Wilpons may look to sell minority ownership in Mets

Here’s the statement from the Mets:

As Sterling Equities announced in December, we are engaged in discussions to settle a lawsuit brought against us and other Sterling partners and members of our families by the Trustee in the Madoff bankruptcy. We are not permitted to comment on these confidential negotiations while they are ongoing.

However, to address the air of uncertainty created by this lawsuit, and to provide additional assurance that the New York Mets will continue to have the necessary resources to fully compete and win, we are looking at a number of potential options including the addition of one or more strategic partners. To explore this, we have retained Steve Greenberg, a Managing Director at Allen & Company, as our advisor.

Regardless of the outcome of this exploration, Sterling will remain the principal ownership group of the Mets and continue to control and manage the team's operations. The Mets have been a major part of our families for more than 30 years and that is not going to change.

As we have said before, we are totally committed to having the Mets again become a World Series winner. Our fans and all New Yorkers deserve nothing less.

My take:

No surprise here. We knew the Madoff issue had put a crimp in the Wilpon’s wallet. I don’t think it’s affected the team in any way – i.e. not spending money for a certain player.

People will champion this as a sign of change, but as they stated in the release, the Wilpons will continue to control team operations.

So, if you got excited, you’re crazy.

And here’s what Mets fans had to say about it on Twitter:

NYC_CHRIS: tide is slowly turing for a good team

nynjpaweather: Great news. Please Donald Trump get in on this!

nick6489: An explanation for the budgetary constraints the fans have been howling at.

TheRealSoxy: Hopefully opens the door for the minority partner to eventually buy out the Wilpons sometime in the future.

Majin_Bernard: It'll be interesting to see the direction of the club going forward with another head honcho.

What do you think?

Never letting go

News today is that Fred Wilpon wants Omar Minaya to stay with the Mets front office in some role.

“What is it about New York sports owners and their inability to cut ties with men who helped drive their teams into a ditch?” writes Josh Alper for NBC New York.

But for Omar, it might make sense. He’s a decent scout with a good eye for talent that others might not see. We know well that he can find players on the scrap heap, bring them aboard, and watch them perform well.

The issue was after they had one good season, Minaya would sign them to a three-year, multi-million dollar deal as he attempted to catch lightning in a bottle. He would almost always fail.

If he’s a man to search the scrap heap, the international leagues and wherever else competent baseball players might be hiding – and sending them the way of Sandy Alderson & Co. he might be a good asset to keep around. Let the smart guys in the front office decide on money, years and bonuses.

Then again, it might be better just to sever all ties with Minaya and move on as an organization.

I don’t seem to care either way. He could scout for the team, or he couldn’t. It won’t move me one way or the other.

Would you want to see Minaya stay with the team in some capacity? Leave you comment below.

Collins Quotables–1/25

If Mike goes out and he has a
bad day the first question would be,
'What are you going to do now?'

-Terry Collins-

Jeff Francoeur: ‘Citi Field is a damn joke’

“Citi Field is a damn joke”

-Jeff Francoeur, via Rustin C. Dodd

Mets fans reacted on Twitter…

“Now he’s saying its a joke? No one told him to hit it at people” –@wrightfan05

“I can tell you what's a damn joke, Jeffy” –@metsgrrl

“We're still waiting for that magical Francoeur 100th home run.. Didn't seem to work so well in Texas either now did it?” –@ceetar

“That's funny. Citi Field says Jeff Francoeur is a joke.” –@200miles_citi

What do you have to say about Francoeur’s quote on Citi Field?

Jose Reyes wins Twitter

Shutting down Twitter now. Jose Reyes wins.

Why Jose Reyes waiting to talk about an extension doesn’t matter

News from yesterday is that Jose Reyes will not seek an extension during the 2011 season.

“I want to be focused on trying to help this team win a lot of ball games. So I don't want to hear about anything like that. I just want to play baseball for now,” Reyes said.

Yeah, sure. But your agent can do whatever he wants. If Reyes’ agent, Peter Greenberg, and Sandy Alderson can come to an agreement for a deal that works for both sides, I think he’ll sign no matter when it is. Same holds true for any player that ever says that.

This isn’t the ‘50s. Players aren’t negotiating their own contracts anymore.

You may recall Ralph Kiner’s story he tells every season about when he was signing a new contract while playing with the Pirates. The player would go into the room with the general manager, who would make an excuse to leave the room for a phone call. On the table would be falsified contracts for some of the star players on the team. The player negotiating would take a look, see that the star was only making X amount, and realize he couldn’t ask for more than that.

Hilarious in retrospect, I think.

But now with agents, none of that matters. The player will let the agent know his expectations and demands, and the agent will argue with the team.

In the end, barring catastrophe, I think the Mets extend Reyes at some point. It won’t be a distraction. It won’t be an excessive contract.

And it will be the right move.

Francesa: Perez and Castillo won’t be on Opening Day roster

And @Swirlywand sends along this quote, too: “I can't make any promises, but my sources say those two will not be back.”

Sometimes, Francesa’s “sources” are spot on. Other times, they’re way off. So take this with a grain of salt.

Is this just a safe-bet guess, or what? What do you think?

I’ll revisit this at the beginning of April, don’t worry.

Best news of the off-season

According to Adam Rubin, the Mets are set to sign Willie Harris to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training.

Win-Win: Adds a decent player – and likely 4th outfielder. Also subtracts him from making any more game-saving, spectacular, fantastic, helmet-breaking plays.

I’ve been campaigning for this for years.

Off-Season Game Chat

I figured it’s about time to get the gang back together for an off-season game chat. Come and join us as a first timer, or as a regular, come on in to rejoin the fun.

[Chat removed. Thanks for talking!]

Mets sign Taylor Tankersley

Taylor Tankersley signed a minor-league deal with the Mets on Tuesday, with an invite to spring training.

Tankersley, a lefty, missed all of 2009 due to a stress fracture in his left elbow. His ‘10 season, a mere 12 innings, was less than stellar. He allowed 12 hits, four of them for home runs. And for those that like to see ERA: 7.50.

If used as a lefty-specialist, Tankersley could be pretty good, if you take a look at his splits on Baseball-Reference. Essentially the new Pedro Feliciano, if he’s healthy.

Also, he has great facial hair.

All in all, I’m happy with this signing.

What do you think of the Mets inking Tankersley?