The Wilpons announced that they're willing to sell a minority share in the Mets and the Yankees are making news today, too. Here's the latest:
- Fred Wilpon says the Mets are talking about selling 20-25% of the team, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times (on Twitter).
- Jeff Wilpon says Citi Field and SNY are not for sale, according to ESPNNewYork's Adam Rubin (Twitter link).
- Brian Cashman didn't want to sign Rafael Soriano for $35MM in guaranteed money, but that doesn't mean he wants to leave New York. As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports explains, Cashman likes New York and is likely to stay there.
- Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg suggested earlier in the week that Texas helped Philadelphia sign Cliff Lee and Yankees president Randy Levine didn't take kindly to those remarks. He told Jon Heyman of SI.com that Greenberg is "delusional" and pointed out that the Rangers have benefitted from revenue sharing, or to borrow Levine's word, "welfare."
“Fred Wilpon says the Mets are talking about selling 20-25% of the team”
Probably the best news the Mets have received this offseason.
Fred Wilpon says the Mets are talking about selling 20-25% of the team
Well, if and when they do, let them be your shares, Freddy-boy….let them be yours!!
Boy, Levine still has a sore spot there about not getting Lee, doesn’t he? Get over it, dude.
Where does it say anything about Cashman?
Boy, you are a bad reader, aren’t you?
Greenburg and Levine should stop talking and just let their teams play. The conduct of both men is unprofessional in my opinion.
How did Tex help Philly?
Read the article, he claims to have delayed Lee’s decision which gave the Phillies a chance to make an offer. I have to agree about him sounding delusional.
they should sign these bozos for a cage match at Cowboys stadium winner take all?
Wow, sounds like Levine is extremely butt-hurt. Don’t really see anything wrong with Greenberg’s comments, so I really wonder why Levine said that. Spiteful.
That doesn’t discredit the validity of the revenue sharing “welfare” comment, though.
Kind of both ways there really. The NYY think they have some kind of Divine right to anybody they want and the entire league had to support the financially busted rangers owner Tom Hicks.
My only real thought on the Greenberg/Levine matter is that these statements make Levine sound like one of those guys who starts spouting off crap like “my taxes pay your salary” when arguing a parking ticket.
One hundred percent agree.
“Don’t you know who I am? I pay more in taxes per year than you’ll make in a lifetime!!!!!!1!!!!!”
I love those guys, too. I live in a crowded area with very little parking available for non-residents and it’s like free street theater!
But don’t most of those people just park in parking lots instead?
“But don’t most of those people just park in parking lots instead? ”
Not if they’re in a hurry. In my experience, the vast majority of guys pulling that are people who were stopping at Starbucks (Because rich people don’t go to Dunkin’ Donuts) for some exceptionally specific thing with caffeine in it on their way to work. They would’ve gotten away before the parking officer got them if they hadn’t spent three minutes berating the Starbucks employee for stirring clockwise one half turn too many.
Haahaha you thought about this way too much! Good laugh, though.
levine referring to luxury tax as “welfare” is a poor choice of words given todays economic climate in relation to baseball salaries. kinda like steve jobs or bill gates calling society “collective morons”.
Just because people may not want to hear it doesn’t make it untrue. I’d say society on the whole is a bunch of morons. Look no further than an online message board.
Everyone needs to stop bitching and moaning, and just do whatever it takes to sign someone. If it doesn’t work out move on the next player you want.
I loved Levine’s comment/attitude. It’s refreshing to see. Reminds of the old days when Mr. Steinbrenner was in charge.
This whole Cashmen leaving thing is overblown. The elite talent was all off the board by the time the Yankees looked up so Cashmen was thinking like Theo and not trying to force anything. Its actually a respectable balance as its clear Cashmen has the long term interest locked down while the Stienbrenners will always bring that win now mentality. I don’t see a problem unless its coming out of Cashmens pocket. If this signing happened in the beginning of the off season nobody would have even cared, but there is less news so people are clearly getting creative.
It’s not Cashman’s actions in a professional capacity that throws people, it’s the way he’s been flapping his gums. All in the span of a week, he’s gone on record saying he thought signing Soriano was a mistake, stated he doesn’t expect Jeter to stick at shortstop for the life of his contract (Which allegedly threw Jeter’s agent for a loop), conceded that he believes the Red Sox are a better team on paper and who knows what else. If George was still in charge, Cashman probably would’ve been fired days ago.
