“Neyer joined ESPN.com in 1996, and since then he’s written more words for this site than anybody.”
- Neyer’s ESPN.com bio
The news is finally out: Rob Neyer is ending his 15 year run at ESPN:
Today, I hand off this space to whoever’s next. I don’t know yet who is next, but I’m highly confident that this blog and the SweetSpot Network will soon be in excellent hands.
I’ve known about this move for about a week or so now and despite this, I am still a bit slackjawed. Like most of you, I began reading Rob daily back when he started with ESPN so many years ago. I’ve pretty much read everything he’s written. I, and others, haven’t always agreed with everything, but say this about the man: he’s fair and he’s thoughtful.
Rob was among the first, if not the first, to bring sports blogging into the mainstream. For that, we should all be grateful for his contributions to the MLB community. I know I am.
(click “view full post” to read more)
Phil Mushick ordered and executed the Code Red on Bud Selig today:
After all, why would the solvency and business methods of the owners of the New York Mets be any of Selig’s business? He’s only the commissioner. Why would he even care to know, let alone ask?
Selig long ago made it clear his stewardship is based on not knowing, on ignoring and not examining, on blissful neglect, thus everyone, players and owners, should get out there and grab everything they can. [...]
So what a shock it must still be to Selig that all those guys who suddenly began to hit 50, 60, 70 home runs were on drugs.
But what’s up with the Wilpons and the Mets? Hey, one thing at a time.
Ouchie.
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For all of the Wilpon-related mess, click here.
The hits just keep on coming for the Wilpons and while you might think I am enjoying this, subtly or less-than-subtly, it’s just so ugly for the game and that’s not a good thing:
For Wilpon and Katz, the episode did not garner anywhere near the public attention their entanglements with Madoff have, but there are striking similarities. Indeed, a review of court records and interviews suggests the debacle with Israel’s hedge fund, Bayou, was a painful precursor to the Madoff case.
The firm Wilpon and Katz started, Sterling Stamos, was accused of having withdrawn money from a fund run by Bayou after detecting evidence of possible fraudulent activity. The firm took out nearly all of its $30 million from the fund months before it collapsed.
And the eventual tie-in to the Madoff case:
According to two lawyers involved in the case against the Mets, the trustee, Irving H. Picard, argued in a lawsuit filed in December that the history of Wilpon and Katz’s dealings with Madoff meant they knew or should have known it might be a scheme, and that, as a result, other victims were entitled to hundreds of millions of dollars above and beyond what Wilpon and Katz might have made as profits. “Some of the legal principles adopted in Bayou are the same ones that the trustee is applying,” said Richard Kirby, the lead lawyer for the creditors committee in the Bayou case.
In other words, Picard is using the age-old “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me” mantra. Except the Wilpons got fooled twice.
Remember that whole “intend to maintain the majority, controlling interest” thing about the Wilpon’s selling a stake of the Metsies? I reserve the right to be entirely surprised, but it looks like the list of interested parties is growing but not for that minority interest that the Wilpon’s want to sell:
The son of the late civil-rights leader is uniting with some heavy hitters, including Mets legend Ed Kranepool; entrepreneur Donn Clendenon Jr., son of the 1969 Mets World Series MVP; TV executive Larry Meli; and a number of unnamed deep-pocketed investors, The Post has learned.[...]
King declined to comment on the particulars, but Meli said he and his group are looking to purchase at least 50 percent of the club. That could be a roadblock, but Meli said he hopes the two sides can work together.
“I think in order for it to make sense it would have to be at least a 50-50 arrangement,” said Meli, a trusted friend of King.
In other words: Without control in the operations of the Mets organization (either initially or attainable in the future), the list of financial life preservers will be limited. I contend that if the Wilpon’s truly need the liquidity to resolve the pending lawsuits, they will have very little choice but to sell more than they’d like.
