Meet the new Mets owner: David Einhorn

Should Met fans get excited, or should they roll their eyes?

Depends on who you ask, I guess, but the New York Mets have a new minority owner, David Einhorn who is the President of Greenlight Capital Inc., and a 10% owner in Microsoft, who tried to get the head of Microsoft, Scott Ballmer canned, when he said Microft ran a "Charlie Brown operation."

Well, Mr. Einhorn, welcome to the Mickey Mouse operation of Major League Baseball!

Einhorn, a former winner of the 2006 World Series of Poker, agreed to a 20-25 % stake in the Mets, worth $200 million. It was initially believed that the Mets were shopping 49 % of the team as late as Monday, but those views have obviously changed.

According to WFAN and SI reporter Jon Heyman, Einhorn could take full control of the Mets, if the Wilpon's are forced to leave the franchise due to enormous financial losses or if they lose their case to Irving Pichard.

Wilpon: Mets "bleeding cash" according to SI report

Fred Wilpon likes to divulge himself to the press, doesn't he?

A day after a report in the New Yorker magazine revealed that Wilpon thinks very little about his baseball team, Tom Verducci of Sport Illustrated has revealed new insights in the Wilpon/Bernie Madoff fiasco.

According to Verducci, Wilpon says that the fledging franchise is "bleeding cash" and stands to lose up to $70 million this season alone. The Mets are already up for more than $600 million in debt over operating costs of the franchise, Citi Field and SNY, plus a $1 billion lawsuit from Bernie Madoff trustee Irving Pichard.

Here is an exerpt from Verducci's story: "Though the Mets will have about $64 million in salaries coming off the books after this season (from a $142 million total), they will not put much, if any, of that money back into the major league payroll. The Mets essentially have forfeited the resource advantages of playing in the country's biggest market with a new ballpark and their own regional television network, SNY, which they launched in 2006. Attendance is down 10% from last year, when they were off 1.5 million paid customers from 2008, their final year at Shea Stadium. Coming off two straight losing seasons, and one postseason appearance in the past decade, they were 22--24 at week's end, in fourth place. They are so poorly run that they are paying $22 million to players who no longer play for them."

Read Sports Illustrated story on the Wilpon's!

It is believed that Wilpon could be forced to sell if the losses continue to mount!

In the New York Post this morning, news broke that the Mets could be close to finding a new owner.

The team is close to finalizing a deal with commodities honcho Ray Bartoszek and investor Anthony Lanza, who will pay $200 million for a 49 % minority stake in the franchise. "One of the sticking points, sources said, is whether the bidders will be allowed to purchase a small piece of SportsNet New York," (New York Post).

Bartoszek is believed to be a lifelong Mets fan, however nobody knows what kind of managerial experience the guy has. All we know is that he is a big time investment trader on Wall Street.

Read the story.

The Mets clearly need new ownership -- someone who wants to respect the history and tradition of the Mets name and its players. Wilpon has disgraced this franchise for far too long. It is unknown when, or if this deal with Bartoszek will be finalized. The Post believes it could be announced very soon.

Fred Wilpon rips into Mets stars

More evidence that Fred Wilpon is one of the worst owners in the history of sports revealed itself in an issue of The New Yorker magazine. The article details Fred Wilpon's time as owner of the team. Most people would expect Wilpon to delve deeply into his relations with Bernie Madoff, the impending lawsuit, and near bankruptcy, but the owner says that he never knew about Madoff's schemes.

That's disappointing, but the owner formally dubbed by Met fans as Fred Coupon - for being el cheapo - didn't keep quiet on his star players; in fact, he ripped into David Wright, and free agents Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran.

When talking about Reyes, Wilpon said: “He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money,” Wilpon said, referring to the Red Sox’ signing of the former Tampa Bay player to a seven-year, $142-million contract. “He’s had everything wrong with him,” Wilpon said of Reyes. “He won’t get it.”

For David Wright, Wilpon offered this message: “He’s pressing,” Wilpon said. “A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar.”

And in critiquing Beltran, Wilpon added: “We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series,” he said, referring to himself. In the course of playing out his seven-year, $119-million contract with the Mets, Beltran, too, has been hobbled by injuries. “He’s sixty-five to seventy percent of what he was.”

Wilpon didn't stop there, deciding instead to go after the entire team: “Good hitter,” Wilpon said of Ike Davis. “Shitty team—good hitter.” Davis struck out. Angel Pagan flied out to right, ending the Mets’ threat. “Lousy clubs—that’s what happens.” Wilpon sighed. “We’re snakebitten, baby.”

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE!

Say what you will about the article, these comments are further proof that the Wilpon's are the worst owners in sports.

For Met fans who have been wondering for years as to why the team never signs a big time free agent, or why Wilpon is more inclined to honor the history of the Brooklyn/ LA Dodgers instead of the Mets, these comments are further evidence to the fact.

Wilpon doesn't care about the Mets. He cares more about hording his money, and cares even more about the idea of owning a baseball team. He doesn't get it. If you own something, you have to reinvest into it. Wilpon never does-instead he has watched this ball club crumble under him over the last four years, and is now in damage control mode.

Any player who sees these comments will now not sign with the Mets for fear of what this guy will say about them.

It is time for Wilpon to sell at least 51% of the team to someone who wants to own the Mets.

Gary Carter has brain tumor

Former Mets catcher and World Series Champion Gary Carter is now in a fight for his life.

An MRI on Friday revealed that Carter has four small tumors inside of his brain, but doctors are not sure if they are malignant. He will have further research done on the tumors later this week. According to reports, the Hall of Famer has complained of headaches and forgetfulness.

