9/29/11
NEW YORK -- Sandy Alderson sat Thursday afternoon on a clubhouse couch at Citi Field, flanked by two Mets pillows and a wall of packing boxes. Over his right shoulder stood an empty locker with the name "REYES" still tagged above it.
9/28/11
NEW YORK -- Sandy Alderson sat Thursday afternoon on a clubhouse couch at Citi Field, flanked by two Mets pillows and a wall of packing boxes. Over his right shoulder stood an empty locker with the name "REYES" still tagged above it.
The juxtaposition made silent reference to the Mets' most critical offseason decisions in years. Alderson, the general manager, has not been shy in admitting that nothing this winter will be more significant to the franchise than re-signing star shortstop Jose Reyes -- or opting not to.
"It's not vexing," Alderson said. "It's not troublesome. I know that that's the job at hand. We have to deal with it and we have to try to do so in the best interest of the Mets."
Half a day after officially winning the National League batting title, thereby carving deeper his niche in franchise history, Reyes remained as topical as any playoff race. Free agency does not often see players of his age, caliber, skill set and injury history hit its ranks, making the pursuit of Reyes both uncommonly intriguing and potentially treacherous.
Internally, the Mets have already penciled out a tentative salary range and "choking point" for contract negotiations. But Alderson alluded Thursday that things may "become emotional" in the pursuit of one of the franchise's all-time fan-favorite players.
"I've enjoyed watching Jose play," Alderson said. "He was a big part of whatever success we had."
In a perfect world, the renewal of vows would already be complete. The Mets have said that they want Reyes back. Reyes has said that he wants to return. And yet dollars, cents and sense may make the process far more complicated than it needs to be -- as well as potentially prohibitive. If another team offers Reyes more money than the Mets do, it could mean the end.
And that is a real possibility. Though a federal judge this week dismissed all but two counts of a lawsuit against the team's ownership group, Sterling Equities, principal owner Fred Wilpon and partner Saul Katz could still be on the hook for more than $1 billion. That, in turn, may affect a payroll that Alderson expects to sit somewhere between $100-110 million.
Roughly half that money is already committed to just three players: Johan Santana, Jason Bay and David Wright. Significant also are potential arbitration raises for Mike Pelfrey and Angel Pagan.
On the latter front, Alderson remained noncommittal Thursday when asked if Pagan will start in center field next season. Coming off a disappointing year both offensively and defensively, Pagan could become a victim of the payroll crunch -- especially if the Mets decide to re-sign Reyes, who may command upward of $20 million per season.
"Adding Jose would ... create less flexibility for us than we would like to have," Alderson said. "But there are pluses and minuses to every situation. We just have to weigh those."
The pluses and minuses of Reyes are obvious. At age 28, he ranks among the game's most dynamic players, capable of hitting for average and modest power, stealing bases and playing adequate defense. He also qualifies as one of baseball's most significant injury risks, given his lengthy history of muscle tweaks over the past three years alone.
Bidders must examine the entire package. The Mets understand that better than anyone.
"We were fortunate to experience an outstanding year from Jose," Alderson said. "There's obviously uncertainty about where he'll be next year, but we will see where that takes us. At the same time, it was great to be able to watch him play unfettered for half the year, and even with some limitation in the second half."
And so the team's offseason agenda reads like a Citi Field chant: "Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose." Everything the Mets do this winter, to some extent, will hinge upon Reyes. Improving the bullpen through free agency, for example, will depend upon how much money the Mets allocate to their shortstop. Evaluating the medical and training staffs will mean delving into the details of Reyes' injury history.
Alderson also plans to examine the free agent's body of work -- both this season and deep into the past. He is quick to note that at this point in the process, everything remains "speculation."
That is because the 2011 season is not yet complete. Eight teams are still alive following one of the most entertaining nights in recent baseball memory. The Mets are not among them.
And that, Alderson underscored, is a regret.
"I think one of the disappointments for me was we started poorly and we ended poorly," Alderson said. "First impressions are important. Last impressions are important. I think we did a lot of good things between those two bookends, but I think the poor start and the difficult finish may obscure some of that."
9/28/11
NEW YORK-- The final act was not a buzz of electricity but a solitary pulse. Jose Reyes strutted to the plate in the first inning of Wednesday's season finale at Citi Field, bunted the second pitch he saw, raced down the first-base line and reached safely.
Seconds later, Reyes walked back to the dugout, racked his bat and helmet and took his seat on the bench, in what may have been his final acts as a Met. Within moments, fans realized what was taking place and began booing.
Reyes' average stood at .337, plus a few hundred-thousandths of a point. The shortstop hosted a private party at his Long Island home later Wednesday, watching his lone remaining competitor for the National League batting title, Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, go 0-for-4 to finish at .332 and officially crown Reyes the first batting champion in Mets history.
"That's not an easy thing to do, to win a batting title," Reyes said. "There are so many good hitters around the league."