(click “view full post” to read more)
Some very interesting info coming out of Murray Chass today and as I have said before, so long as it’s baseball-related story-telling, Chass is still a good read:
The Picard lawsuit is critical. Not only is Picard seeking hundreds of millions of dollars, but according to the Times report, he has also alleged that Wilpon knew or should have known that Madoff was running a crooked scam. That’s why the trustee seeks many millions more than the $571 million he said the Wilpon companies withdrew.
“The really troublesome thing for Wilpon is Picard alleges that Wilpon knew or should have known,” the lawyer said. “That goes to Wilpon’s integrity and reputation. Wilpon is very vulnerable. He can’t let that suit go forward because the risk that he was culpable is too great.
“Picard has Wilpon by the tail and Wilpon knows it. Picard knows Wilpon can’t run the risk of a jury or a court decision against him.”
As we said last week, it’s going to be very difficult for Wilpon to have his cake and eat it too, meaning raising a significant amount of money AND still maintain control.
(click “view full post” to view more)
Hype or hope, I’m not sure. No matter what, there are some great quotes from Brian Cashman about the farm system in this interview. Let’s take the headliner first, about Jesus Montero:
Hard work can close the gap on deficiencies. Derek Jeter made 56 errors in the South Atlantic League. … The minor leagues is (where you) work out your problems, and he’s certainly closing the gap. He’s not there yet, but he’s pretty damn close. We believe he’s better than some starting catchers, defensively, in the big leagues right now.
There are various reports about Montero’s defensive skills that range from poor to slightly better than average. He might not be the next Pudge behind the plate, but he sure can hit.
(click “view full post” to read more)
I do more than my fair share of Randy Levine bashing. Most of the time, I’d like to think it’s warranted. Today, however, is not a bashing. This is hilarious:
“Chuck’s delusional. He’s been in the game for a few minutes and yet he thinks he knows what everyone’s thinking. I think he should let Cliff Lee speak for himself. (Greenberg) would really impress us when he keeps the Rangers off of welfare and keeps them from receiving revenue sharing the next three years.”
SMACK!
Our own Will was right on top of this Mets stuff back in October 2009, calling it deftly:
This entire phenomen is referred to as claw back, and I’m uncertain as to how long the lookback will be (though it’ll be somewhere between the Bayou-suggested 2 years, and the maximum of 6). However, it’s very likely that Sterling will end up trading the $570.6 million that they withdrew from Madoff for some appreciably smaller number. Given the size of the Madoff scheme (and the length of time it went on for) that number will probably be significantly lower than the 33% returned in the Bayou case.
For Mets’ fans hoping to see big name (and big money) acquisitions this offseason, to help make baseball’s second most expensive team competitive again, don’t hold your breath. For those of you hoping the Wilpons’ will have to sell (paving the way for someone not named Omar Minaya to take the reins), well, it may be a good year.
Nicely done, Will.
There are some things that, once you see/read/hear them, you instantly know every other alternative has been considered and there’s no other alternative. The sick entering hospice care. The Angels trading for Vernon Wells. Ever since the Madoff news broke, the Wilpon’s claimed the Mets organization was largely unaffected by the scam. And now, the Mets are hiring investment bankers as they are pursuing minority investors, aka “strategic partners”:
The Wilpon family, stung by losses and litigation stemming from convicted swindler Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, is considering selling a minority stake in the the New York Mets to infuse cash into the organization.
Principal owner Fred Wilpon and chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon announced Friday they had hired Steve Greenberg, managing director of Allen & Company, to explore “potential options including the addition of one or more strategic partners.”
Color me concerned. And here’s what made me chuckle:
The Wilpons added that regardless of the outcome, they intend to maintain the majority, controlling interest in the Mets.
Let’s get one thing straight: The Metsies might want to keep the team, or rather control of the team, but if there’s a person/group out there with the resources, you can be sure that they will make a run at outright ownership of the organization. Selling a minority interest, say 30-40%, will require more than $250 million dollars, according to Forbes valuations (via BoB). I am not sure how many singular groups will have an interest in forking over that much cash without control. Now, if the Wilpon’s are considering cutting this into bite-sized pieces (<5% each), maybe there are enough people interested. There will be more to come, to be sure.
