Mets owner Wilpon takes shots at Mets players

5-23-11 / espnnewyork.com

New York Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon takes pointed shots at some of his marquee players in an extensive article in The New Yorker mostly designed to highlight his rags-to-riches tale.

The embattled owner, who became ensnared in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme and is now being sued for more than $1 billion by the trustee trying to recover funds for Madoff victims, tells the magazine:

• Shortstop Jose Reyes will not be getting a super-huge contract from the Mets. "He thinks he's going to get Carl Crawford money," Wilpon says, referring to Crawford's seven-year, $142 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. "He's had everything wrong with him. He won't get it."

• On right fielder Carlos Beltran, Wilpon mentions Beltran's huge postseason with the Houston Astros in 2004 and says, referring to himself: "We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series. He's 65 to 70 percent of what he was."

MORE: http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=6577486

Wilpon said the team is "snakebitten."

Oh, brother...

:eyes:

he should look in the mirror, or take a stroll around his front office.

Having said that, he's right about both Reyes and Beltran.

If the plan was to trade Beltran and Reyes, you want to talk UP their value, NOT sink it!

A good owner says that Beltran is back and hitting like the Beltran of the past. He's healthy and better than ever! etc etc etc...

The more the other owners think of your players, they more they'll be willing to offer to get them.

But when I went to bed last night, ESPN was all worried about how this would affect the poor players' psyches.

I do agree, though, that if you're trying to sell something, you don't start by telling people how sucky it is.

yeah, I doubt the players will lose much sleep over those comments. Unless of course it means they're stuck on a crappy Mets team longer because no other team wants them any more.

Omar Minaya

And he's been trying to sell his ownership stake

LINK: http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=6583378