Grading the Front Offices and Managers

Both the Yankees and Mets entered this season with a ton of question marks.  The Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee and saw Andy Pettitte retire leaving what appeared to be a gaping hole in their rotation.  The Mets were surrounded by questions about their economic stability and are embroiled in a billion dollar lawsuit and new GM Sandy Alderson has had to work around a media that is always asking him when he will start the big fire sale.  Life in New York is not easy.  Not for Brian Cashman and not for Sandy Alderson.  It doesn't get any easier on the field for Joe Girardi, who is expected to win the World Series every year, or Terry Collins who has to prove this Mets team is good enough to contend.  Here are their grades for the first half of this year:

Brian Cashman:  He lost out on Cliff Lee, saw Andy Pettitte retire, and saw the rival Red Sox sign Carl Crawford and trade for Adrian Gonzalez.  Things were not looking good for the Yankees.  It wouldn't get better for Cashman as days after losing out on Lee and with Crawford already in Boston, Yankee owndership circumvented Cashman and signed Rafael Soriano to a ridiculous contract leaving question about who is running the team swirling around the Bronx.  Cashman's offseason looked impotent, especially when he signed Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia to minor league deals.  Colon and Garcia were considered by many to be washed up has-beens with nothing left to give.  Still, Cashman needed arms to compete for roster spots.  So far, the Colon and Garcia signings might have been the salvation of the Yankees first half.  Both have pitched extremely well and have provided innings to ease the burden on a depleted bullpen that has seen Joba Chamberlain lost for the year and Rafael Soriano for an indefinite amount of time.  The other big free agent signing of the year, Pedro Feliciano, was supposed to give the Yankees a veteran lefty arm to supplement Boone Logan and get lefty hitters like Crawford, Gonzalez, and David Ortiz out.  Feliciano has yet to pitch in a game this year due to arm issues.  Losing Feliciano, Cashman's big free agent signing, hurt.  Cashman's first half, which includes this past offseason, was not very good when measured by expectations.  He is saved only because Colon and Garcia are pitching well.  Still, its hard to overlook the shot across his bow by the Steinbrenners with the Soriano signing, a disaster in itself so far, and the fact that he didn't land Cliff Lee, and Feliciano, who had been abused by the Mets over the years, goes down before getting into a game.  I'm not even mentioning the child-like way he handled the Derek Jeter negotiations.  Overall grade: C-


Joe Girardi:  It's never easy being the manager of a team that everyone expects to win every year.  Having the largest payroll will do that.  To Girardi it's just another day at the office.  Injuries to his main bullpen cogs not named Mariano have left him scrambling for answers.  He has had to rely on kids like Hector Noesi, Lance Pendleton, Cory Wade, Amaury Sanit, Jeff Marquez, and veteran retreads like Buddy Carlyle, Luis Ayala, and Sergio Mitre.  Some have surprised, like Wade and Ayala.  Others have been good.  While others, like Sanit have been disasters.  He has also had to deal with a contentious relationship with Jorge Posada whose outburst in Boston threatened to rip apart the team, questions about where a struggling Derek JEter should bat, and a host of other issues on a day to day basis.  A 1-8 mark against the Red Sox hasn't helped matters either.  Still, the Yankees are right there, hovering around first place with the Red Sox, and Girardi has this team playing well.  Take away those losses to the Red Sox and the Yankees have a 6 game lead in the East.  Right now the Yankees are on pace for 97-98 wins.  Not too shabby.  Grade:  A-


Sandy Alderson:  When he took the job as Mets GM he knew he was facing a daunting task.  He was handed over the keys to a car that needed major repairs but would still be expected to take to the road.  He surrounded himself with some very good baseball people in Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi, among others and has not blown up the team for the sake of a total rebuild.  The Mets have responded by going out and playing some good baseball despite the truckload of injuries to key players like David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Ike Davis, not to mention staff ace Johan Santana.  He just traded Francisco Rodriguez and cash to the Brewers to prevent the Mets from having to pay $17.5 million in a vesting option for two players to be named later.  Freeing up that money for next season helps pave the way to resigning Jose Reyes.  It would have been very easy for him to just blow up a team that has not played up to its potential in recent years or has been hit by enough injuries that would make entire hospitals weep at the workload.  With the trade deadline approaching he will have his work cut out for him but he has a plan and will be prepared.  With a baseball braintrust like he has assembled, how can he not be?  Alderson's overall grade:  B+


