Rising Apple Report, Episode 2: The Wilpons’ Money Issues & Mike Piazza Getting Denied From the Hall of Fame

The Rising Apple Report aired its second episode earlier tonight at 6:30pm EST, as I was joined by two of Rising Apple’s great staff writers,
August 25, 2012; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon (left) and retired MLB player Sandy Koufax during the game against the Houston Astros at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray/The Star Ledger via USA TODAY Sports
Danny Abriano and Dan Haefeli. Obviously, the biggest news of Wednesday was that for the first time since 1996, no player will be enshrined this summer in Cooperstown at the MLB Hall of Fame, with one of the biggest snubs being Mike Piazza. Before we dove into that topic, we discussed the news from last week that the Wilpons are once again borrowing money to finance operations to run the New York Mets.Ownership completed a long process in which there were able to borrow against SportsNet New York (which they have majority ownership of) to the tune of $700 million, which allowed them to come out with about $160 million in cash to use on day-to-day operations. Basically, this deal allows the Wilpons to remain the owners of the Mets. Dan, Danny, and myself had a nice chat as to whether or not some of this cash they received from this deal should go straight into the product on the field, as my pipe dream would be acquiring someone like Michael Bourn for a multi-year deal.
Then, there was a spirited discussion about why Mike Piazza wasn’t inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, and why we all think this is atrocious, although it didn’t come as a surprise after hearing what reporters and writers have been saying for weeks. Piazza is coming out with a book within the coming months and will be addressing these rumors, so it will be interesting to see what he says and how it will affect his Hall of Fame candidacy moving forward.
We were happy to get Doug from Boston on the show as our first caller in the history of the show, as we briefly debated whether or not Sandy Alderson should give free agent Scott Hairston a one- or two-year deal. Click on the link below to listen to the show, we hope you enjoy it!
Rising Apple Report: The Wilpons Have 99 Problems and Money is All of Them