It’s a clumsy headline, but “Does Jeff Wilpon Come To Your Job & Knock The Dick Out Of Your Mouth?” didn’t scan nearly as well. I don’t think it would be the most unfair statement of all time to say there’s a slight credibility gap between Mets ownership’s initial assurances L’affair Madoff would have no substantial impact on the ballclub’s day to day operations and the resulting 2011 econo-Amazin’s ; the big name acquisitions were limited to a succession of former GM’s and it wasn’t long before we heard of Fred and Jeff Wilpon going cap in hand to Major League Baseball. Jeff (above) was reluctant to identify the club’s new minority investors earlier this week, not surprising given the way David Einhorn’s attempts to buy into the Mets ended in yet another P.R. disaster. In the considered view of Metsmerized’s Greg Pomes — either the most trusting person in on Planet Earth or a satirist of the highest order — “I know in today’s information age we want to know everything, but this is a non-issue.”
This has nothing to do with what happens on the field. These minority owners are being brought in to infuse more cash into the team overall and not just the roster which is our business. The renovations that are being made to Citi Field are a prime example of where some of this money is going to.
The Mets and Sterling Equities are a privately owned company. They are not required by law to divulge information like this to us and the media.
We need to worry about what is on the field, and the players the front office is putting on that field – not who is infusing new cash into the team. I know that is not popular in today’s climate. We have a GM giving bloggers access to help share team news with the fans, and yet one of them attacks the owners of the Mets in order to help drive up his book sales. As long as MLB is happy and approves what the owners are doing, that is good enough for me and should be good enough for the fan base as well.
Yes, because as fans in Montreal, Florida and Los Angeles know all too well, Major League Baseball always vets these things very carefully and would never in a million years do something to sell out the loyal customers. Pomes’ jaundiced POV isn’t nearly as pathetic as say, claiming corporations are people, but there’s something kinda chilling about essentially saying, “I’m not a shareholder, my opinions are worthless”. Some of us gave a hoot about the Mets long before Jeff Wilpon turned up nd we might still be supporting the team long after he’s vacated his giant office.
In the not so distant past, Frank McCourt’s inability to make payroll, the source of future funding, etc. was cited as justification to wrest the Dodger franchise from his control. That McCourt failed to understand he was merely a caretaker of a something that really belongs to a larger community (as opposed to his personal playtoy or cash cow) made him a pariah in Southern California (allegedly a hotbed of casual, unsophisticated sports fans). Further east, however, the Wilpons’ cozy relationship with Bud Selig has bought them time (if not a loan) and at least one portion of the blogosphere believes they’re above scrutiny.