From a personnel standpoint, I’ve agreed with just about everything Cashman’s said the last few weeks and I think he’s been pretty smart this offseason in terms of what’s available to him. I mean, from a rival perspective, it’s fun to watch all the drama and see so many plans fall through, but the only discernable mistake I think Cashman’s committed this offseason was not being more aggressive with Crawford. That said, not blowing the farm for Grienke or signing someone just for the sake of signing someone is the smart thing to do here.
I dunno.. Steinbrenner would have been twisting cashman’s arm (or worse) to make a move by now i think with all the moves and that speech about boston maybe being better would not have had to been made in the 1st place.
What worries me is that there is no checks and balances anymore with this guy. The smug, elitist attitude is getting to much for me. I could picture it in Lee’s house when he was making the proposal. No wonder he went to Philly.
I’ve heard that Cashman has a rep for being a very honest person when asked a media question. The response he gave were to questions asked. The reports I’ve read was that he felt compelled to be honest about the Soriano question in order to keep credibility.
That being said. The last thing a GM should worry about is his credibility to the media. They are not your friends, and seldom have your back. Obviously, behind the scenes, they must have discussed every potential FA since November. That being said, it was probably quite clear, especially as of three or four weeks ago, that those above him, namely Randy Levine, wanted to sign Soriano. Cashman’s biggest, and IMO, ONLY, mistake was to pulicly state “The Yanks are not going to give up their 1st rnd pick (thus not signing Soriano out right). Reports have come out that the Yanks were trying to find a team to sign and trade Soriano to them but it obviously never worked out.
It’s NEVER…EVER…in a best interest to publicly state his intentions to the media. For the future, stick to the generic “No comment” or “We will explore every opportunity to improve the ballclub” statements.
As for Jeter. I’m sure all that was already discussed with him back in November (the idea that he may not finish at SS). The actual scenario was as follows:
————-
On the phone, Cashman said he was simply following a hypothetical in which he was asked about the possibility of Jeter eventually moving to third base, leaving Alex Rodriguez to move to designated hitter. At the breakfast, Cashman responded that Jeter’s skill set would better fit the outfield than third base. On the phone, Cashman said there are currently no plans to make such a change.
“It wasn’t a declaration of any kind,” Cashman said.
———————–
The dumbest things he’s said is regarding Joba and the fact that his 2008 injury has damaged him to the extent that it may have effected his ability to be an elite starter. He did admit that it was a small sample size and that his velocity returned in 2010 although it was more in the 93-96 range as opposed to the 97-100 range. I see no reason to state this publicly especially since it may hurt his value in trade inquiries.
I’m not going to say he should have been more aggressive with Crawford, but I will say I would have liked him to be a little bit more proactive on Lee since that was his whole offseason game plan. I like how Cashman hanging off the side of a building has now become Cashman hanging off the side of a building for the kids charity, by certain members of the New York media. I’m all for the kids but I think he picked the wrong time to do it. On the weekend before the most important time of the year for his job. Call me heartless if you want, but if he was repelling down side of Lee’s house I’d say his priorities would have been a little more in order.
Both of Greenberg’s sets of comments, the comments he made during the playoffs and the ones he made last week, were factual. Sounds like Levine has a problem with the Rangers actually having an owner that can spend money for a change. Hick’s financial woes have nothing at all to do with the current ownership of the Rangers. I am sure the Yankees can’t believe they were spurned twice in their attempt to get Lee. After all, they are the Yankees. They are supposed to get whatever they want.
How is a generalized comment that is trashing an entire fanbase for the supposed actions of a few factual?
Yankee fans had a bad reputation long before Greenberg got into MLB.
Wow. You sir might be even more delusional than Greenberg. By your logic and Greenberg’s the Nationals, and every other team involved or link to Cliff Lee helped the Phillies acquire him.
This Greenberg comment shows how butthurt he is that Cliff /lee turned them down.
Laid down the Kool Aid while you can.
Don’t you know! Any team that tries to sign a free agent is just doing it to help the team that ultimately ends up signing said free agent.
Seriously, how can a grown and educated adult claim such nonsense? I’ll be embarrassed to even say that to my own family, let alone the entire nation.
You responded to my comment and then quoted another comment. I a m not sure if you are confused or if you are just confusing.
It’s not quite as ridiculous as you make it seem. All he said is that between the Rangers and Yankees, he thinks Lee was about to pick the Yankees. But they gave him something else to think about and it suddenly became the Rangers, Yankees and Phillies and he obviously chose the Phillies.
He’s doing a lot of assuming (about to decide, about to decide Yankees, their visit made him push his decision off, Phillies offer came in this window, etc) and he probably shouldn’t have said anything even if he’s right, but it’s hardly a ridiculous interpretation of events and he obviously has more information than we do about exactly how things were transpiring at the time it all happened.