Terry Collins:  Managing the Mets might have been one of the least appealing jobs in all of baseball.  The financial questions swirling around ownership, the roster of underachievers and DL candidates, and the New York press hovering about like vultures waiting for the death to swoop in and pick at the remnants.  Into this cauldron stepped Terry Collins, a man who last managed in 1999 and whose 444-434 record didn't instill a ton of confidence in the Mets fanbase.  Collins has responded by leading the Mets to a 46-45 record at the break, leaps and bounds above where anyone expected to see this team at this point.  Throw into that the fact he has not had Johan Santana all year, has lost Ike Davis, David Wright, Angel Pagan, and Jose Reyes to injuries for parts of this season, and has juggled a lineup that has included Justin Turner playing second and third, Willie Harris playing everywhere, and Scott Hairston getting significant playing time.  Still, the Mets are above .500, a small miracle that has kept the Mets faithful hopeful that there might be a future for this club.  His overall grade:  B+

Pop Flies & Suicide Squeezes

-Derek Jeter went 259 at bats between home runs when he hit his first today against the Rangers. He then had to wait until his next at bat before belting his second one of the year, the shortest wait time for him between homers. Baseball is weird sometimes. By going 4 for 5, Jeter raised his batting average 20 points to .276. Baseball is a strange, strange game. But awesome as well.

-Francisco Cervelli hit his first grand slam today. He actually had to wait longer than Jeter between homers, going 307 AB's, last homering on June 24, 2009.

-Justin Verlander threw his second no-hitter of his career, and the second one this week which is also the second one this year. Verlander struck out 4, which tied his lowest output this year, which is also his other complete game this year.

-Mariano Rivera pitched 1 inning on May 6, 2011 and struck out more batter than the starter, Ivan Nova did in 7 innings.

-According to Ben Badler on Twitter, Blue Jays minor league shortstop Gustavo Pierre has 20 errors in 27 games. All that for the bargain basement price of $700,000.

-There will be no repeat this year in the NBA. The Dallas Mavericks completely outplayed the Lakers. The Lakers showed absolutely no class in their loss. Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom got thrown out for flagrant fouls and the Lakers had no control over their emotions, or the Mavericks. On a side note, I guess Kobe Bryant was right to feel like the Mavs could beat the Lakers, because, well, because they did. In four games. So, now I guess its time for Phil Jackson to take a hiatus from the NBA before he goes on to coach the Heat, Knicks, or some other team with some superstar power.

-Whose offense is more feeble? The Twins or Padres? The Padres have been shut out 8 times this year. The Twins have a team OPS of .614, the Padres are second to last at .620. The Padres are hitting .216 as a team and the Twins are hitting .230. The Twins have hit 14 home runs while the Padres have 20. I honestly can't decide who is worse.

-The Mets are one of the 16 teams with a higher team batting average than the Yankees (.250-.247). The other team with a higher team average are: Cardinals, Cubs, Angels, Royals, Astros, Indians, Rangers, Reds, Phillies, Dodgers, Tigers, Brewers, Mets, Red Sox, Marlins, and Blue Jays. Yes, the Royals are 4th in the big leagues with a .268 AVG. However, the Yankees do lead the majors in home runs with 49, 9 more than the Rangers.

-Justin Maxwell hit his 11th home run for the SWB Yankees in 101 at bats. He also has 45 K's, and 20 BB's. He only has 24 hits (11 of which are the homers) and has 3 2B's, and 1 triple. So, he either hits the ball a long way or not at all. Kind of Jorge Posada this year.

