Mets: The Wilpons need to take winning more seriously or get out

Payroll Doesn’t Reflect “All In”

From everything that I’ve read, the Mets’ current payroll sits at around $150 million. Less than what it was at the end of 2018. That number still doesn’t take into account the insurance money the Mets will get back from David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes, which will lower payroll even further.

For the Mets to not even entertain the thought of Bryce Harper or Manny Machado is beyond comprehension. They should at least meet with them. First, to at least get a sense of what they wanted, and even more, for appearance sake. The Wilpons are said to be sensitive to how they’re portrayed, so to not even put up a charade of having an interest in these players, is a case of horrible optics.

The MLB luxury tax threshold for 2019 is $206 million. The Mets could have signed Harper and Miller, and still be well under that figure. Van Wagenen can’t say the Mets are “All in” when they’re clearly not.

It’s amazing how the Wilpons can’t see the goodwill they’d generate with the fans by finally signing a top-shelf player. Instead, they seem content to just put out a shoddy product, as long as they make a profit.

Since the Wilpons took over sole control of the Mets in 2002, they’ve had just six winning seasons in seventeen years! Just three years of making the playoffs.

With the cheap-in-cost, high-quality starting pitching the Mets have had the last few years, it’s a crime that they didn’t build a quality team around them. The Mets could have and should have been a perennial contender.

Even with the disappointing 2015 World Series loss, it felt like it was just the beginning of something. Instead, that turned out to be the aberration. And really, if not for a Cespedes hot streak, they probably don’t even reach the playoffs that year either. But, to then not build on that moment, is a crime in which every single Mets fan should be disgusted.

There should be no more giving anyone on the Mets a pass. There have been too many interviews with Jeff Wilpon, where the reporter lobs softball questions. He needs to be grilled, not let off the hook. If he tries to evade the question, he needs to be pressed. He has tried to defer that payroll is up to the general manager.

First Sandy Alderson, and now Van Wagenen. That’s clearly not true. Van Wagenen just stated that there was still “Financial flexibility”.

Unless they show us otherwise, that will be proven to be a lie as well.