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Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

bmfc1 Dec 06 2009 10:04 AM

In Bill Madden's winter meeting preview today, he makes a statement that some people have said but is still surprising to see in the MSM. Also, is it true? What about Chris Coste? "Mets? Did somebody say the Mets? They won't spend the money for Holliday, Bay or Lackey and apparently, they're only interested in signing low-budget Latin players, having shown little or no interest in Byrd, Figgins, DeRosa, Wolf or even Staten Island's Jason Marquis, while waiting for their markets to come to them. At the same time, the Phillies and Braves wasted no time in addressing their needs. Sad. [emphasis added.]" http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... z0Yvep9gOE

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 06 2009 10:12 AM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Madden's a jerk and that's an obnoxious remark, that much is obvious, but I have to say while the beating the Mets have been taking from the msm is over the top I almost prefer it to the fawning and resultant high expectations that the Mets went after and got, and subsequently became satisfied with. Wouldn't it be nice if they learned not to listen to these hacks.

Frayed Knot Dec 06 2009 11:38 AM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

"Madden's a jerk and that's an obnoxious remark" Ditto. It's not like they don't go for a big FA/trade target virtually every year. Argue if you want that it's not always the smartest move but, unless there's been some sort of complete reversal of strategy this winter (which BM offers no hint of), there's a lengthy track record here that defies whatever Madden's selling: Glavine, Pedro, Beltran, Delgado, Wagner, Santana, Rodriguez. fwiw, Newsday's Ken Davidoff said on the radio yesterday that he expects the Mets to wind up with one of the Lackey - Holliday - Bay trio, meaning that both optimists & pessimists can latch onto the pundit of their choice.

Benjamin Grimm Dec 06 2009 12:07 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

I agree with the jerk/obnoxious sentiment as well. This seems even beyond what he normally writes. Is he hitting a new height (or depth) here?

Kong76 Dec 06 2009 12:16 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

What did the Phils and Braves do that was so newsworthy? It almost smacks of some aroma of old school whitey columnist saying something that ... I can't say it ... never mind.

Frayed Knot Dec 06 2009 01:28 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

The Phils "upgraded" at 3B by signing Poanco to replace Feliz (although, here again, Davidoff yesterday felt just the opposite) while the Braves have 'taken care of' their bullpen with Wagner & Saito - two older guys coming off injuries/surgeries that, it seems to me, solve a problem that wasn't really a Brave weakness. Mainly it just looks to be another - in what seems to be a lengthening list - column where Madden starts with his conclusion and then goes about hammering a few conveniently round facts into some available square holes.

bmfc1 Dec 06 2009 01:35 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

The article was amended online to remove "Latin."

metirish Dec 06 2009 01:45 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

I'm bet money that Madden complained in years past that Minaya preferred doling out the big contracts to Latin players , because well he is Latin . Mets can't win.

Frayed Knot Dec 06 2009 01:54 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="bmfc1":1or0q0kz]The article was amended online to remove "Latin."[/quote:1or0q0kz] Wonder who set that in motion? I too read it on-line a few hours ago and saw the original 'Latin' line.

Kong76 Dec 06 2009 01:57 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

FK: Wonder who set that in motion? <<< I'm taking some credit ... at least for an hour or two.

MFS62 Dec 06 2009 01:58 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="bmfc1":1bbvmylw]The article was amended online to remove "Latin."[/quote:1bbvmylw] I guess this is something for our professional writing/ editing folks to comment on - the print editors leaving it in, and the on-line editors taking it out. Which was the right move, if they weren't going to tell Madden to tape this column to a brick, shove it up his arse, and re-write it? Later

Benjamin Grimm Dec 06 2009 02:09 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

The "online editors" left it in, too. The fact that it was removed later, we can assume, is the result of one or many complaints. They can't very well go back and edit everyone's print edition.

Swan Swan H Dec 06 2009 03:11 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

I've had the News and Newsday delivered since we moved into our house twelve years ago, and I've been meaning to cancel the News for a while. I've gotten pretty tired of the Yankee sack-licking from just about their whole staff. This pushed me over the edge. I called today but you can't cancel a subscription on a Sunday, I found out. Tomorrow morning I'll call back and out they go.

Edgy DC Dec 06 2009 05:06 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="MFS62":xkl1k846][quote="bmfc1":xkl1k846]The article was amended online to remove "Latin."[/quote:xkl1k846] I guess this is something for our professional writing/ editing folks to comment on - the print editors leaving it in, and the on-line editors taking it out. Which was the right move, if they weren't going to tell Madden to tape this column to a brick, shove it up his arse, and re-write it? Later[/quote:xkl1k846] The right move would have been to take it out, followed by every other word in the column.

Nymr83 Dec 06 2009 05:50 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="Benjamin Grimm":2sumijxh]The "online editors" left it in, too. The fact that it was removed later, we can assume, is the result of one or many complaints. They can't very well go back and edit everyone's print edition.[/quote:2sumijxh] this is one nice thing about print newspapers, they can't go back and stealth-edit later on to remove something they said.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 06 2009 05:55 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Making a change in the text without acknowledging having made the change is dirty journalistic pool, innit? It seems that a lot of blogs-- including oft-maligned sites like Slate and the Gawker family-- hew closer to old-school journalistic ethics in this way than the Snooze (which has done this a few times in the last year or two, IIRC).

