xearlynovemberx
11/29/05, 02:15 PM
the mets are very very close to getting manny
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
By BOB KLAPISCH
SPORTS COLUMNIST
NEW YORK - Like the Times Square billboard that kept a running total of America's rising national debt, updated every 30 seconds, the Mets' own dollar meter keeps surging upward. Last week, they added Carlos Delgado ($13.4 million a year), on Monday it was Billy Wagner ($10.5 million per) and next it could be Manny Ramirez and the $57 million he's owed through 2008.
The sudden economic explosion at Shea is staggering, even by Yankee standards. The Mets could start the 2006 season with a payroll that exceeds $120 million, a 25 percent increase over this year. Unlike the Bombers, however, the Mets can't milk an in-house cash cow like the YES Network, which puts some $75 million a year into George Steinbrenner's pocket.
The Mets' own broadcast venture, SportsNet New York, is in its infancy, which means the Wilpon family, which owns 65 percent of the network, is busy propping up the project instead of the other way around. Their solution is to pour tens of millions into the roster, and for that, Fred and Jeff Wilpon are the Mets' real MVPs this winter.
It would've been easy for the Mets to keep pace with solid franchises such as the Braves or Angels, spending no more than $85 million. In a time when the Marlins are turning themselves into a Class AAA franchise, who could've really complained about the Mets holding the line? The family had every right to pocket the extra $25 million, content to keep the Mets as an 85-win team, knowing they'd still draw some 2 million fans.
But the extra cash allowed Minaya to overpay for Pedro Martinez last winter, and the spend-spend-spend mentality is driving this winter's face-lift, too. Even without Ramirez, the Mets are now playoff contenders, and the thought of adding the Red Sox' slugger has everyone at Shea talking about a genuine renaissance. Can it really happen? For Cliff Floyd, Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge, the answer is a strong "maybe."
Minaya and Sox president Larry Lucchino have agreed to speak face-to-face next week during the winter meetings in Dallas, at which point they'll wrestle with the only remaining obstacle: Who'll pay what percentage of Ramirez's salary? One Met executive said "money would have to be moved" to accommodate Manny's $19 million annual salary, but shedding Floyd's $6.6 million per would go a long way toward convincing the Wilpons to make the economic stretch.
Already, the Mets have decided that if it's only dollars that separate them from Manny, they'll find a way to bring him to Flushing. As much as the club loves Milledge's trend line, one senior official said, "You're talking about the difference between a Hall of Famer and a guy who's never played a day in the big leagues."
In other words, the Mets are moving ever closer to the Yankees' win-now philosophy, motivated entirely by their appetite for new network subscribers. Jeff Wilpon admitted as much when he said, "We want to create something exciting on the field instead of waiting for the minor-leaguers to produce."
Of course, this isn't the same thing as a credit card binge. The Mets do have $35 million coming off the books this winter, most of it from Mike Piazza's and Mike Cameron's contracts. And, thanks to a quirk in the Basic Agreement, the Mets won't have to pay any luxury tax in 2006, since no team that stayed below the threshold in 2005 will be subject to any tax next year.
Still, no one required that windfall to go directly to Minaya's operating budget. But Wilpon knows who'll be watching his Mets in '06 - hopeful Shea loyalists, as well as die-hard Yankee fans who'd love to see the Mets crash and burn.
"We're doing this because we want to be relevant in New York," Wilpon said. For one brilliant afternoon, the city was indeed his. Delgado was in town for his first news conference, smiling easily, deftly navigating around the delicate "God Bless America" issue. Hours later, Wagner's contract was finalized, too. The Mets still don't have the Yankees' marquee-firepower - and certainly can't match their October legacy - but the gap is closing.
Interestingly, Steinbrenner is absorbing the Mets' metamorphosis with uncharacteristic restraint. A Yankee insider said The Boss was "very cool, very even-tempered" on Monday, even as his Bombers appeared inert by comparison. While the Yankees are weighing whether to trust Bubba Crosby as a final option in center field, Minaya was inching closer to Ramirez with ownership's full blessing.
For all the incompetence that's sabotaged the Mets in recent years, they finally have a formula that makes sense. The engine is fueled by cash, obviously, cash, but the trust-factor between Minaya and the Wilpons is nearly as important.
"We know that once Omar comes to us with a player he wants, he's not going to knee jerk and say he wants someone else," Jeff Wilpon said. "And Fred has never said no to a player move."
That kind of cooperation is a general manager's dream. So is the deep war chest. The Mets are spending in a Yankee-like frenzy, and the result promises to make Greater New York a two-tiered baseball hub again.
Sounding like a man with unfinished business, his pen poised to write another check, Jeff Wilpon smiled said, "We're getting there."
then on the side it says
Mets' stock market
Going up
Manny Ramirez
The Mets imagine their version of Manny and David Ortiz, pairing the slugger with Carlos Delgado.
Ramon Hernandez/Bengie Molina
The next step - offers are out already and the first one to say yes is in.
Going down
Alfonso Soriano
With sluggers already in place, the Mets can live without him.
A.J. Burnett
Can't have enough pitching, but the money is going elsewhere.