-SWB Yankees reliever Andy Sisco has yet to allow a run this year. That is 12 games and 11.1 innings. He has struck out 12, walked 8, and allowed only 4 hits. If he can cut his walks a bit he could be in the Bronx at some point this season. Or, he could just be this year's version of Zack Kroenke.

-The Royals have stayed true to their commitment to winning. Yeah, you read that right. They called up Eric Hosmer this past week without regard to starting his arbitration clock early. The Royals think he is ready and they needed some help at first base. Hosmer is just the first of a long line of Royals prospects who should make their major league debut this year. Mike Montgomery and Danny Duffy should be next in the parade, followed by Mike Moustakas. It could be the days of the Royals being pushovers might be coming to an end. If half of these prospects they have in their system live up to the hype the Royals are going to field an amazing team.

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy your sports.

Pop Flies

Some more random stuff from around sports for today:

-The Brewers signed Ryan Braun to a five-year contract extension which extends his seven year deal he signed in 2008. He will make an additional $105 million for those five years which will take him to his age 36 season. I think I like this deal. Braun is much more likely to age better than fellow Brewers star Prince Fielder. Locking him up now until he is probably going to no longer be a star player is excellent financial responsibility. There is no telling how much Braun would have asked for in free agency. Of course, there is always the downfall that Braun loses his talent a bit too early, ask the Cleveland Indians about their contract extensions to their young players back in the early 2000's and ask them if they were the wise moves everyone touted them to be. Still, I think Braun should be a good player for years to come and the Brewers already locked up Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks for a few more years. Not to mention their commitment to Zack Greinke. Maybe things will turn around in Milwaukee one of these days.

-With the start the Mets are off to and the hot start for Jose Reyes maybe it is time to start feeling out trades for the shortstop. I don't know who would be looking to part with what the Mets would need to get out of Reyes but perhaps its time to start seeing what's out there. Maybe the Tigers, Red Sox, and maybe even the White Sox if they get sick of waiting for Alexi Ramirez could make a play for him. I'm not sure the Red Sox will though with Marco Scutaro already there and Jed Lowrie playing so well lately. Plus the money would be prohibitive for them.

-Speaking of the Mets, they should make a play for the recently designated for assignment Brandon Wood. Wood, a former first round pick of the Angels in 2007 still is young, 26, and the talent was there at one point. He can probably play adequate defense at second since he has played some shortstop in the past as well as third. Why not give this kid a shot? He has power, has a decent enough glove and won't cost much. Give the kid a shot and let him rip for 500 at bats from second base. It's not like he would be taking the spot of a hot prospect at second.

-According to reports, Kevin Millwood is going to be making a start for AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. So far his fastball is still sitting in the mid 80's, not exactly where it was when he was with Atlanta in the late 1990's. I don't know if he is a step up over what the Yankees already have.

-Bartolo Colon had a nice start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday but I don't know how long this guy can hold up. Health has been an issue with him in recent years, not to mention weight. Throw in the fact he pitched in winter ball and I see a breakdown coming one of these days. Still, I can't help but root for the guy and hope he can stay healthy and keep pitching like this.

-Speaking of oft-injured pitchers, Mark Prior went on the 7-day DL in SWB. Prior who has not pitched in the majors since 4,000 years ago hurt his groin. At least it wasn't his elbow or shoulder. I am rooting hard for this guy to make it back to the big leagues.

-Is there a quick fix for the Mets? No. But one way to ensure future success is to start drafting above slot which means you spend a little more per prospect but, as in the Yankees case in 2010, can actually save money on your first round pick to sign the guys you draft in rounds 2-7. The Mets need to restock their farm system and it wouldn't hurt to adapt a system that several teams are having success with.

-Commissioner Bud Selig has stated he would like to expand the MLB Playoffs by adding an extra wild card team. Make sense. You gotta get more markets excited about their seasons and giving the number one team a first round bye is the best idea out there. If you wanna be the best you gotta beat the best.

-Nets GM Billy King thinks newly acquired point guard Deron Williams will re-sign with the Nets. Man, for his sake I hope so. The Nets gave up a lot to get him and if leaves via free agency the Nets will be set back for another five years.

