How low will it go ?

$90 million payroll

4 months ago fxcarden 30 comments 0 recs |

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This doesn't matter to me

If they start going cheap on the draft/IFA, then I’ll start to be pissed.

"Let them be stud muffins"
-Tom Seaver
Proud Mets, Jets, Knicks, Islanders fan.

by piazza62 on Jan 17, 2012 9:03 PM EST reply actions

With the Wilpons having so much debt

is there any reason to think they won’t?
Or do you think Alderson stashed $7M of his available offseason money knowing he wouldn’t get any more for the draft?

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Jan 17, 2012 9:19 PM EST up reply actions

Didn't the projected payroll figure at the beginning of the year

include draft signings and stuff? I just assumed the current player payroll number would look more like the $100mm or so figure projected at the beginning of the offseason when you include the draft.

"Let them be stud muffins"
-Tom Seaver
Proud Mets, Jets, Knicks, Islanders fan.

by piazza62 on Jan 17, 2012 10:24 PM EST up reply actions

with the new CBA

you can’t really go cheap on the draft, maybe IFA but that would be unlikely.

by secret defense on Jan 17, 2012 9:36 PM EST up reply actions

It's not like they haven't skimmed on the draft in the past.

by graves9 on Jan 18, 2012 12:59 AM EST up reply actions

It's sad, really

The Mets spent as much on the draft last year as they did between something like 2008-2010.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 18, 2012 11:52 AM EST up reply actions

Well, the new CBA puts some pretty harsh limits on draft spending,

so there’s a ceiling there.

"And that's why anybody who invested with Lenny Dykstra should really call that number. Lawyers are standing by."

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 18, 2012 1:01 AM EST up reply actions

As recently as a few weeks ago, Alderson was still saying that the Mets were going to be “around 100 million”. I guess all that lying helped eventually; had they come out and admit they were going to be cutting over 50 million bucks from payroll, there would have been a fan revolt. The way they handled it, now people are just shrugging and saying “Whatever.”

"I only wanted a few things out of life -- a wife, children, to play baseball and to hunt deer." - Turk Wendell

by Rey-O on Jan 18, 2012 12:31 AM EST reply actions

Does it really matter ?

Whether the payroll is actually at 92 million $ or at 102 million $ (say, with the Mets signing, gulp, Edwin Jackson to a 3-year, 33 million $ contract to bump Dillon Gee to long relief or AAA) ? Instead of – probably – being a 76-86 team, the Mets may go 77-85 instead.

The one big decision this winter was Jose Reyes. By not extending him, the Mets put their focus a lot more on 2014 and beyond and having no financial committments beyond a few players who are arbitration eligible by then. If the Mets just let the contracts for Santana, Bay, Torres, Francisco, Rauch, Carrasco, Byrdak, Hairston, Cedeno, Ramirez, Pelfrey and – dare I say it ? – Wright & Dickey expire, the projected 2014 payroll with just re-inforcements coming from within probably projects in the 40 million $ range barring any external signings. That probably leaves about 50 to 60 million to spend assuming that 100 million $ is the Mets payroll limit at that point for a) giving RA Dickey his much deserved lifetime contract, plus b) extending David Wright longterm if he´s worthy of it and c) adding a front-end rotation SP via trade or free agency and d) maybe adding another big bat via trade or free agency – maybe to play CF or RF – if needed. Jacoby Ellsbury, Hunter Pence and Justin Upton (the latter one via trade) come to mind as potential targets who´ll be quite expensive by then.
The key now & going forward will be the progress of the group of young pitchers currently in the Mets system. Their success (or lack of it) will ultimately decide whether the Mets will be a legit contender again in 2014 or 2015. Or whether it´ll take a new owner with a lot more money available and even more patience than 5 years of probable sub .500 Baseball (2009 through 2013).

by Doob on Jan 18, 2012 12:52 AM EST up reply actions

Dickey doesnt have a contract

he has a sacrament

All praise the Kilimanjaroest Met…hallowed be thy name.

__________________________________________________________________
Really good kid.A very good player.Not a superstar. #BlameWilponz. Never Forget

by ScottfromPeekskill on Jan 18, 2012 1:36 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs

Your subject line

Kind of proved Rey-O’s point when he said now fans are just like “whatever”.

Also, it’s funny, because at the beginning of the offseason – and during the season to some extent – no one was calling 2012 a lost year. Now as the offseason has progressed there is more and more talk about, not even 2013, but 2014 being the target contention date. But somehow the talk has been pointed to like it was always the expected results. I’m curious how much longer we can keep pushing back the contention year before all fans reach their breaking point.

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 18, 2012 10:07 AM EST up reply actions

As Metscity said

That was my point. Fans are so exasperated by the constant lowering of the payroll figures, now they just shrug and say, “So what”. That’s why the Mets did it so slowly, and why Alderson still tries to avoid saying the payroll is under 100 million bucks. Fans, even here, would have been up in arms if they knew how much the payroll would sink. The entire AAOP contest would have been a sick joke. Since they did it so gradually, people held out hope for most of the offseason that things would be okay, when they were really cutting massive amounts of payroll.