The Levine comment shows how much the Stankees are butt-hurt that they got beat by a team that was built on there dime.
Have you been a fan of baseball for long? I think if you had ever met a Yankee fan you would realize that Yankee fans never get “butt-hurt”. When the Yankees fail to win the world series one year, the fans just think, we’ll win next year. There is no whining and complaining, we just going back to our daily lives of being the most successful city in the world. The Yankee fans, players, and staff go into every season with the goal of winning, we expect to win, when we lose it is sometimes so bewildering that we just ignore it. All other teams are in it to BEAT US, we are the top dogs, the ones to fear, and with that comes a lot of hatred. Living in Boston for 4 years after growing up in Brooklyn and I can tell you one thing, losing matters a lot more to some people than others.
The only reason the executives are making sometimes defensive remarks is because they are the topic of constant speculation, being that not only the baseball world, but the rest of the world that doesn’t know baseball, only knows the Yankees.
Been a baseball fan over 30 years now. How do you explain the 1980’s era of Yankess baseball. Betcha there was a lot being butt-hurt and whining and complaining then.
The 80’s in which they were A.L. champs (1981), something you seem to think is pride worthy? And won another division title? The Rangers haven’t had a decade nearly as good as the Yankees in the 80s.
I remember traveling to New York. I remember a lot of people that didn’t speak english and it smelt of garbage. Sucess!!!!
Smelling yourself? No non-english speakers in Texas?
Smelling how bad the Yankees rotation is now that Pettite retired.
Here’s what Greenberg said, according to The Dallas Morning News:
“We didn’t know specifically that Philadelphia was in on Cliff until the day he agreed to terms with Philadelphia,” Greenberg said Sunday. “But all along we thought if a mystery team would come forward that there was a pretty good chance that it would be Philadelphia.
“We had three different meetings with Cliff and his wife and his agent in Little Rock. At the very first meeting he spoke very highly of the experience he had pitching for the Phillies. And it was clear that pitching here and in Philadelphia were the two most enjoyable experiences of his career. Even though Philadelphia was probably not in, they were always in the back of our mind.
“I think if we wouldn’t have gone to Arkansas that last time, I think he was going to sign with the Yankees. We pried the door open a little bit to give ourselves another opportunity. And ultimately the Phillies were able to take advantage of that opportunity that we created. While we would have preferred that he would have chosen to go with us, we’re real pleased that he’s going to the other league.”
Most major league team’s owners take revenue sharing money and put it right in their pockets, instead of using it to advance the success of their own organization, so maybe in the future they won’t need other team’s money.
Kind of like most welfare recipients.
Way to generalize
Paging Mark Cuban, paging Mark Cuban. Over.
Haha, was thinking the same thing. He wanted the Cubs, he wanted the Rangers. Why not the Mets ehh?
I’m sure Cuban could make all the Wilpons financial worries go away by selling him the entire team.
Please, Cuban.
If he had a chance to buy the Mets, he might do that. But he has a chance to buy PART of the Mets, and I don’t see Mark Cuban as the kind of guy who is going to play minority owner.
Not a fan of taking sides on the matter, since my team ended up with Cliff Lee anyway, but for once, Randy Levine is absolutely right. If anything, Chuck Greenberg just showed his ignorance towards the negotiations. The Phillies had been in contact with Lee’s camp throughout the off-season. Amaro and Lee both told the media that Lee’s agent told the Phillies’ brass that his client had interest in coming back, but at the time, Werth hadn’t signed and the Phillies weren’t sure which direction they were going in.
After Werth signed, negotiations picked up. The sides went back and forth, and if I remember correctly, Amaro’s exact words were, “We couldn’t lose Lee again over $5 million.” For Greenberg to say that because he visited Lee in Arkansas again, he gave the Phillies’ the opportunity to sign Lee… Well, that’s just ridiculous. Numerous times this off-season, Lee has said that he never wanted to leave Philly. While that’s peachy, it shows that he was waiting on their offer anyway.
What’s even more ridiculous about Greenberg’s comments was that he had the Rangers COMPLETELY out of the picture. He said that the Rangers “gave Philadelphia the opportunity to sign Lee. If not, he was going to the Yankees.” All Greenberg is doing is taking subliminal shots at Lee and the Yankees while trying to save his own face posturing for the Texas media.