-Call me old fashioned, or nuts, but I HATE the NBA lottery system. When you're the worst team in basketball how can you expect to get better when you don't get the number one pick. Do you think Minnesota will be able to get much better if they get the number 7 pick instead of the first pick they deserve? Stupid, just stupid.

-Ike Davis hit a crushing home run to deep center field tonight. It came right after Jason Bay turned a routine fly ball to shallow right field into a four base error after Hunter Pence dropped the ball. Good job by Bay not giving up. He could have run a little harder out of the box but not much. I'll give him credit for scoring on what should have been an out. Chris Capuano was also surprising tonight. The Mets just need a bullpen and a young Carlos Beltran and a healthy Johan. But, since that ain't gonna happen they just need to play hard and keep going out there every night. Or maybe Terry Collins just needs to get ejected every night. Whatever works.

-The most surprising thing about the playoffs so far? The fact that a banged-up Knicks team has been able to hang tough with the Boston Celtics for two games. Honestly, with Amar'e Stoudemire being hurt and Billups leaving Game 1 I didn't think they had much of a chance. That's not a knock against them but rather props to the Celtics who ARE the defending Eastern Champs. The Knicks gotta be proud and confident they can beat this team and Knicks fans should be feeling good as well. Even if they lose this series they go into next year with something that has been missing from the Knicks since Patrick Ewing left town, hope.

-The biggest surprise this season? Not the Indians. Its the Royals. Honestly, what are THEY doing with a winning record? I bet nobody can name me 8 Royals and I'll spot you Melky Cabrera, Joakim Soria and Billy Butler.

-The percentage of black ball players in MLB has declined from 9.1 to 8.5 percent. This is a huge downswing from the 19% in 1995. I don't really know what the reason is for this, probably because football and basketball are more appealing to African-American youth today. Maybe its the lack of a huge star to get the interest of the kids. I don't know and I don't know how baseball fixes that. Of course, the RBI Program is a great thing and should make an impact in a few years but how do you get people, of any race, creed, or gender interested in baseball if they don't like the sport?

-Kei Igawa went 4 innings tonight for the SWB Yankees allowing only two hits and striking out 3. I can't imagine what is going through his mind. He has to know that he is never going to be brought up to the Bronx again and with the whole earthquake mess in Japan I am sure his mind is going in a thousand different places. I admire him for coming back to the States to honor the remainder of his contract. Would anyone blame him for wanting out?

-Andy Sisco has not allowed a run down in Scranton in 7 innings. The big, 6'10" lefty might be just what the Yankees are looking for, a lefty specialist. He has allowed only 3 hits during that span and opponents are hitting just .125 off of him. Unfortunately, all of those hits have been to lefties. They are hitting .273 off of him. How about a righty specialist?

Well, that's all from me tonight. Enjoy whatever sports are still on. If not, enjoy the replay of the Mets, it was a good game.

Pedro Felici-OW-no

Another Yankee LOOGY is down. Pedro Feliciano, who has yet to pitch for the Yankees after signing a 2 year, $8 million this past offseason has been diagnosed with a torn shoulder capsule according to Ben Shpigel on Twitter. This could mean season ending (did it even begin) shoulder surgery. I believe this is the same injury that Chien Ming Wang suffered from only a couple of years ago and he still has yet to make it all the way back. If he does have a torn shoulder capsule then Feliciano will likely never suit up for the Yankees during this current contract.

Much has been made between Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi taking potshots at the Mets for "abusing" Feliciano. My reply to them, you gave him the two year deal. Maybe the Mets knew something when they only offered Feliciano, who has led the majors in appearances the last three seasons, a one year deal. Last season, Feliciano appeared in 92 games! 92! Granted, he only threw 62.2 innings but he appeared in over half of the Mets games last season. That is not good for anyone's shoulder or elbow. The fact of the matter is Feliciano is another reliever that Brian Cashman has swung and missed on. Nothing about Feliciano really popped out. He was good against left-handed batters, holding them to a .214 career average against but $4 million per is grossly overpaying for a couple of outs every other day. Now, they won't even get that.

