Too Big To Fail Or Simply Too Stupid ….. ?

Too Big To Fail Or Simply Too Stupid ?

By tophatal ……….

I don’t know about you but the the political debates and the preamble of the GOP candidates seeking to the party’s nominee in the Presidential elections later on this year has become nauseating and tedious . Never mind the fact that the money being spent by the candidates would simply make you feel uneasy . But then again simply look at the perceived credentials of the aforementioned individuals ?

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Slide show for your perusal .

I know that Spring Training is still some time away but . with the latest moves now being made by the teams as they ready themselves for the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues and their nuanced schedules. . Well, while this all happens , it would appear that the New York Mets and their ongoing debacle sees no apparent end in sight . It is asinine to think that Bud Selig and his office while stating that they’re closely monitoring their situation they have made no formal statement as to the organization’s predicament . The ball-club’s owners Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon are still at the helm of this once respected Major League Baseball …. franchise .

It would appear that with all of the financial difficulties that are said to have befell New York Mets with declining attendance for their games at Citi-Field a ballpark that is less than five years old and built at the cost of $775 million of public financing underwritten in large part by the city of New York which was guaranteed to be a monumental success by the city’s mayor Michael Bloomberg . Somehow , Bloomberg has been conspicuous in his absence , on speaking about the problems now facing the much beleaguered organization . Far be it for me to suggest but the problems that the New York Mets now appear to be facing is simply just one big cluster fuck with no apparent end in sight !

Baseball’s governing body now seems powerless to stop what now appears to be a downward spiral for this team. Having brought in former front office executives Sandy Alderson and JP Riccardi to steer the front office and deal with all personnel issues and the hiring of Terry Collins as the team’s manager . With the departure of Jose Reyes to the Miami Marlins via free agency it would appear that the fallout from that move has drawn the ire of Alderson and his immediate subordinate , J P Riccardi , with both executives berating the player for his lack of candor and honesty.

Jose Reyes for his part simply stated that the organization did not give him the impression that they wanted him as a lynch pin for a team that he simply led them in almost all of the major offensive categories that mattered most . Though it was felt that the player the player was shoo-in for the NL MVP in 2011 . Jose Reyes fell short in the voting, with the award being won by the Milwaukee Brewers’ … Ryan Braun . Now as we know the player is now the subject of what now appears to be a 50 game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy , albeit that the player has stated categorically that he did not knowingly take an illicit substance. At this juncture with all that Braun had going for him in terms of his image now is on the cusp of going down the drain. Can Braun recover from this and regain the form that made him one of the most productive players in the NL last season ? Well that remains to be seen but I’m of the opinion once you have fallen afoul of this league policy then all bets are off as it concerns your future ! And it is now becoming abundantly clear that Ryan Braun knows that apart from his image being tarnished he’s fighting an uphill battle trying to main that once pristine image never mind undermining his very own character .

Given the stark financial issues now facing the New York Mets and the very fact that Alderson and Riccardi will most certainly have to pare down the team’s …. payroll it does not come as a surprise to me at all that the front office might now be considering shopping their All Star team captain David Wright ! Rumors have been fomenting for the past couple of weeks , although there has been no formal statement coming from the player , his agent or from anyone within the Mets’ organization. If a fire sale is about to begin at this stage , one simply has to now wonder what the New York Mets’ fans might be making of this all. Wright along with his now departed former teammate were seen as the faces of this franchise with a view to the team looking to resurrect their fortunes this upcoming season after a rather horrendous 2011 sojourn. Out of the wildcard hunt and not even within a hair’s breath of even challenging within the NL East , Terry Collins and his assistant coaching staff simply had no answer in large part for the players’ mediocre season .

Courtesy of The New Jersey Star Ledger

Mets’ David Wright surrounded by trade rumors heading into 2012 season

By Andy McCullough , The Star-Ledger

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The crowd never parts for the man of the hour. Inside a ballroom bathed in red light, 20 minutes after going broke in his own charity poker tournament, Mets third baseman David Wright glad-handed a steady stream of well-wishers. One step to the left — a handshake and a smile. Two steps to the right — a hug, a camera click, a signature.

His status as a favorite son here, about 30 minutes from his hometown, remains assured. But his standing back in New York appears less certain as the 2012 season approaches. As part of their franchise overhaul, Wright’s employers are expected to shop him this summer. So either he plays out the final two seasons of his contract on a team with dwindling payroll and cratering expectations — Don Quixote in Flushing — or wears another team’s uniform for the first time.

“It is weird where it seems like yesterday we were winning the division by a crazy number of games and that I never heard myself in a trade rumor,” Wright said Friday before hosting his second-annual Vegas Night here to benefit the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. “And now, all of a sudden, it’s every day.”

Six weeks from beginning his ninth big-league season, Wright is steeling himself for the onslaught of trade innuendo. He does not welcome it. The bitter memories of 2011 allow for easy motivation as he embarks on a season in which he will be both a team leader and trade bait for general manager Sandy Alderson.

