New York Mets: Yoenis Cespedes situation and more with Mike Vaccaro

Fan Perception of Ownership

EWB: You have seen the perception that fans have of these owners. Is it right?

MV: It’s hard to understand the full story if you aren’t in the room with these people. All of that said, it’s pretty obvious that nothing happens with the Mets without being first approved by Fred, Jeff or Saul. There aren’t any decisions made without their approval.

So many things happen badly, and are poorly constructed in terms of the way they are considered, that I think it’s (the perception) fair.

The one area that I think is overblown with the Wilpons and their management is their financial investment. People think they are cheap. Do they spend money the way the Yankees do? They don’t. They do have a $150 million payroll which is in the upper third of the sport.

Clearly, if you look around baseball, you can win with a $150 million payroll if you know what you are doing.

The problem goes to accountability. None of those owners are ever around to answer questions. Hal Steinbrenner isn’t hanging out in the dugout every day but once or twice a year you are give the opportunity to pick his brain and hear what he has to say about the organization.

Even James Dolan, who has been a hermit for most of his career, has made himself available once or twice over the last couple of years.

So that’s problematic because they really do, I believe, after a while have to answer to the fans. They don’t make themselves available to the media. We are the ones that are able to ask questions that the fans want to know.

They don’t make themselves available to us. That’s frustrating to us but who it should be frustrating to is the fans because you are the ones that are financially and emotionally invested in the team.

I think the operation is heavy with people that don’t have either the courage or the experience to tell them they are wrong. There is the perception that if you cross Jeff Wilpon or you tell him that his ideas aren’t the smartest in the room that you are going to get fired.

It’s hard to run a business that way. It’s hard to run anything that way. You have to have people, when you are in charge, that you trust, that can tell you, “Boss, this is the wrong way to go.”. The boss might make those decisions anyway, in spite of that.

Next: The Cespedes Embarrassment

With the Mets, the operation is so dysfunctional that things that have been proven wrong in the past keep going wrong. Whether it’s how injuries are handled, how PR is handled, how they communicate with the rank and file, all these things stay the same. Nothing changes and nothing gets better because they had a bad plan to begin with.

What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That’s what you are talking about with the Mets.

Thanks to Mike Vaccaro for his time and his insights. Check out his fine work at the NY Post right here.