Personally, I am not a fan of LOOGY's. They severely limit the flexibility of a bullpen because they can only get one type of hitter out and can tax the rest of a bullpen because they can only face one to two hitters a game. I am a believer in maximum roster flexibility. There is only one specialist in a bullpen and that should be the closer who only pitches when you have a lead. Granted, certain situations allow for a LOOGY, but I wouldn't be paying $4 million per year for one.

Brian Cashman has yet to learn his lesson when it comes to paying big bucks to relievers. He gets a pass for Rafael Soriano because it was the Steinbrenner's and their braintrust that pushed for him. However, Kyle Farnsworth, Steve Karsay, Damaso Marte (another LOOGY on the Yankee DL), Antonio Osuna, Juan Acevedo, Felix Heredia, Paul Quantrill, etc. Relievers are volatile. You are better off developing your own relief corps through a deep farm system than you are paying big dollars for a bullpen arm. The only thing big contracts given to relievers does to your team is handicap it. Sure, once in a while you get a viable arm like a Chris Hammond was for a year. The Yankees have, for some reason, been hesitant to give their own relievers a chance and like to import used up arms for more money. The Yankees need to learn the lesson, and quickly.

Perhaps Brian Cashman forgot the lesson of Scott Proctor and how using a reliever every other day isn't good for them. Or maybe, the Red Sox getting two excellent left-handed hitters in Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez scared him into thinking he had to counter that. Whatever the case, consider this Mets 1, Brian Cashman 0.

Is There a Future for the NY Mets?

Much has been made about the Mets financial situation this offseason as the Bernie Madoff scandal has now found its way into the Mets Clubhouse. It is not known yet if the Mets really did profit from the Madoff mess but the questions and subsequent lawsuit for $1 billion surely has cast a cloud over the Mets 2011 season. One thing is certain, however, the Mets financial situation is not good and it is going to affect the team moving forward.

Mets owners Jeff and Fred Wilpon have never been very good when it has come to making financial decisions for the Mets between the foul lines. We remember Bobby Bonilla, a huge free agent signing by the Mets prior to the 1992 season. Bonilla played 5 seasons for the Mets before being shipped off to the Orioles during the 1995 season. Bonilla never brought the Mets to the promised land as expected. And now, Bobby Bonilla is still drawing a paycheck from the Mets who still owe him around $30 million. Yes, that's right, $30 million more is owed to a man who hasn't played for the team in over 15 years. Check that, Bobby Bo made a cameo for the Mets in 1999 where he hit a whopping .160 in 60 games. Not that it matters, the Mets, a team that is going to have trouble coughing up the dough to sign their own key free agents like Jose Reyes let alone coughing it up for impact free agents.

Because of the financial hangups the Mets have been forced to look at R.A. Dickey (which has been one of the best free agent signings in the past decade for the Mets because of his newfound command of a knuckleball), Chris Young (looking good so far but he is no Cliff Lee), and Chris Capuano (jury is still out). The Mets need pitching and they have not been able to address that in a couple of offseasons now. Why? Well, Johan Santana is one reason. The Mets gave Santana a six year $137.5 million contract with a full no trade clause after stealing him from the Twins. However, Santana has been hurt the last two seasons and it isn't known when he will return or how effective he is going to be when he does get back. I can't fault the Mets for giving Santana that contract. However, with about $60 million still owed to him and a no trade clause that he likely won't waive, the Mets, especially given their monetary limitations, are stuck right now. They can't afford to get an arm that can offset the loss of their ace like the Phillies, Yankees, or Red Sox. Right now the Mets are a small market team with a big market payroll and playing in a big time market. It also doesn't help that the huge contract they doled out to Carlos Beltran, who is owed $20 million this season, has not brought in the returns the Mets were expecting when they outbid the Yankees (or was it Beltran begging the Yankees to sign him by offering to sign for less money) for his services in before the 2005 season.