Earlier this week, Wright did a radio hit with his former teammate, Cliff Floyd. Wright remembers carrying Floyd’s bags as “his little personal assistant.” Now Floyd is retired, and Wright is in limbo.

“A lot of those guys that we had through those years — actually, all of those guys — are gone,” Wright said. “So now I have to be more of that guy that’s counted on day in and day out.”

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Should the New York Mets make the maneuver to shop Wright then there’s liable to be a number of teams interested in a Gold Glove winner known for his productivity and defense . Are there teams out there willing to take a chance and make the player a part of their future ambitions ? . Certainly the price asked by the Mets might not be a high price to pay but most definitely it would be one that would come at a premium with the organization seeking a number of promising young talent in exchange for David Wright , whom many well feel has yet to reach his peak . Amongst the third baseman in the league I am not. so sure that Wright is amongst the elite players at the position. But somehow the comparisons have been made with the likes of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez when in fact the Mets’ player has yet to accomplish anything as of yet in comparison with regard to the aforementioned players. .

How bad is the New York Mets’ situation ? Well given the fact that the organization was offering a willing participant a 5% stake in the baseball club for a staggering $15-$ 20 million which would allow that individual certain privileges afforded to major front office executives without having a saying in the day to day running of the baseball club. To put this politely , I’d rather take that $20 million and wipe my ass with it , rather than dump that sum into the cesspool now known as the New York Mets ! Furthermore , the fans of the Mets have to be anally retarded if they believe that this organization in its present state is anywhere close to be relevant as baseball team within the game, than have that sum invested in a team that hasn’t done anything as a competitive being in well over two decades ! .

If the woes of the Mets was magnified by anything it was from the mere fact that this team simply didn’t have a pitching staff that was capable of staying healthy. For much of last season Johan Santana was merely on the sidelines as this team pitched their way to mediocrity but even worse even in the aftermath of that Santana’s woes still couldn’t deflate what many are now coming to believe and that the former Cy Young winner is no longer worth that multi- million contract he signed with the New York Mets that he has simply failed to live up to . But then again which player on this current roster hasn’t been overpaid while simply under-achieving ? Your thoughts on the matter ?

While Sandy Alderson and J P Riccardi now feel that the team is up to the task of challenging within the NL East against the likes of the two time defending divisional champions the Philadelphia Phillies , alongside the Atlanta Braves , Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins . If anything in spite of the two executives’ beliefs that the team is capable of competing it is my belief that the Mets will have to rely on this current core of players but they will also be looking for contributions from some of the rising players within their minor league system who will no doubt be brought up by Terry Collins and his staff to be assessed on their productivity. over the course of the upcoming season .

If the New York Mets can be considered to be a ” monumental bust ” as they have proven to be in so many factors then it should come as no surprise that they will continued to be viewed as such , no matter whether or not the present ownership can extricate themselves from their financial morass . Much of that of is of their own making while baseball’s hierarchy has been also culpable in this mess by not strictly overseeing the running of this baseball team and allowing the egregious actions of Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon to continue unabated , never mind the actions of COO Jeff Wilpon . These actions while not yet bordering on grand larceny and fraud , were this a public company I would dare say that the US Justice Department would be to subpoena a number of these executives as seeking their testimony as to their actions and gross dereliction of duty and fiduciary trust. But this is baseball and sound business acumen and practices is not something that is being remotely practiced by any organization at present . Name one baseball franchise who to your mind has been a monumental success in terms of their business practice ? Other than perhaps the New York Yankees , Philadelphia Phillies and and now the Texas Rangers I’d dare you’d be hard pressed to find an organization that is acting with any sound practical business principle !

There is this continued idiocy amongst some fans who believe that there is parity within the game of baseball because in recent years there has been assortment of teams that have won the World Series ! That hasn’t been due to parity but simply the teams in question hitting a rich vein of form when it mattered most and having the financial wherewithal to parlay their success through acquiring players and playing what’s deemed to the market rate for the top priced commodities on the market . If parity were abound then certainly teams such as the Oakland A’s , Kansas City Royals , Pittsburgh Pirates , Houston Astros , Toronto Blue Jays , Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals would be amongst the perennial contenders within their divisions and most notably their presence would be witnessed in the playoffs . Simply look at the postseason in recent history over the past fifteen years and let me know the last time any of the team mentioned play an active part baseball’s postseason extravaganza ?

I’ll say this for Los Angeles Dodgers and their soon to be former owner Frank McCourt ….. he does still possess a giant pair of brass balls ! Even in the midst of the team that he and the front office executives as well his ex wife Jamie McCourt have brought to its knees , having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in US Federal Court . The now disgraced former owner is making the proclamation that the baseball team can and will be sold for in excess of $1.5 billion or for as much as $ 1.75 billion . With it being reported that Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban is said to be out of the running for as a possible suitor for the team that will be placed up for sale through a auctioning process, which will be overseen by federal bankruptcy court judge presiding over the proceedings which was vetted by capital investment advisory firm Blackstone Group who were hired by Bud Selig and the MLB hierarchy to oversee the vetting process.

