For the past few weeks, I’ve been listening to a lot of WFAN. I truly enjoy the station for it’s varying opinions and entertaining hosts. But as of late, Mets fans have been taking to the airwaves blasting the Wilpons and Omar Minaya for a slow start to the offseason. 
But why? John Lackey was overpaid and Roy Halladay was never coming to the Mets. The Mets are still in on Jason Bay and are likely the leading team to land the free agent.
The more worrying comments I’ve heard on air is that:
- The Wilpons are too cheap to put money into the team.
- The Wilpons are content with losing.
Do you actually think the owners of the team don’t want to spend money on their team and don’t want to win?
This isn’t “Major League.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the 1989 movie, in it, a Las Vegas showgirl inherits the Cleveland Indians. She wants to move the team to Miami, but to do this, the Indians must draw less than 800,000 fans. She instructs the GM to field the worst team possible so no fans come and she can move the team, fire the whole team and start anew.
A few differences between the Mets and Major League…
- The Wilpons are not Las Vegas showgirls
- The Wilpons just built a brand new, very expensive stadium
- The Wilpons do not want the team to lose
- There is no Roger Dorn
But, there are a few similarities…
Anyway…
The Wilpons do not want to lose. To think that is downright insane. What owner in their right mind would actually go out of their way to, not save money, but cut costs so much that the team suffers?
Putting a poor team on the field, as we saw last year, makes people stop going to games. Yes, last year’s team wasn’t very good. Chalk it up to injuries, lack of depth or whatever you like, but to think that the owners of the team were pleased with this in bonkers.
The Mets are getting torn apart in the papers and on the airwaves. Has the offseason been a success so far? No, not at all. But there have been barely any moves at all. Mets fans must be patient right now.
If, by March, the team is no better than it is today, there will be reason for concern. But that is not the case.
In “Major League,” Rachel Phelps wants her team to lose. She puts the worst possible team on the field. (Of course, they overcome the odds and make the playoffs. It wouldn’t be a Hollywood movie without that!)
The Wilpons, like every fan, player and employee of the team, want them to win.
The team had the second highest payroll in the major leagues last year. No, spending money does not automatically earn you wins. But it’s an indication that the Wilpons are willing to spend money, willing to pay lots of money out of pocket to put a quality team on the field.
If you actually think the Wilpons would much rather see the Mets lose, look terrible on the field and watch their multi-million dollar stadium stay half-empty, take all your Mets merchandise and donate it to a fan with a level head.
This is not a Hollywood movie. The Wilpons are not dastardly villians out to make baseball miserable for Mets fans. They want to win just as much as the fans do. They’d make more money if the Mets were better, so why wouldn’t they want that?
To think they want the team to lose just to save some money (of which, they have a lot), is nuts. They want to win, they want to bring in players to help them win and they want the fans to come out and support their team and cheer for the win.
To think otherwise is just flat-out wrong.