Santana and Beltran were legit stars when the Mets signed them. But because of health issues they are now albatrosses and not leaders on the field. Add in Jason Bay and his contract, which the MEts should never have offered given his age and peripherals, and the Mets roster has three players making a huge portion of the money who won't even be on the field. And that isn't counting Oliver Perez's $12 million he is getting NOT to pitch, and Luis Castillo's money for him to hang around the minors in someones organization when he signs with someone. That is over $60 million in players NOT playing for the Mets right now.

It all comes back to poor decisions. Poor drafts, poor prospect development, poor free agent signings, and poor play which drives the fans away are all hurting the Mets. First they wrongly blamed Willie Randolph but GM Omar Minaya continued to sink the Mets ship with some of the strangest free agent signings in the history of the game. These include Bay, Perez, and Castillo but it goes a lot deeper. The Mets have absolutely neglected their farm system. Let's take a quick look at Mets draft picks since 2000:

2000: Billy Traber, LHP. Traber was taken 16th overall in the 2000 draft. Traber was traded to the Indians for Roberto Alomar in 2001.

2001: Aaron Heilman, RHP. At least he suited up for the Mets. Mets fans hate this guy with a passion and he is hopping around the majors as a middle reliever, now with the Diamondbacks and showing some control to boot. At least the Mets snagged David Wright in this draft so they get a pass.

2002: Scott Kazmir, LHP. Once considered the jewel of the Mets farm system, he was infamously traded for good-for-nothing Victor Zambrano. Kazmir has lost some of the zip off of his fastball and was one of the worst pitchers in baseball last year.

2003: Lastings Milledge, OF. Ahh, good ol' Lastings. He was supposed to be the next Alex Ochoa, I mean Carlos Gomez, I mean, wait, who the hell was this guy supposed to be? Oh, he is the first Lastings Milledge. Never had the maturity to handle the pressures and it showed, unlike his talent. He has been let go by the Nationals and Pirates and just got designated for assignment by the White Sox.

2004: Philip Humber, RHP. He was part of the package to get Johan Santana so the Mets get a pass for getting someone to take this garbage. He was taken third overall so that fact that this pick was wasted on this guy still hurts. Jeff Niemann was taken one pick later by the Rays, Homer Bailey #7 overall to the Reds, Neil Walker #11 overall to the Pirates, Jared Weaver #12 to the Angels, Billy Butler #14 to the Royals, Stephen Drew #15 to the D'Backs, and Phil Hughes #23 to the Yankees. The Mets might have gotten the Twins to take Humber but they whiffed big time.

2005: Mike Pelfrey, RHP. The jury is still out on Pelfrey but he has been pretty good so far in his young career. There are a lot of questions about his psyche which is never a good thing for a pitcher but if he is a number 3 or 4 starter then the Mets have something. Anything higher and he is exposed. The Mets could have had Andrew McCutchen (#11 to the Pirates), Jay Bruce (#12 to the Reds) or Jacoby Ellsbury (#23 to the Red Sox).

2006: Kevin Mulvey, RHP. Packed up with Humber to Minnesota. Mulvey has been awful. OK, so the Mets didn't have a first rounder and nabbed Mulvey in the second round. The fact the MEts got Johan for him and Humber and Carlos Gomez is still a miracle.

2007: Eddie Kunz, RHP. Another second rounder because the Mets had no first round pick. Kunz is now in the Padres organization stinking it up there.

2008: Ike Davis, 1B. OK, so we have someone here who is contributing. Glory be!

2009: Steven Matz, LHP. He is young and has already undergone Tommy John. No telling where he will eventually place in the Mets future.

