Mets fans are rightly looking for blood as to how and why the sale of the team is on life support. Come to find out; it’s sleazy Jeff who’s the culprit, not Fred…
Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon spoke those words in a rare interview fifteen years ago. Everything he said then is still right today except for one thing – he is an idiot.
Moreover, Jeff Wilpon believes Steve Cohen is an idiot. An idiot maybe who was so anxious to get his hands on a shiny new toy – the New York Mets – to play with while using his $14 billion at will, he’d agree to anything. No freakin’ way.
The sale is off because Jeff Wilpon insisted on changing the terms of the transaction from what was agreed to in early December.
The five-year “transitioning” the Mets over to Cohen remained applicable, BUT, Jeff Wilpon now wants to run the team after Cohen has fully forked over the money to buy the team.
Only an idiot like Jeffie Boy would suggest to a real businessman like Cohen – “You pay all the bills, Stevie. But I’m running the show”, and think that Cohen is going to say yes.
Mets: Wilpon Family Went For The Rescue – But…
Mets fans, do you recall back in December when we were seeking answers as to why are the Wilpons after all these years were selling the team – now?
And come to find out the main reason turned out to be members of the Saul Katz’s family who said, Fred, can’t live forever, so now is the time to pass go to preserve and collect our fortunes for safekeeping.
Which made all the sense in the world, except individual family members of Fred Wilpon’s partner, Saul Katz, were said to have expressed great mistrust in Jeff’s ability to take over for Fred if they didn’t sell the Mets.
A little family squabble there? You betcha, and for once Fred said okay, I get it.
Fred Wilpon, ever the enabler, didn’t get it enough, however, to tell his son:
“Jeff, we can’t do this. It’s wrong. Besides, I did this once before in 2011 when I was going to sell the Mets to David Einhorn, only to back out later. C’mon, Jeff. Do you mean to tell me there’s nothing else you can do with the rest of your life?”
Mets Fans: Know The Real Impotent Enemy
There is, however, an even more insidious enabler than Fred Wilpon. That title belongs to Commissioner Rob Manfred, who saw fit to break the non-disclosure agreement regarding the sale to Cohen himself, pronouncing the deal all but dead.
Manfred could, if he wanted to, force both sides back to the table and come out a hero among Mets fans when a deal is consummated.
Instead, Manfred turns a blind eye to a reeling franchise with an angry fan base, choosing to say, “Oh well, what can you do?”
He can do a lot, but for whatever reasons he has, Manfred elects to remain in bed with Fred Wilpon.
The Mets organization – not the team – is an embarrassment to baseball — total dysfunction. You get tired of reading the words, and I get tired of writing them.
Thank God we still have the players, coaches, announcers, and the games to watch and enjoy. Soon, that relief from all this will be upon us.
Or maybe, Saul Katz and his family will come to the rescue again to throw the bastards out…
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