"I only wanted a few things out of life -- a wife, children, to play baseball and to hunt deer." - Turk Wendell

by Rey-O on Jan 18, 2012 2:25 PM EST up reply actions

Fans aren

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Jan 18, 2012 1:42 AM EST up reply actions

*Fans aren't upset?

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Jan 18, 2012 1:42 AM EST up reply actions

They're apathetic

There is no hope.... there is no future....there is only BLUE WALLS.

The 2012 Mets: Fortune cookie says come back in 2015

by Syler on Jan 18, 2012 2:21 AM EST up reply actions

Which begs the question:

What’s worse? Hatred or indifference?

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Jan 18, 2012 5:01 AM EST up reply actions

Indifference

Is worse. Hatred implies you still care. Hatred of the moves also shows that the fans think there’s still something to believe in and want different decisions. Indifference basically means that fans are just checked out now, and really don’t give the team any credit anymore.

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 18, 2012 9:59 AM EST up reply actions

This.

"And that's why anybody who invested with Lenny Dykstra should really call that number. Lawyers are standing by."

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 18, 2012 10:45 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, whatever

by Ownbey4Mex on Jan 18, 2012 12:57 PM EST up reply actions

.

I take it you’re a member of The Apathy Coalition, too?

"And that's why anybody who invested with Lenny Dykstra should really call that number. Lawyers are standing by."

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 18, 2012 7:53 PM EST up reply actions

Too indifferent to join

Go ahead, take second base. Who cares?

by Ownbey4Mex on Jan 19, 2012 4:33 AM EST up reply actions

I don't even know why you care.

by FrancoTAU on Jan 18, 2012 5:07 PM EST up reply actions

Isn't there something in between,

Like resignation? As in, ’we’re Met fans, gotta be able to take a joke or handle the pain’.

by MetsFan4Decades on Jan 18, 2012 10:28 PM EST up reply actions

"Gotta be able to take a joke or handle the pain"

Isn’t that what players say when Ray Ramirez examines them?

by Ownbey4Mex on Jan 19, 2012 7:01 PM EST up reply actions

At this point most fans are apathic to payroll as long as Wilpon is owner

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by BlueChill on Jan 19, 2012 10:55 AM EST reply actions

I am getting sick of the

2014 comments. Yes, 2012 will be a rebuilding year, but if some of these guys pan out and improve and the mets make a couple of shrewd moves in the 2013 offseason, why can’t the mets be an excellent team in 2013?

by Joshuah on Jan 19, 2012 11:04 AM EST reply actions

I don't get this either

I don’t know that the Mets will be good in 2012 or 2013, so why do I know how they will be two years from now? For all we know, the Mets could tank this year, get the no. 1 overall pick for 2013 and get some college legend who will shoot through the system and make a huge imppact.

Conversely, 2014 can roll around and the Mets could have screwed up and still be awful, drafting TIm Folis and Ryan Jaroncyks who contribute nothing, but I don’t like pegging specific years/dates when there is so much to happen between now and then.

37 - 14 - 41 - 31 - 17 - 42 - SHEA

by piazza62 on Jan 19, 2012 4:06 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Because generally it takes larger than a 2-year window to improve by 15 wins.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Jan 19, 2012 5:08 PM EST up reply actions

I think that sentiment comes mainly from the ETAs of the prospects.

Guys like Harvey, Wheeler, den Dekker, Nieuwenhuis, Familia, Edgin, etc likely won’t be coming up until late 2012 or early 2013 at the earliest. You’d have to imagine that even when they do come up, they’re going to take some time to establish themselves as major leaguers (guys like David Wright or Lincecum or Evan Longoria who come up and become stars almost immediately are few and far between). If you give them say a year to adjust, that makes 2014 the point when a bunch of those guys will hopefully have plenty of experience and will be established players at their positions. It could happen earlier but between prospects establishing themselves and the money issues, it’d probably take a lot to go right for them to be ready to compete in 2013.

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by Steve Schreiber on Jan 19, 2012 5:38 PM EST up reply actions

Variables

We can project and project and project all we want, but there are a number of variables in play. Also, I see three things that can improve this year from last year: 1) A better start in April. If the team plays around .500 ball that already puts them in better position than that 5-13 start last year. 2) Home record. Last year, the mets uncharacteristically lost a lot of games at home. Flip that with 2010, and we’re looking at a team in the hunt for the Wild Card. 3) Improved performance. Theoretically speaking, we are getting a full season of Ike Davis, David Wright, Daniel Murphy, and Lucas Duda. Those are 4 players we didn’t have all season. If all of them average even around 140-145 games, that’s still a increase in production from last year.

Also, (not banking this but…) the possibility of BABIP fueled season from one of the players (Tejada, Thole, Torres, etc.) If even of them has a high BABIP fueled season it raises the production to another level. And even if Torres could return to 2010 form, that’s a huge boost to this team. I’m not saying it’ll definitely happen, I’m just pointing out you can’t say it WON’T happen either.

2012 Let’s Go Mets!

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 20, 2012 9:39 AM EST up reply actions