Mets owner Fred Wilpon publicly criticized three of his team’s best players in a piece by Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes explained and weighed in on the drama earlier today and others have since done the same. Here’s the latest on Wilpon, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and David Wright:
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney says it was a "really, really bad idea" for Wilpon to agree to do the New Yorker interview in the first place. People aren't going to feel sorry for him and the news will generate lots of headlines for the wrong reasons.
- Olney reports that the Mets would trade Reyes between the middle of June and the beginning of July if a deal occurs (all Twitter links). Though Wilpon's comments appear to be true, they cut into the leverage GM Sandy Alderson has, according to Olney. The Mets haven’t engaged Reyes in talks about a possible extension yet, Olney reports.
- Reyes' agents are not going to comment, but the shortstop himself is not bothered by the story, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
- Agent Scott Boras told Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal that he was surprised by Wilpon's jabs at Beltran, given how well the outfielder is playing this year. Boras also suggests he'd prefer to see Wilpon be more supportive of his team's players.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog wonders how Wilpon's words will impact the trade market for Reyes and how the story will impact players like Reyes and Wright as they try to focus on their jobs.
- Author Jeffrey Toobin said today on WFAN that he expects the Mets to try to re-sign Reyes and keep Wright, according to Cerrone.
- As Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out, the sympathetic portions of the 11,000 word article "are obscured in total by Wilpon's critical comments on Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran." Mets officials say Wilpon is an obsessed fan who cares about every game, rather than a detached owner.
- Though many owners and club officials talk critically about players in private moments, Wilpon made a mistake in expressing his thoughts publicly, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Mets skipper Terry Collins told Mike Puma of the New York Post that his team consists of professionals who can tune out distractions like this (Twitter link).
- The Mets are formulating a response, according to Andy McCullough of the Star Ledger (on Twitter). It could take a while, he reports.