OK, so now we have run down the drafts of the last decade. The Mets, as we noticed were lucky to dump some of these players in the Johan trade so at least they got something in return, even if that something is a huge untradeable contract. Look back at all the Mets top prospects over the years and ask yourself this one question: Were any of them worth it? Where is Carlos Gomez now? Lastings Milledge? Mike Pelfrey, Ike Davis, and David Wright are the only kids to make an impact from the Mets first pick in the draft. Not bad but there are a ton of head scratchers in there. Omar Minaya was not very adept at finding talent, whether it was because the MEts scouting was poor or they did the dart board approach. The fact that there were no young kids ready to step in and eat some innings or fill a bullpen hole adequately, or to push Luis Castillo out before he signed that contract, or to truly push David Murphy off second this year, speaks volumes about the depth of the Mets farm system. The Mets system ranks near the bottom in every experts rankings, including Baseball America who placed them 20th. This shouldn't be for a team with the suspected resources the Mets have.

Firing Omar Minaya and giving the job to Sandy Alderson was a step in the right direction. Alderson has since surrounded himself with astute baseball people so the Mets will be able to move in the right direction. It will take a few years but Alderson and Co. should get the Mets back to a sustainable farm system and a more complete, well rounded roster. The Mets troubles in recent years aren't an affect of the Wilpon's finances but rather their ignorance of what makes a good baseball man. Omar Minaya was a terrible GM and he proved it year in and year out. He did manage to steal Johan Santana away from the Twins but gave huge contracts to players with questionable histories like Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, and Jason Bay. Bay cost the Mets a first round pick to boot, further hindering building depth in the minors.

Winning in baseball takes depth at the Big League level and depth in the minors to sustain that Big League depth. The Mets have failed baseball 101 in recent years. And now, the Mets financial situation is going to prevent them from signing Jose Reyes this offseason when he becomes a free agent. Maybe this is a good thing in disguise as Reyes has not been healthy over the last couple of years. However, he is without a doubt their most dynamic player and he makes things happen for the Mets lineup. Perhaps Alderson can trade him for some prospects and get the Mets farm system moving in the right direction again. If he can't, the Mets should get first round compensation for him at the very least. Still, it hurts to lose a player that has been developed by this team and has been with this team for so many years, both good and bad.

No matter which way you slice it, the Mets are probably in for some dark times. They need to shed the contracts of some old, injury plagued players. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about owing Bobby Bonilla $30 million, about owing Oliver Perez $12 million, and Luis Castillo even 2 cents. That is going to severely hinder the Mets as they try to rebuild. They will need to put some money into signing draft picks, perhaps developing a strategy like the Yankees by drafting above slot to disperse that money around, thereby signing more kids who can possibly make an impact down the road by enticing them to forgo college. However, the Mets real handicap in the future is going to be financial, unless they shed some contracts don't expect the Mets to be dipping into their pockets for extra cash, because they can't. This lawsuit is going to tie the hands of Sandy Alderson and his baseball braintrust. I really can't see any potential buyer accepting only a 25% share of the Mets if the Wilpons do indeed sell a part of their team as they announced they are willing to do. With ticket sales falling off and this $1 billion lawsuit hanging over the rafters of Citi Field, the Mets financial future is indeed dark. However, with astute drafting and a key trade here and there this team could compete enough to give Mets fans hope until the financial situation is resolved or the Wilpons sell the team. If the Royals can put together a deep farm system that brightens their future, why can't the Mets?

Ultimately, this team is going to have a tough road ahead. If the Wilpons do sell then the clouds start to go away a little bit, depending on whom they sell to. If they don't sell, or retain a controlling interest, then Mets fans will have to wait patiently as Jenrry Mejia develops and Matt Harvey, last years #1 pick progresses. The Wilpons don't make baseball decisions like George Steinbrenner did. They just condoned bad baseball decisions made by Joe McIlvaine, Steve Phillips, Jim Duquette, and Omar Minaya which continue to hurt this team. The Mets, in order to be successful, will have to pump some extra cash into their farm system, from the draft to international free agents instead of giving it to aging free agents or players who don't warrant such a big contract, like Jason Bay, Luis Castillo, or Oliver Perez. Right now, Mets fans have to hope that reclamation projects like R.A. Dickey, Chris Young, Jason Isringhausen, and Chris Capuano continue to produce and provide a stopgap until a new wave of Mets players can arrive via draft and trade. Let Sandy Alderson and Co. do their job and you will soon see some daylight on the stormy horizon.