Comments on: The Wilpons Should Take A Page From Mara’s Book . . . http://bboothblog.com/2008/06/25/the-wilpons-should-take-a-page-from-mara%e2%80%99s-book/ Thought Provoking Issues! Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:19:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: David L http://bboothblog.com/2008/06/25/the-wilpons-should-take-a-page-from-mara%e2%80%99s-book/#comment-159 David L Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:21:44 +0000 http://bbooth.wordpress.com/?p=95#comment-159 As a life long Mets fan who has watched long stretches of Mets ineptitude, I think your comments are dead on. If you support mediority, it ensures you'll get more of it. The Knicks, Rangers, Yankees and Mets are falling into the same failed pattern of overspending for stars that are past their prime and trading away young talent for veterans. All of these teams would produce the same below average performance with payrolls that are half of what they are today. Spending the most simply doesn't yield better quality. Better scouting and talent assessment does, regardless of payroll size. Marlins (2 WS wins in 10 years) have proven that. The harsh truth is that none of these teams has a GM and staff that's particularly skilled at talent acquisition and player development. Despite the fact that it's the most important job in sports, very few teams in any league employ people who are skilled at this, that's why most teams falter and must rebuild again and again. The few teams that win consistently have quality player development. This short list includes Braves, Cardinals, Marlins, Twins, Red Sox, NE Patriots, Indy Colts, SA Spurs, etc. These teams don't always make the finals but they put a very competitive winning team on the field almost every year. Until the Mets decide to hire people with real skill in talent acquisition and player development, they will remain a mediocre middle of the pack team. The only thing that will hasten this change is to STOP buying tickets to Mets games. Minaya is inept but he spent millions on "stars" and this strategy did sell tickets. A record number this year which will break last years record ticket sales. Wilpons realize by now that Minaya doesn't know what he's doing in the talent area but he's brilliant at sales so he''ll stay. Until sales falter, upper management has no real incentive to fix the problem. With Citi Field opening next year, they will probably sell out every game in the first year, even if the team stinks. Until the novelty of seeing Citi Field fades and attendance drops off, Mets will continue to manage it this way. Back in the early 80's, the team stunk and only after attendance dropped dramatically did the owners get serious by hiring Frank Cashen as GM. He had an eye for talent. Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Daryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Dykstra, Darling, Ojeda are proof of that. The 86 team had at least 10 players who were above average or better at their position. The 2008 Mets have barely 5 that are above average or better. Santana, Wright, Beltran, Reyes and perhaps Church. Everyone else is average, washed up or a journeyman player. It's at best a .500 team. You are your record. Anything else is a rationalization. Minaya is mediocre and he built a mediocre team. 2006 was an anomaly. The National League stunk that year. The Cardinals were the second best team in the league and they finished a few games over .500. That year, Mets were a pretty good baseball team in a below average league but they were inferior to the top 3 or 4 teams in the American league that year. Just to keep some perspective, 2006 Mets won 97 games against weak competition. 1986 Mets won 108 games, were clearly the best team in baseball and still they barely won the World Series. Want to fix the Mets? Don't buy tickets and don't watch them on TV. I guarantee that Wilpon will get the message and so will CitiCorp. As a life long Mets fan who has watched long stretches of Mets ineptitude, I think your comments are dead on. If you support mediority, it ensures you’ll get more of it. The Knicks, Rangers, Yankees and Mets are falling into the same failed pattern of overspending for stars that are past their prime and trading away young talent for veterans. All of these teams would produce the same below average performance with payrolls that are half of what they are today. Spending the most simply doesn’t yield better quality. Better scouting and talent assessment does, regardless of payroll size. Marlins (2 WS wins in 10 years) have proven that. The harsh truth is that none of these teams has a GM and staff that’s particularly skilled at talent acquisition and player development. Despite the fact that it’s the most important job in sports, very few teams in any league employ people who are skilled at this, that’s why most teams falter and must rebuild again and again. The few teams that win consistently have quality player development. This short list includes Braves, Cardinals, Marlins, Twins, Red Sox, NE Patriots, Indy Colts, SA Spurs, etc. These teams don’t always make the finals but they put a very competitive winning team on the field almost every year. Until the Mets decide to hire people with real skill in talent acquisition and player development, they will remain a mediocre middle of the pack team. The only thing that will hasten this change is to STOP buying tickets to Mets games. Minaya is inept but he spent millions on “stars” and this strategy did sell tickets. A record number this year which will break last years record ticket sales. Wilpons realize by now that Minaya doesn’t know what he’s doing in the talent area but he’s brilliant at sales so he”ll stay. Until sales falter, upper management has no real incentive to fix the problem. With Citi Field opening next year, they will probably sell out every game in the first year, even if the team stinks. Until the novelty of seeing Citi Field fades and attendance drops off, Mets will continue to manage it this way. Back in the early 80′s, the team stunk and only after attendance dropped dramatically did the owners get serious by hiring Frank Cashen as GM. He had an eye for talent. Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Daryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Dykstra, Darling, Ojeda are proof of that. The 86 team had at least 10 players who were above average or better at their position. The 2008 Mets have barely 5 that are above average or better. Santana, Wright, Beltran, Reyes and perhaps Church. Everyone else is average, washed up or a journeyman player. It’s at best a .500 team. You are your record. Anything else is a rationalization. Minaya is mediocre and he built a mediocre team. 2006 was an anomaly. The National League stunk that year. The Cardinals were the second best team in the league and they finished a few games over .500. That year, Mets were a pretty good baseball team in a below average league but they were inferior to the top 3 or 4 teams in the American league that year. Just to keep some perspective, 2006 Mets won 97 games against weak competition. 1986 Mets won 108 games, were clearly the best team in baseball and still they barely won the World Series.

Want to fix the Mets? Don’t buy tickets and don’t watch them on TV. I guarantee that Wilpon will get the message and so will CitiCorp.

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