Agree. Randy Levine needs to relax and not react to every anti-Yankees slight that comes up. Greenberg is a novice owner that has fallen into the limelight on his first go-round and doesn’t know how to act. His team beat the Yankees and he’s decided that it’s a good opportunity to make silly statements to his fan base in order to sell tickets for the coming season. Had Levine let it pass, no one outside of Arlington would had paid any notice, and it would have been seen for what it was. A contrived shot at selling tickets. One would think that Randy Levine would have recognized it.
More people should read this post.
“citizen” d@mn edit button won’t work.
I disagree. The Yanks made a fair offer and Lee decided to sigh elsewhere. It’s not like they have said anything publicly to disparage Lee at all. They may think they appeal to every FA but I don’t think there’s any “Divine rights” attitude.
Yanks offered:
6 x $22 mil+ $16 mil options= $132 guaranteed. $148 mil potential total
Texas offered:
6 x $23 mim + $23 mil vesting options= $138 mil guaranteed. $161 mil potential total. I heard a lot of the money was back loaded.
Lee signed w/Phillsfor:
5 x $21.5 mil avg + $12.5 mil buyout + $27.5 mil team option (incl $12.5mil buyout) = $120 mil guaranteed. $135 mil potential total.
Option Details:
*Phillies $27.5 mil club option: option becomes guaranteed if Lee 1) is not on the disabled list at end of 2015 season with injury to left elbow or left shoulder, and 2) has 200 IP in 2015 or 400 IP in 2014-15
See: Cots
*Yanks option was a $16 mil player option. That basically guarantees Lee 7/$148
Google: Yankee offered cliff lee $148 mil
*Texas option was a $23mil vesting option. How the option vest wasn’t made public but the total would’ve been for $161 mil if it vested.
Google: Texas rangers offered cliff lee $161 mil
Best deal, IMO,1-3
Texas. Most guaranteed money and potential earning even if it is backloaded. Chances are he will have a hard time seeing another $30 mil once his contract with the Phillies expires @ age 38 and if Phillies don’t pick up his option @ age 37 it’s because he’s probably not pitching at a high level anymore making it even more difficult for him to cash in at a later age.
I think when you are looking at a “worst” offer of 24mill/year and 120mill total guaranteed, you are into play money territory anyway, so how do you put a price on going to the place that he really wanted to be?
You don’t. I have ZERO problems w/ Lee making a decision that makes him most happy. I was purely talking from a monetary standpoint.
As do just about every other fan base. The fact that Cliff signed to the Phillies, one of the fanbases with the worst “reputations” sort of makes me think that Cliff Lee could careless about those things.
And I am 110% sure that Cliff Lee’s wife had no reason to worry about being spat upon as the wife of a Yankee player had Lee decided to sign with NY.
I HATE when this site moves my replys to a poster to the end. It throws away all context to what the heck I’m saying.
Spot on! “If it weren’t for ME then Cliff Lee would be a Yankee. HA HA HA!!”. Still, Levine should just go somewhere and stop responding like a fan.
of course cashman would like to stay. He makes a couple million dollars a year, and his boss does all his work for him.
sounds like a cushy job to me.
Levine shouldn’t be complaining about “welfare” beings the organization he works for is responsible for creating it. Putz…
Haha. How is Levine, or the Yankees, responsible for creating the economic disadvantages, of let’s say, the Rays? They didn’t creat the proble at all but are BY FAR the greatest contributors to it from revenue sharing and luxury taxes, not to mention being the best road draw in baseball. Get the facts straight bub.
If they hadn’t been backing dumptrucks up on anybody Scott Boras drags up to them, there wouldn’t be all of the disparity for Tampa Bay’s and other low-income clubs to care, so they asked for and got revenue sharing. This not fact Bub?
Tampa Bay, w/ or w/o the Yanks or any other team spending money, would still have a horrendous fan base that doesn’t support the product regardless of the fact they were the AL East champs for the 2nd time in 3 years. The reason why the Rays can’t sign anyone or retain their stars isn’t because of the Yanks. How does it feel when the Yanks come to St.Petes and the stadium seems more like New Yankee Stadium South?
And clearly the Yanks are not the only team signing major stars.
But here’s a fact. The Yanks could reduce their payroll to $100 mil and that still wouldn’t help the Rays afford a $60 mil payroll for 2011. Don’t blame the Yanks..blame the Rays fans…..or their lack thereof.
Excellent news. Hopefully during this decade the Wilpon’s leave the organization they’ve ruined. Just keep Wright, Ike and the SNY Booth.
I wonder if Donald Trump would show interest in buying the Mets. If my memory serves me correct, he’s a season ticket holder.
Madoff was an evil Mastermind