- Steve Popper
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
By BOB KLAPISCH
SPORTS COLUMNIST
NEW YORK - Like the Times Square billboard that kept a running total of America's rising national debt, updated every 30 seconds, the Mets' own dollar meter keeps surging upward. Last week, they added Carlos Delgado ($13.4 million a year), on Monday it was Billy Wagner ($10.5 million per) and next it could be Manny Ramirez and the $57 million he's owed through 2008.
The sudden economic explosion at Shea is staggering, even by Yankee standards. The Mets could start the 2006 season with a payroll that exceeds $120 million, a 25 percent increase over this year. Unlike the Bombers, however, the Mets can't milk an in-house cash cow like the YES Network, which puts some $75 million a year into George Steinbrenner's pocket.
The Mets' own broadcast venture, SportsNet New York, is in its infancy, which means the Wilpon family, which owns 65 percent of the network, is busy propping up the project instead of the other way around. Their solution is to pour tens of millions into the roster, and for that, Fred and Jeff Wilpon are the Mets' real MVPs this winter.
It would've been easy for the Mets to keep pace with solid franchises such as the Braves or Angels, spending no more than $85 million. In a time when the Marlins are turning themselves into a Class AAA franchise, who could've really complained about the Mets holding the line? The family had every right to pocket the extra $25 million, content to keep the Mets as an 85-win team, knowing they'd still draw some 2 million fans.
But the extra cash allowed Minaya to overpay for Pedro Martinez last winter, and the spend-spend-spend mentality is driving this winter's face-lift, too. Even without Ramirez, the Mets are now playoff contenders, and the thought of adding the Red Sox' slugger has everyone at Shea talking about a genuine renaissance. Can it really happen? For Cliff Floyd, Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge, the answer is a strong "maybe."
Minaya and Sox president Larry Lucchino have agreed to speak face-to-face next week during the winter meetings in Dallas, at which point they'll wrestle with the only remaining obstacle: Who'll pay what percentage of Ramirez's salary? One Met executive said "money would have to be moved" to accommodate Manny's $19 million annual salary, but shedding Floyd's $6.6 million per would go a long way toward convincing the Wilpons to make the economic stretch.
Already, the Mets have decided that if it's only dollars that separate them from Manny, they'll find a way to bring him to Flushing. As much as the club loves Milledge's trend line, one senior official said, "You're talking about the difference between a Hall of Famer and a guy who's never played a day in the big leagues."
In other words, the Mets are moving ever closer to the Yankees' win-now philosophy, motivated entirely by their appetite for new network subscribers. Jeff Wilpon admitted as much when he said, "We want to create something exciting on the field instead of waiting for the minor-leaguers to produce."
Of course, this isn't the same thing as a credit card binge. The Mets do have $35 million coming off the books this winter, most of it from Mike Piazza's and Mike Cameron's contracts. And, thanks to a quirk in the Basic Agreement, the Mets won't have to pay any luxury tax in 2006, since no team that stayed below the threshold in 2005 will be subject to any tax next year.
Still, no one required that windfall to go directly to Minaya's operating budget. But Wilpon knows who'll be watching his Mets in '06 - hopeful Shea loyalists, as well as die-hard Yankee fans who'd love to see the Mets crash and burn.
"We're doing this because we want to be relevant in New York," Wilpon said. For one brilliant afternoon, the city was indeed his. Delgado was in town for his first news conference, smiling easily, deftly navigating around the delicate "God Bless America" issue. Hours later, Wagner's contract was finalized, too. The Mets still don't have the Yankees' marquee-firepower - and certainly can't match their October legacy - but the gap is closing.
Interestingly, Steinbrenner is absorbing the Mets' metamorphosis with uncharacteristic restraint. A Yankee insider said The Boss was "very cool, very even-tempered" on Monday, even as his Bombers appeared inert by comparison. While the Yankees are weighing whether to trust Bubba Crosby as a final option in center field, Minaya was inching closer to Ramirez with ownership's full blessing.
For all the incompetence that's sabotaged the Mets in recent years, they finally have a formula that makes sense. The engine is fueled by cash, obviously, cash, but the trust-factor between Minaya and the Wilpons is nearly as important.
"We know that once Omar comes to us with a player he wants, he's not going to knee jerk and say he wants someone else," Jeff Wilpon said. "And Fred has never said no to a player move."
That kind of cooperation is a general manager's dream. So is the deep war chest. The Mets are spending in a Yankee-like frenzy, and the result promises to make Greater New York a two-tiered baseball hub again.
Sounding like a man with unfinished business, his pen poised to write another check, Jeff Wilpon smiled said, "We're getting there."
then on the side it says
Mets' stock market
Going up
Manny Ramirez
The Mets imagine their version of Manny and David Ortiz, pairing the slugger with Carlos Delgado.
Ramon Hernandez/Bengie Molina
The next step - offers are out already and the first one to say yes is in.
Going down
Alfonso Soriano
With sluggers already in place, the Mets can live without him.
A.J. Burnett
Can't have enough pitching, but the money is going elsewhere.
- Steve Popper