N.Y. Mets ~ the Banker is Real In...

From the desk of:   HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:  Occupy Roosevelt Avenue?

Stop FLUSHING Money Down the Drain!

"A mere bag of shells..."  -  quote, Ralph Kramden.


"Peanuts!  What am I gonna do with peanuts?"  -  quote, Ralph Kramden.


"There's plenty more where that came from...."  -  quote, Ralph Kramden.


That's right!  The Mets want us to believe this is the 1950's.  "The Honeymooners" was the top show of the day.


Hey Buddy, can you spare another $40 million dollars?    BuDmp  Bmp....Cshhhhh!  Cue laugh track.


Hey! Shecky.., Shecky!   A financially broke baseball team owner from NY walks into a bank and asks for $40 million dollars.......and gets it!     BuDmp Bmp!  Cue laugh track.


Oh boy... Pure Vaudeville!  WooHoo!  Read on.

With two outstanding loans, the Mets are now officially $65 million dollars in the hole.  Unofficially, according to the Sandy Alderson principles of accounting and after factoring in the projected $70 million dollar loss the Mets claim they will sustain next season, the SAUL B. KATZ DILEMMA is now due to hemorrhage somewhere in the neighborhood of $140 million dollars in fiscal year 2012; the same year incidentally, the Mayans predicted this Age of Man would end.  And with any luck at all, perchance The Age of WILPONianism might end also.  Yeah...perchance to dream.  I'll get back to you on that.



It's been disguised badly enough, but what is becoming more evident and gaining clarity, is the days of reaping consistently high yielding, not to mention regular returns on their Madoff investments are clearly missing from the Wilpon's lives. 



Based on Sandy Alderson's economics alone; with fixed monies such as SNY, local Radio, MLB Properties like Internet etc., and national TV contracts; not to mention the naming rights received for Citi Field; there's a lot of money being made.  And the fact is, the Mets still drew more than two million last season; which used to count for a lot once upon a time.  As an owner, or just being a realist, to expect three and four million fans every season, and budgeting for that, is not only a dream, it's unsound business, and more importantly, short-sighted and delusional.  Yes!  Things are making more sense now.  Aren't they?



In the absence of the Wilpon's personal ATM machine, I'd still like to know where the hell all the Mets' revenue is going, or what it's being used for.  Am I being made to believe that once all the fixed monies are accounted for and payroll gets factored in, the Mets start any given season at the break even point and are actually surviving on gate receipts?  Really?  Is this the 1950's?  NO!  Because back then a man could take his family out for a nice dinner for the price of one hot dog and beer at the park today.  Even a bag of freakin peanuts is a slap in the face these days. 




We get it.  The Mets have organizational responsibilities, and of course player salaries.  They have debt on the new park (which is partially taken care of by the naming rights income).  Then there's the...



And then there's........?  Brandon Nimmo's bonus?        ?   ?  ??



First..., let's clear something up right now.  Bud Selig went after Frank McCourt because he was syphoning cash from the Dodgers to pay his own personal bills.  Selig reasoned that was basically akin to stealing from the organization.  There is no such matter regarding the Wilpons.  To our dismay, our ownership is merely running the team into the ground because their world around them is crumbling.  Thus, in the loosest manner possible, there's no harm in being the impotent owner of a NYC team and robbing the Fans of their dignity.  Of that, he's guilty as charged. 



But as long as the Wilpons are actively trying to sell-off shares of the team, and people are still willing to foot them loans, the Wilpons are free to own the Mets without any threat of the Commissioner stepping in and demanding Fred sell the entire team.  The fact the Wilpons and Commissioner Selig are friends I'm sure helps the situation and the fact Selig doesn't like McCourt is a side-bar and coincidental.  For it's not the reason Selig went after McCourt and continues to leave Wilpon alone.



But if you're just looking for another excuse to bash the Wilpons, then I'm with you.



This $40 million dollar loan comes on the heals of the still outstanding $25 million dollar MLB loan they took out earlier this year.  The Wilpons said their efforts to sell box-set shares of the team are going "very well".     ....No, they're not. 



As a matter of opinion, I think their efforts are going horribly.  They have sweetened the deal for potential suckers purchasers....again, by offering interest.  Right!  Now they're in the business of issuing certificates of deposit against our team?  Great!  They wouldn't have to do such a thing if the current asking rate was drawing in the necessary investors..., now would they? - No.  Additionally, you'd think they'd be done selling by now. - No?  And so, the continuing lies spawned by the Original Lie keep rolling in.  I'm paraphrasing of course:

No..no; ......Met Fans need not worry.  This Madoff situation will not interfere with the operations of the New York Mets.  We will run the organization as we always have.  We haven't been in the habit of telling our General Managers - NO, -  and we're not about to start now.  All is well.  The situation is under control.  Go back to your farms.  There's nothing more to see here.

Right.



The Mets' payroll is slated to drop like a piano out of the sky.  Finances, more than any other reason, are why Jose Reyes is not a Met today.  And they will be primarily responsible for David Wright's departure as well.  There's always other factors.  But finances will be the dominant one at play when David's time comes due.  The easy counter point is the Mets will be spending less money more wisely now.  As opposed to spending more money foolishly?  Jason Bay anybody?  Precisely.



What's good news for the Wilpons is bad news for Met fans.  With this latest loan, Fred Wilpon gets to pay for an extended stay in The Grey Zone.  Wonderful.  Were the Mets forced into rebuilding because of financial calamity?  Or does this much needed rebuilding just happen to coincide with financial ruin?  The Wilpons are not misappropriating money away from the team like McCourt "did", but they are certainly robbing the Fans of a good time to say the least.  And they may not have money to operate their organization with, to include laying-off office personnel, but yet people still seem willing to keep extending them credit.  Go figure.



Lies and voodoo economics continue to rule the day in Flushing.  Is this a sign the time may soon come upon us when we might need to go OCCUPY ROOSEVELT AVENUE!?




The "Banker" is Real in.  -  inspired by Lucy Van Pelt.


"Good Grief!"  -  quote, Charlie Brown.







Mike.BTB