This Week in Mets Quotes

So it begins

"He’s pressing.  A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar."  Wilpon on Wright via The New Yorker  

"He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money.  He’s had everything wrong with him.  He won’t get it."  Wilpon on Reyes via The New Yorker

"We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series.  He’s sixty-five to seventy per cent of what he was."  Wilpon on himself and Beltran via The New Yorker

 "Good hitter.  Shitty team—good hitter."  Wilpon on Ike Davis via The New Yorker  

"We’re snakebitten, baby." Wilpon on the Mets via The New Yorker

"He chuckled with Dan Warthen, the pitching coach, about a member of the staff who tends to dawdle on the mound. "Tell him to throw the fucking ball!"  Wilpon via The New Yorker

"The first day the architects came to the site, they started saying blah, blah, blah, and I said to them, ‘Let me tell you how this is going to work.  The front of the building is going to look like Ebbets Field. And it’s going to have a rotunda—just like at Ebbets.’ And then I said, ‘Guess what. Here are the plans for Ebbets Field.’ And I handed them over."  Wilpon via The New Yorker  

"All the Dodger stuff—that was an error of judgment on my part."  Wilpon via The New Yorker

"I always felt best when we were arguing over a player and Fred would say, ‘Omar, you’re full of shit.’"  Omar via The New Yorker

"You want to talk about old?  When Mookie came up, he always had this little kid running around his ankles in the locker room.  Now that little kid is retired!" Wilpon via The New Yorker

"It’s been really, really tough for Fred.  You’d have to be very thick-skinned for something like this not to upset you. Especially for someone like Fred, whose reputation has always been immaculate, and who could always walk around with his head up, because he never dealt unfairly with anybody."  Steve Greenberg, the team’s investment banker, via The New Yorker   

"Fred is a very sensitive man, not only sensitive about himself but also about others. It’s been extremely painful for him."  Jim McCann, board member, via The New Yorker   

"Fred’s reputation in the real-estate community is top tier. He couldn’t be more of a gentleman."  William Rudin, the chief executive of Rudin Management via The New Yorker

"Everybody likes Fred, there is tremendous respect for Fred, people listen to what he has to say, and I don’t know of anybody who has ever had an open fight with him.  They’d all like to beat each other out, but I have never heard a negative thing said about Fred Wilpon."  Spinola via The New Yorker  

"To Fred, my hero."  Inscription by Rachel Robinson via The New Yorker 

The players react

"Fred has been nothing but encouraging and steadfast in his support of the team.  Whether in face-to-face meetings or generally with a group, he’s always been supportive and positive. He’s the owner of the New York Mets, and he’s entitled to his opinion. But any time the owner of a team speaks out, people are going to take notice because it is so rare."  Dickey via nyt

"Fred is a good man and obviously he’s going through some difficult times.  There is nothing more productive that I can add."  Wright via nyt

"I think guys will be upset.  But we’re all a family: ownership, coaches and players. Sometimes people say things they regret. It’s a mistake and you learn from it. Maybe next spring when we have our media workshop for the players, Fred can come and sit in on it."  Pelfrey via nyt

But more importantly, what does Scott Boras think
"This is not the Fred Wilpon I know.  Any major league owner would be very pleased to have a player performing at the level at which Carlos Beltran is performing this season.  I think it’s best that any evaluations remain internal and confidential.  But it’s very clear to me that Carlos’s performance speaks for itself."  Boras via nyt

Canadian smack talk

"Snakebit?  Is there a higher-up term than that?"  Bay via sports.yahoo.com