Braun, whose career average stands 20 points higher than that of Reyes, is among them. But the Brewers outfielder entered Wednesday's play trailing Reyes by more than a full point in the batting race, prompting Reyes to plan his bunt-and-bolt strategy. After hearing on television that one hit would swing the race heavily in his favor, Reyes asked Mets manager Terry Collins to let him leave the game if he managed to reach safely in his first at-bat.
An emotional Collins recalled the conversation -- and the public reaction -- shortly after Wednesday's game.
"I've heard some comments in the stands," Collins said, fighting back tears. "I don't blame them. People pay a good price to come to these games, and they've got to understand that I ask these players to do a lot. I've worked hard to get their respect this year and they deserve ours."
"They have to understand what's going on," Reyes said. "They have to feel happy if I win the batting title. I do it for the team and for the fans, too."
In Milwaukee, Braun took a neutral stance after watching the scene unfold.
"I respect whatever decision he decided to make, and ultimately, he left the door open for me," Braun said. "I'm not really here to judge him."
If it was his final act as a Met, Reyes made certain to scorch it into the memories of all 28,816 fans in attendance, many of whom came to offer the shortstop cautious farewells. At the conclusion of the World Series, Reyes will officially become a free agent. And despite his stated preference to remain in New York, Reyes has been careful to avoid stating his intentions.He plans to meet with his agents in New York before traveling back to his native Dominican Republic. The entire group will huddle and map out a plan.
Beyond that, Reyes has revealed nothing other than glimpses of emotion. He is nervous about the process. He is excited.
"It's in my mind, to be honest," Reyes said. "I'm comfortable here, but it's still too soon to talk about that."
If it is the end, it has been a long, eventful, sometimes successful and sometimes disappointing road for Reyes, who signed in 1999 as a skinny, clean-shaven 16-year old with little knowledge of the English language and American culture. The ensuing dozen years brought with them myriad leg injuries, an unsuccessful second-base experiment, a contract extension and a playoff appearance. Only one playoff appearance.
And yet, due to his long list of personal achievements, Reyes' Mets career has been nothing short of a marked success. When the shortstop departed Citi Field late Wednesday evening, he did so as a confident, accomplished 28-year-old with tattoos, dreadlocks and a reggaeton record label, with a batting title potentially in tow.
That latest accomplishment will always have its detractors, and yet, Wednesday's controversial strategy was not without precedent. Thirteen years ago, the Yankees removed Bernie Williams from the final game of their season to ensure a batting-title victory over Boston's Mo Vaughn; up to that point, Williams had been 2-for-2 with a walk.
Conversely, Reyes' early departure came on the 70th anniversary of Hall of Famer Ted Williams' decision to play out the final day of the 1941 regular season, despite the fact that Major League Baseball would have rounded up his .39955 average for record-keeping purposes. Citing a desire to exceed baseball's hallowed .400 mark on his own terms, Williams went 6-for-8 in a doubleheader to finish at .406.
In most cases, however, history tends to gloss over the details. Years from now, most will remember only that Reyes won the batting title -- not how he did it.
His teammates left Citi Field late Wednesday afternoon rightly assuming that Reyes would achieve his goal. A canvas with the shortstop's likeness and the words "2011 NL Batting Champ" leaned against his locker. Three bottles of wine, one of them uncorked, flanked an open bottle of Gatorade. Reyes left the stadium for good sometime after 4 p.m. ET, sporting designer sunglasses and a winter hat.
The Mets are not sure if he will return.
"I'm not very good at looking ahead or planning," third baseman and longtime teammate David Wright said. "I'm really expecting to see him in Spring Training."
"Every day, I hope the shortstop returns," Collins said, "because he gives us the best team."
9/27/11
NEW YORK -- A federal judge dismissed nine of the 11 counts of trustee Irving Picard's $1 billion lawsuit against Mets owners on Tuesday but is allowing the litigation regarding Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme to proceed in limited form.
"The Sterling Partners are pleased that the court today dismissed nine of the 11 counts in the Trustee's complaint and that the lone remaining count in which the Trustee seeks to recover payments from the Sterling Partners is limited to a two-year period," Mets parent company Sterling Equities wrote in a statement.
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| Mets President Saul Katz (Left) & C.E.O Fred Wilpon |
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said that Picard can recover no more than $295 million in profits without proving in court that owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz were "willfully blind" to the fraud of Madoff's scheme. Only by doing so can Picard recover the full $1 billion in principal and "fictitious profits" that Sterling Equities once held in Madoff accounts.
"Both sides agree that if the defendants had actual knowledge of Madoff's scheme, it would constitute lack of good faith," Rakoff wrote in his ruling. "But even the Trustee does not appear to undertake the dubious task of plausibly pleading that the defendants knowingly invested in a Ponzi scheme."
Picard's claim will otherwise be limited either to the $295 million in "fictitious profits" that Sterling Equities received while investing with Madoff, or the roughly $83 million Sterling Equities profited in the two years prior to Madoff's exposure.