[Note: HBT has the full PR here]
To piggy back off of Jason’s post about Hal Steinbrenner’s comments in support of Brian Cashman, I thought this was a good point from Jow Pawlikowski at RAB:
When reading these comments, it is important to remember that Hal has every reason to say what he did. The franchise does not benefit from the perception of internal unrest. Hal’s comments are meant to smooth over what has been seen as a rough patch for the organization. Continued silence would only lead to further speculation. In that way, Hal did a good job of quieting doubters and maintaining an image of solidarity in the front office. But I’m not convinced he actually means it. Nor am I convinced that he doesn’t mean it.
This is merely the media’s nature. Sometimes we get exclusive information. Other times we get a long PR spiel. This was certainly the latter. It is nice to hear the owner of the team backing up his GM, but to take this at face value is a mistake. After all, how often do we see a GM or owner give a public vote of confidence to an employee, only to fire him within days? I do hope that Hal is sincere in his words, but experience studying the media tells me to take his comments lightly.
It’s a good point worth keeping in mind any time you see a considered message put out in the media, frankly. I’m not sure that the “vote of confidence” comparison is perfect though, given that the “dreaded vote of confidence” usually refers to teams that are struggling to various degrees, and it’s worth taking a second to remember that the Yankees are by no means struggling, and that, so far, Hal Steinbrenner is proving to be an able, sober owner. That may sound a bit matter-of-fact, but I do think we’re forgetting that in the weeds a little bit this past month or so, so let’s take a second to back away and look at the new ownership’s track record from 10,000 feet.
(click “view full post” to read more)
From Joel Sherman, a good interview with Hal Steinbrenner, and the whole “Cashman’s committing career suicide” stuff is overblown:
“[Cashman] and I have a great working relationship. There is no problem, right now. I think we have had a bunch of drummed-up drama.”
This is both comforting and reassuring.
“I value his opinion and his advice. That does not mean I am always going to go with that advice and all of my VPs know that I might go a different way. There are no hard feelings between Cash and I. There never was. Reasonable men can differ in opinions.
“I keep reading about dissension and discord. We are a well-functioning company. The bosses have a decision to make. Sometimes people don’t agree with those decisions. So I told him, ‘You are always honest with the media, be honest now. Tell them what you have to tell them.’ I was already onto the next decision. I told him, ‘You and I are fine. Answer in any way you want.’ We are not always going to be on the same page. It is my job to think what is best for the family, partners and company.”
There’s a part of this that makes me think about the moment when your significant other asks you if she looks fat in those jeans and the concept of honesty is somehow twisted a bit. I am sure Hal encouraged Cashman to continue to be honest, but perhaps wasn’t expecting this level of honesty. Either way, perhaps we can put this behind us now.
From his appearance on The George Lopez Show, I think we can now agree we need more Brian Wilson. Forget the cowbell.
Mark riffed on the Vernon Wells trade when it happened. However, what I stumbled across today bears at least a brief discussion. I like to think Arte Moreno is one of the smarter guys out there. He just seems to have a good sense of what his team is and what they could be. After reading this below, I’m less sure than I was yesterday:
“If you look at the deal as somewhere around $70 million, you’re looking at a $17-plus million deal, on a four-year average,” Moreno said, before referencing the Crawford contract. “That’s a lot more tolerable than $142 million.”
No, it most certainly is not more tolerable; it’s only less money in absolute dollars. In Carl Crawford (29), you have a game changing player in his absolute prime. In Vernon Wells (32), you have a solid player whose best days are in the rear view mirror. I’m sure Wells can still play but that Moreno was willing to absorb nearly all of the entire albatross contract was a mistake. Just because the term is shorter does not make the deal better or mitigate the mistake.
“Any time you start doing things because of pressure, you’re going to make mistakes,” Moreno said.
Yes, yes you did.
