentages as 21-year-olds:

Delino DeShields, Joe Morgan, Alex Rodriguez, Jerry Browne, Lou Whitaker, Starlin Castro, Willie Randolph, Edgar Renteria, Rod Carew, Ruben Tejada, Roberto Alomar, Elvis Andrus, Sonny Jackson, Mike Caruso, Alan Trammell, Garry Templeton, Jim Fregosi.

The minimum is 500 plate appearances; that’s not bad company for Tejada. Don’t bet against players who can handle the majors as a 21-year-old."

That's pretty good company for young Ruben and of the group, he is often compared to Elvis Andrus, who is a cornerstone for the two-time defending American League Champs.

4. Fred Wilpon is Not the Worst Owner in Sports - Clearly the "lesser of all evils" argument. I may not have liked Fred Wilpon's meddling at times but it seems Sandy Alderson is more likely to push back and any of the previous General Managers, which is a good sign. That's exactly what the Yankees got when they promoted Brian Cashman to GM in the George Steinbrenner years.

All-in-all, a great post. I would add one more point (or perhaps replace #5, since the writer seems to be in the minority on the whole Shake Shack issue): The $50 million salary purge was a good thing, not a bad one. There was a lot of dead weight on last year's payroll between Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, not to mention the expiring contracts of Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez, which were replaced by cheaper options while losing some but not a lot of production.

Losing Jose Reyes hurt, not because the Mets didn't match that ridiculous offer but because that ridiculous offer came from a divisional rival. If he had gone to the Angels or Tigers (who may have been better off on the field and financially if they had signed Reyes instead of Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder), I doubt anyone would have been upset. Fans are worried about him hitting triples against the Mets at CitiField, which is something fans will get over, much like Met fans did when Mike Piazza crushed two home runs against the Mets as a San Diego Padre in 2006. He got his ovation and curtain call and rode off into the sunset, only to reappear in a Mets jersey at the official closing of Shea Stadium.

The funny Chinese animation version of the Mets owners settling the Madoff victims suit

That's cruel what Irving Picard does to Mr. Met. The rest is pure comedy. ENJOY!

The best analysis I've read on the whole Wilpon/Picard settlement

Toby Hyde of Mets Minor League Blog provides a phenomenal analysis of the reasons why the Wilpon family settled with the trustee for the Bernie Madoff victims. If you read one piece that clearly lays out the who, what, when, where, why, and how the settlement was reached, this is it.