The Mets' owners reached a $162MM settlement with the trustee for the victims of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme earlier today. Here are some more notes from the NL East…
- The Phillies announced that second baseman Chase Utley “has come to a bit of a plateau” in his rehab. He’ll travel out of town for a few days to see a specialist for his knees, the team added. Utley's chance of playing on Opening Day seem slim and prospect Freddy Galvis may get his chance at the MLB level.
- The Nationals optioned Bryce Harper to the minor leagues over the weekend, and outsiders aren’t the only ones praising the move. "He is going to be special, but he isn't ready,'' one Nationals veteran told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
- The Mets' owners hope to recover approximately $125MM on loser funds, Heyman tweets. This would reduce their losses to $37MM or so.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes commissioner Bud Selig should step in if the Mets don't start operating like a high-revenue team by next winter (Twitter link).
If Utley is on his way to Colorado Springs that isn’t good – Dr Steadman would indicate microfracture surgery as an option. If that is the case then waiting out as long as possible was probably the right decision.
Disclaimer: I have no idea what is wrong with Utley’s knee or if he is even going to Colorado Springs. Just throwing it out there.
RE: Rosenthal
Its all well and good to say that, but it depends on what he means by “step in.” I mean, the Wilpons have done nothing to warrant a Dodgers-type response by the League. They’ve sunk money into the team in the recent past. Its not like they’re hoarding revenue sharing dollars and thumbing their nose at the big markets while sitting at or near last place. They’re just rebuilding at the same time as their owners hit a financial pot-hole.
agreed, the Mets payroll last year was $142M. So while they are not spending their money smartly, they are spending it and not hoarding the money.
And even after cutting payroll they are still in the 90 to 100 million dollar range. It is not like they slashed payroll to 40 million or something like that.
Um…someone should tell Rosenthal the Mets are anything but a high revenue team for the past 2 years. I don’t think losing 70 MIL in revenues counts as ‘high revenue’.
Maybe he was insinuating ‘potential for high revenue’.
They could go back to a Mid Revenue since this thing is getting all cleared up.Attendance is too much a issue to say that they will be in the FA market like Boston or the Yankees. But even so they could pull off a little bit of a Marlins trick this winter if they want to get fans back to the ballpark.While I wouldn’t reccomend a a “Minaya” strategy,it may end up being the only way of getting people back to the ballpark.But there are flaws
A. If this plan reverses the Mets could be back in serious debt
B.Its generally not a good idea to”buy” himself into contention
Rosenthal just wants more reasons to trash them. That’s it. He couldn’t care less if they spend more money or not.
I’d rather the Mets lose and build their farm system instead of overpaying for free agents and sucking due to a lack of organizational depth. We’ve all seen how the latter works. Time for a new approach.
They could go back to a Mid Revenue since this thing is getting all cleared up.Attendance is too much a issue to say that they will be in the FA market like Boston or the Yankees. But even so they could pull off a little bit of a Marlins trick this winter if they want to get fans back to the ballpark.While I wouldn’t reccomend a a “Minaya” strategy,it may end up being the only way of getting people back to the ballpark.But there are flaws
A. If this plan reverses the Mets could be back in serious debt
B.Its generally not a good idea to”buy” himself into contention
Harper to AAA is the right move. Under team control now through 2018 most likely.
agreed, I dont think there was any need to bring him up yet, i still feel that the nats are at least one year away from competing, so why start his service time early especially if he struggled at AA last year. He is the type of player that you want to keep under control as long as possible because he will cary them to the postseason.
He’ll be brought up in…what is it, like a month or two? They’re only doing it to keep him under team control for an extra year. Also, I’d say the Nats can easily take one of the wild card spots.
He’ll be brought up in…what is it, like a month or two? They’re only doing it to keep him under team control for an extra year. Also, I’d say the Nats can easily take one of the wild card spots.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes commissioner Bud Selig should step in if the Mets don’t start operating like a high-revenue team by next winter.