The NBA franchise owner , Mark Cuban had stated all along that he wasn’t prepared to pay for a franchise that is simply overvalued and at best is still beleaguered by a number of problems both on and off the field of play. The valuation itself of $1.5 billion would make the baseball team the second most valuable within the game behind the New York Yankees whose estimated value is in excess of $1.65 billion , never-mind that the fact that the Steinbrenner family controlled franchise is the most profitable of the league’s 30 baseball teams . A claim that certainly cannot be made by the soon to be former Los Angeles’ Dodgers’ owner. As a matter of fact , during McCourt’s seven year tenure as owner of the ball-club that they have yet to show an operating profit in spite of their legacy as one of sport’s most famed franchises. I was once told the real value for the Dodgers just happens to be the land that surrounds the Dodgers’ Ballpark . In this day and age with depressed markets for commercial real estate , the idiocy to maintain the myth that the Dodgers is simply worth its weight in gold is asinine !

Of the eight consortium’s that originally lodged their documentation for submittal in this vetting process which has now been cut to seven , it will be interesting to see whether not groups that have known personalities as part of the groups in question will ultimately be successful in their endeavor . Clearly , Magic Johnson and Joe Torre are intent on making their presence felt in the greater Los Angeles area . The duo are are part of separate bidding teams looking to be the prospective future owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Even with the proposed multi- year tv deal that will net the Dodgers’ organization a proposed $3 billion over the next two decades , something of which McCourt surely would have plundered for his own gain , rather than for the benefit of the ball-club, given the allegations made and then evidence provided that would suggest that he and his wife at the time simply used the ball-club as their own personal ATM. And at no time even in light of there being growing suspicion that there was wrongdoing not only by McCourt but also several high ranking front office executives were complicit in suborning the actions of Frank McCourt. While this was going on even with the widely circulated reports Bud Selig and his office simply overlooked this whole debacle until it was almost too late !

At the end of the day despite the outcry of the fans what I find truly despicable in this whole episode is the very fact that some very well respected baseball columnists have acted like paragons of virtue in their virtual none coverage of this whole episode . But then again no one at all should be surprised by this at all given their pomposity and near complete dismissal of the steroid era and the prolific use of illicit PED’s ____ until the story became a national news’ story being reported on by actual accredited investigative journalists. So to my mind, the likes of Buster Olney and Peter Gammons can continue bury their heads where the sun doesn’t shine , while simply being the buffoons they appear to be !

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Picture gallery for your perusal .

In your opinion do you believe that the New York Mets as an organization and specifically its ownership have been negligent ? And what punishment do you feel would be fitting were it possible for the league hierarchy exact some form of mandate against the ball-club ? Do you feel that David Wright is still capable of contributing to a team seeking to be a contender should the Mets seek to trade the player ? And finally given the recent breaking news that Mark Cuban’s attempt at buying the Los Angeles Dodgers has come to an abrupt end do you feel that he was correct in his assessment that the team is overvalued given the fact that they are in the second largest ad market in the nation ? But also do bear in mind that the state of California and in particular the city of of Los Angeles is in a deep economic downturn which at present shows no signs of abating . By all means do take time to leave a comment on the points raised within this piece and anything else that you believe to be pertinent with regard to the subject matter . Thanks as always for the continued support as it is greatly appreciated !

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Picture and slide show details below.
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(1) FILE – In this Oct. 29, 2010 file photo, New York Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon , left, club president Saul Katz and Mets owner Fred Wilpon , right, listen to Sandy Alderson answer questions from the media after being introduced as the Mets’ new general manager during a news conference in New York. With spring training just weeks away, nobodyís working harder to prepare for the Metsí future than their lawyers. A March 2012 trial may decide how much the team owners’ investment in imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff’s disastrous fraudulent business will cost the club. AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek ….

(2) Third baseman David Wright #5 of the New York Mets fields a ground ball against the Florida Marlins during a spring training game at Tradition Field on February 26, 2009 in Port St Lucie, Florida. The Mets defeated the Marlins 9-0 . Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images …

(3) Fred Wilpon, General Manager Sandy Alderson, New York Mets new manager Terry Collins, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz pose for pictures during a press conference at Citi Field on November 23, 2010 in New York, New York. Getty Images Noeth America /Chris McGrath …..

(4) Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt is seen here with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig at Dodgers’ Ballpark in Los Angeles , California. Having taken the organization on Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings and reorganization the now beleaguered owner hopes to sell the team for an inflated sum said to be in excess of $1.5 billion ……. ($1,500,000,00). A sum with which Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban believes to be an overvaluing the team which still has a number of issues to deal with beyond the financial stability of the organization . AFP / Daniel Boyd ….

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