Madoff, 73, is serving a 150-year prison term after pleading guilty to running an estimated $65 billion Ponzi scheme in March 2009. The Mets began seeking a minority owner after Picard filed his lawsuit against Mets owners earlier this year. They entered into exclusive negotiations to sell a $200 million stake in the team to hedge fund manager David Einhorn in May, but halted those negotiations earlier this month. At the time, sources said that the Mets were still actively seeking minority investors to purchase smaller stakes in the team.
9/26/11
NEW YORK -- Former Mets slugger Darryl Strawberry was at Citi Field on Saturday to unveil his All-Stars for Charities Fruit Snacks, and he had some advice for current Mets shortstop and future free agent Jose Reyes: Don't go.
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| Mets' great Darrell Straberry |
Twenty years after leaving the Mets for Los Angeles in free agency, Strawberry said he wishes he'd remained and continued to play in the New York City spotlight.
"It looks good on the other side, but it's not always as good as the place that you're used to," Strawberry said. "When you're young, you don't realize that, and for me, I was young and didn't realize what New York meant to me. Tell Jose I said New York is a great place. No matter what you have to go through, how difficult it gets, this is the place you want to play."
"Being successful here, they appreciate it a little bit more than anywhere else you go. You're just another player that comes along in other places, but the fans here never forget. The legacy you leave for yourself here is incredible and Jose has a chance to do that. He's a remarkable player, he's had some wonderful years, done some wonderful things and he still has a chance to do some greater things before his career is all over."
Reyes has said repeatedly that he hopes he can stay in New York, where he has played the entirety of his nine-year Major League career. When asked if he had spoken about his upcoming decision to players who'd gone through free agency, Reyes said he has not because he wants to keep his mind clear as he finishes the rest of the baseball season.
"Everything is a consideration," Reyes said. "I think to play here in New York means a lot to me. Like I always say, I don't want to leave here. I want to stay here. But at the same time, I don't know. Everything's a consideration."
Strawberry was at the stadium to sign autographs for any fan who purchased a box of his fruit snacks, the sales of which go to the Darryl Strawberry Foundation's Fight for Autism. The Foundation has worked to help those affected with Autism in New York and St. Louis since 2006, and in 2010 opened the first daycare facility for adults with autism in St. Louis.
"I've been doing work with children affected with autism and raising money, and this is just another way to raise money for the Foundation and for the families and children affected with autism," Strawberry said.
9/25/11
ST. LOUIS -- New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson already is armed with extensive studies about the effects of various dimension changes on home runs at Citi Field, with an eye toward making alterations for the 2012 season.
Three-year-old Citi Field has allowed an average of 1.32 homers per game this season, which exceeds only San Francisco's AT&T Park and San Diego's Petco Park in the National League.
"We're taking a very serious look at it, and done some analyses, and I would think sometime in October we'll make a decision as to exactly what we're going to do," Alderson said.
Alderson added changes "won't be subtle."
One motivation would be to make the ballpark more fair for hitters.
Alderson cited a statistic that 1.9 percent of balls in play are homers at Citi Field, versus a major league average of 2.5 percent across baseball. The Yankee Stadium average is 3.6 percent of balls in play are homers.
Alderson also noted there have been only eight homers hit to the opposite field by left-handed hitters in three years at Citi Field.
Any change, the GM said, most certainly would involve a reduction of the 16-foot wall in left field -- whether the wall stays at the same distance from home plate and a line is painted at eight feet, or a new fence is erected at a shorter distance. The existing left-field wall is structural and must remain intact."We're not looking for an advantage with respect to home runs versus visitors' home runs," Alderson said. "At the same time, I think there is some sense that the park is a little more overwhelming to a team that spends half its time there as opposed to a team that comes in for three games and doesn't really have to alter an approach or think about it too much and leaves."
Another motivation, the GM added, is that offense sells.
"To some extent it's a question of entertainment," Alderson said. "The hardcore baseball fan enjoys the 2-1, the 3-2 (score). We're appealing to a little broader segment. I think offense is appealing. Offense sells."
Other changes likely to occur include moving in the right-field fence in what is currently referred to as the "Mo Zone" nook.
Third baseman David Wright, whose home run totals nosedived with the move from Shea Stadium to Citi Field for the 2009 season, would welcome changes.
"I don't know if relief is the right word," Wright said. "I think it's a great idea. I think when you go play in a park, you'd like for it to be fair. So I'm excited that's going to happen."
Alderson noted the premium for outfield defense naturally would diminish with decreasing the dimensions. He noted the area of the playing surface at Citi Field is currently 4-5 percent greater than the major league average.
"It's certainly been done in other ballparks," Alderson said about dimension modifications. "The one that jumps immediately to mind is Comerica (in Detroit), where they made some pretty significant changes almost immediately."
Asked if reducing the outfield area would decrease free-agent-to-be Jose Reyes' triples should the speedster re-sign, Alderson suggested it would not.
"He might have to slide at third base a little more often," the GM quipped.
Story by, Adam Rubin, covers the Mets for ESPNNewYork.com.