You know if Bud Selig were serious about fiscal responsibility and which owners are fiscally responsible as well as solvent. He should hire a Forensic Accounting Firm to oversee MLB! I am weary from hearing about the Dodgers and Mets financial woes or the A’s and Giants territory disputes and who’s going to get hurt financially . Bud Selig should have a handle or where the money is coming from and where it’s going. To be honest I don’t think he has a clue. I mean he did try to retract the Twins a few years ago and they have wonderful fan support despite their debacle in 2011. The thing of it is, I doubt he’ll do it and the league in the long run will hurt because of it. There are too many owners that have no idea what they are doing with all their wealth.
agreed, i think that the mets are too far away from winning the division as it is. Every other team in their division has a shot at the postseason, so i think they will have to seriously build from their farm system for a few years, especially if johan does not come back healthy.
Umm I beg to differ.Johan is pitching well in spring training.Dickey pitched very well last year having a 3.23 era in 208 innings pitched.add in a improved John Niese and they got a pretty well balanced one,two and three.Now the lineup
Tejada projected .285 7 hrs 30 rbis 15 sb
Murphy .320 50 rbis 5 sb
Wright .290 100 rbis 30 hr
Davis .302 100 rbis 30 hrs
Duda( iI think a huge season) .290 90 rbis 25 hrs
Bay .250 50 rbis 19 hrs
Torres .260 30 rbis 5 hrs 20 sb
Thole .280 20 rbis 10 hr (.299 improed averge in last 74 games)
Pitcher?
and the Bullpen with the addition of Francisco,Rauch and Ramirez will be a strength now and not a weakness.
Your kidding yourself if you think the Mets cannot compete with the others.
That may be true but look at the division they are in, the p’s won 100+ games, the braves (minus collapse) did ok, the marlins should be much better, and even some are thinking the nats may be in contention.
They dont look terrible, but i dont see them as one of the better teams in the division. so they are stuck in that rut, so it makes sense to somewhat rebuild the farm because they wont surpass for that time.
If Dickey keeps pitching well mark my words I would take the Mets rotation over the Marlins.
Johan-Johnson both have something to prove
Dickey-Buherle-Similar numbers although Dickey’s is a bit better.
Niese-Zambrano-your kidding right Niese has more potential than Charlie Sheen 2
Gee-Nolasco both have things to prove
Pelfrey/Schweiden-anybody well Ill take the anybody over Pelf but Schwieden who knows
Mets over Marlins if Dickey pitches well and of course Santana remains healthy
You forgot the Marlins 2nd-best pitcher, Anibal Sanchez. You’d be crazy to take the Mets rotation over the Marlins.
You forgot the Marlins 2nd-best pitcher, Anibal Sanchez. You’d be crazy to take the Mets rotation over the Marlins.
At least Utley is only signed through 2013. After that, we are done with his contract, and his “big money” days are likely over too.
Unfortunately, the same can not be said for Howard. We will wear that contract for a half of the next decade like an albatross.
Regarding Harper.. I’m not so sure he’s ready for AAA. He has limited at bats above Singe-A pitching and his numbers aren’t all that impressive at the AA level. a .256/.329/.395 split. No Doubt he is going to be a star, and is a top 3 prospect.. and impressive that hes 19 and in AAA, but rushing him does no one any good.
Now that hes in AAA the fans will be clamoring to see him and he’ll most likley get rushed up to the bigs a full year Pre-Mature
If the surgery didn’t have the potential to make his condition worse, I’m sure he’d have had it by now… he’s even said as much. The rehab/stretching program worked for him last year… why would he believe it wouldn’t work for him this year? His career’s been in jeopardy since the injury was announced last year.
He may need to risk the surgery but that was always considered the last option.
Which is why he isn’t having the surgery unless its necessary… surgery could end his career sooner than a good rehab program.
I’d rather they do everything they can to get him on the field without the surgery.
Wouldn’t you prefer he just have the surgery and possibly have his time in Philly end now, then him limp around for 50 games a year?
Not really. If he can get a program like he had last year that allows him to play 120ish games a year, I’d be all for it.
I pretty much came to terms with the fact he wasn’t going to be much more than that type of player anyway.
I remembered hearing about the cartilage problems last year. The surgery may be worth the gamble, I just don’t think its the answer people I’ve seen on message boards think it is.
but the thing is that the team has a say in whether or not he gets surgery. The P’s would most likely want to deny it if they can still get 120 games a year out him. They only have him on contract for 2 more years so if they can get 240 games out of him they are better off than losing him for this year and getting 150 out of him next year.