This is a terrible news. Carter is one of the faces of the Mets franchise, and also the lone face of the Montreal Expos. In 1985, Carter came over to New York from Montreal and helped ignite the turnaround that led to the Mets 1986 World Championship.

Carter has drawn the ire of the Wilpon family in recent years with consistent requests to manage the team when they were tossing around the idea of firing both Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel.

Carter has managed on the minor league level, but has yet to get that chance in the majors. Hopefully he can get through this moment in his life and get that opportunity one day.

Mets stun Yankees with solid pitching by bullpen

METS 2
YANKEES 1

If you believe that the world will end May 21, then Firday night might have been a sign as the New York Mets beat the Yankees 2-1 in the Bronx to take the first game of the 2011 Subway Series.

R.A. Dickey, who has struggled all year with his command led the way for the Mets, with a six strong innings, giving up only four hits and a run, which was a solo shot by Mark Teixeria.

However the story of the day has to be the Mets bullpen. Mike O'Connor, Jason Isringhausen, and Francisco Rodriguez combined to shut down the Yankees in order for the final three innings to record the Mets victory.

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, the Mets tied the game on a single by Justin Turner to record his 14 RBI of the season. Turner has been really good for the Mets. He's hitting .364 on the year and went 3-for-4 tonight.

The Mets than took the lead in the sixth on a Dan Murphy homerun that silenced Yankee Stadium for the rest of the evening.

Freddy Garcia was ok for the Yankees. He only gave up two runs in seven innings, but his mistakes certainly killed him in this one.

Once again the Yankees lineup failed to deliever any big hits. Outside of Teixeria, Derek Jeter went 1-for-3, A-Rod went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in the eighth, while Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner failed to even get a hit against the Mets pitchers.

With the win the Mets now improve to .500 at 22-22. The Yankees fall to 23-20.

Mets and Yankees set for rumble in the Bronx

Here we go again!

The Subway Series is back in New York this weekend, only this time with a bit of a different twist. In years' past we have grown accustomed to either the Yankees soaring above the competition, while the Mets floundered, or we have seen the days when both teams were true contenders for a world championship.

This year, however, the Subway Series will feature two struggling ball clubs, both who are desperately looking to find their identity.

Granted the Mets problems are 10x bigger than anything the Yankees can come up with; from the bankruptcy of the Wilpon, a pending $1 billion lawsuit hanging over their heads, to countless injuries and misfortune to their "stars" on the field, the Mets have been every bit the disaster that people feared they would be entering the season.

Yet, the Mets are only two games under .500 at 21-22, even though it feels more like 11-32. The Mets have beaten up on the Nationals and Astros of the world, in spite of the fact that their most consistent pitcher is Chris Capuano!!

Mike Pelfrey and R.A. Dickey have been horrible, with ERA's over five. Jon Niese has been inconsistent, while Dillon Gee has done admirably in the stead of Chris Young who is out of the season.

The Met offense outside of Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran hasn't been great. Jason Bay has been putrid since coming off the DL hitting .238. While David Wright and Ike Davis, two of the faces of the Mets batting order are now out with injuries and will miss this series.

The Mets have tried to survive with Dan Murphy, Justin Turner, and Josh Thole, but lets face it these guys are not going to get the Mets anywhere anytime soon.

For the Yankees age has been the problem. Last week's Jorge Posada fiasco, and constant discussions about the future of both Posada and Derek Jeter in the Yankee lineup has been a huge distraction. Both players are aging quickly and their performance is starting to lag behind.

Meanwhile the Yankee lineup, before this week has struggled. The Yankees need Mark Teixeria and Alex Rodriguez to deliever, and this week they have. Teixeria hit a big homerun against the Orioles, Thursday night, while Rodigruez had a big shot the other day in Tampa. If those two get going the Yankees can make up for all of their offensive woes in the first half of the year.

Pitching is still a concern. While Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia have been decent, neither can be trusted for the long hall. CC Sabathia has been great this year, but up until now has not gotten a lot of run support this year. A.J. Burnett and Ivan Nova have equally been inconsistent.

So not all is well is Yankee land, even though they have won three in a row. Certainly with this recent string of victories does something to dull the problems of the past few weeks for the Bronx Bombers.

This series ahead is a great opportunity for the Yankees to wake up on a big stage and show this town that the 2011 version of the Yankees is primed for another big run this season, in spite of their advanced age.

For the Mets this Subway Series is a chance to shut up the doubters. Taking two of three will leave the Mets at 23-23, a .500 record that nobody thought would even be possible for them. For the young Mets to beat the Yankees would be a huge boost of confidence for them moving forward.

Yankees fall on the sword again, now a game over .500

Rays 6
Yankees 5

The struggling Bronx Bombers are turning into the Bronx Bumblers judging by their 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays thus dropping New York to a game over .500 (20-19) and three back in the standings. The loss is the Yankees sixth straight.

Once again the Yankees showed little in the way of offense. The Bombers grabbed a 5-1 lead on Tampa Bay mostly due to a three run home run by Curtis Granderson, the only hot hitter in in the Yankees lineup.

The Yankees didn't get any hits from Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeria and Alex Rodriguez. Jorge Posada was once again out of the lineup.

It was A.J. Burnett's game to lose, and well, he lost it.

Given that 5-1 lead, all Burnett had to do was get through the sixth inning, and he couldn't do it.

First he gave up a two run shot to Sam Fuld to cut the Yankee lead to 5-3. Then Matt Joyce singled up the middle to drive in Evan Longoria to cut the Yankee lead to one run. Finally, B.J. Upton, who is having a great year for the Rays, cracked a two run shot to left-center to give the Rays a 6-5 lead.

Adding insult to injury, former Yankee disaster Kyle Farnsworth closed the door on the Bombers, notching his eighth save of the year for the Rays.