Frayed Knot Dec 06 2009 07:02 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="Swan Swan H":1qmilwbm]I've had the News and Newsday delivered since we moved into our house twelve years ago, and I've been meaning to cancel the News for a while. I've gotten pretty tired of the Yankee sack-licking from just about their whole staff. This pushed me over the edge. I called today but you can't cancel a subscription on a Sunday, I found out. Tomorrow morning I'll call back and out they go.[/quote:1qmilwbm] And, as I encouraged in another thread about ticket canceling or unsatisfactory products, [u:1qmilwbm]tell them why you're bailing[/u:1qmilwbm]! - mention the conflict of interest created by them both covering the Yanquis and having a massive cooperative advertising campaign with them; - cite Madden playing fast and loose with the facts ... again!!; - and tell them about the underhandedness of changing columns post-publication without acknowledging having done so. Otherwise they'll simply assume you're cutting expenses because you lost your job, or that you're just another guy who's abandoned newspapers for the internet age and because your video game addicted kids never learned to read. This way they'll know it's because they suck.

Swan Swan H Dec 06 2009 07:34 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

FK, I have every intention of telling them why, and I will encourage a discussion with anyone other than the customer-service person who takes my call. All of your points are wekk taken I do find it curious that for all the News-MFY circle-jerkiness it is SNY that hosts a round table of Daily News sportswriters five days a week. oe: undangled a modifier, or something else grammatical

metsguyinmichigan Dec 06 2009 08:10 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Hey, call 'em up and give them grief. Write a letter and voice your concern. But please, don't cancel your subscription. I make that request on behalf of all of us employed by newspapers!

Swan Swan H Dec 06 2009 08:15 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

I get that, MGIM, but I'm planning to add a weekend subscription to the Times, so I'll call it a wash.

metsguyinmichigan Dec 06 2009 09:07 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="Swan Swan H":1fvkco14]I get that, MGIM, but I'm planning to add a weekend subscription to the Times, so I'll call it a wash.[/quote:1fvkco14] And I thank you!

metirish Dec 07 2009 09:33 AM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players" Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 07 2009 10:25 AM

How did the call go? Did you get a courtesy call from Lupica asking you to please stay?

Swan Swan H Dec 07 2009 10:17 AM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

I got a guy who listened, and I explained the reasons why I was ending the subscription. He then seemed to be trying to fit what I was saying into one of a pre-fab list of reasons he could check off on his computer. I got this from his asking, and I'm paraphrasing here, if I was canceling because the paper was becoming more entertaining then informative. I then reiterated my reasons, mentioning again that I felt there was no place for the sentiments Madden was expressing nor the type of journalism that would just delete part of the story with no explanation or apology. I think on a personal level he got it, but once it gets past him it will carry no more weight than if I canceled because the delivery guy keeps throwing the paper into the rose bushes. He did say that I would be getting a call back, but I have a feeling that's just a formality for the paperwork.

Benjamin Grimm Dec 07 2009 11:22 AM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

I suspect you will get a call back, but it will be from somebody offering you some kind of a deal to renew for a lower reintroductory price.

G-Fafif Dec 08 2009 01:12 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players" Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 08 2009 01:14 PM

Bill Madden's curmudgeonly hacksmanship, lately flavored with unsubtle ethnic overtones, has finally been called out...by the Baseball Hall of Fame, with the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for excellence in baseball writing. How many other recipients have had to have had their online copy altered for good taste after it went to print lately? Bill Madden of the Daily News of New York has won the Hall of Fame's Spink Award for his work as a baseball writer. His election by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America was announced Tuesday at the winter meetings. He will be honored at the Hall's induction ceremonies on July 25. Madden joined the Daily News in 1978 and was the New York Yankees' beat writer from 1980-88. He became the newspaper's national baseball columnist the next year. Madden has covered 35 World Series. He wrote a longtime column for The Sporting News on collecting memorabilia and has a book coming out on George Steinbrenner. Official release: Bill Madden, who has combined excellent reporting and commentary in a New York City market known for its baseball fever, was elected the 2010 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He will be honored with the award that is presented annually to a sportswriter “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing” during the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum induction ceremony July 25 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y. Madden received 226 votes from the 452 ballots cast by BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years’ service in becoming the 61st winner of the award since its inception in 1962 and named for the first recipient. Spink was a driving force of The Sporting News, known during his lifetime as the “Baseball Bible.” Bob Elliott, whose writing career is considered strongly influential in the growing popularity of baseball in Canada, received 149 votes. Joe Giuliotti, who for 30 years in Boston was a voracious reporter on all matters concerning the Red Sox, got 76. One blank ballot was among those submitted. The candidates were selected by a three-member, BBWAA-appointed committee and announced at the All-Star Game meeting July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Voting was conducted in November through a mail ballot, a process that began in 2002. Madden joined the New York Daily News in 1978 after nine years at United Press International. He was the Daily News’ Yankees beat writer from 1980-88 before becoming the News’ national baseball columnist. Madden has covered 35 World Series and broken numerous stories, among them the Mets’ leaving Tom Seaver unprotected in the free agent compensation pool and losing him to the Chicago White Sox in 1984 and the National League hiring Bill White as the first black league president in pro sports in 1989. The author of four books on baseball, Madden is currently working on a biography of Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner. From 1975-90, Madden’s Sporting News column on collecting served as a sort of watchdog on the burgeoning sports memorabilia industry. His 1994 exclusive for the Daily News exposing corrupt and fraudulent practices prompted an FBI investigation that resulted in shutting down two prominent auction houses. That same year, his series of reports on the FBI probe and conviction of Darryl Strawberry for memorabilia signings income tax evasion earned Madden an APSE award for excellence in reporting. A former New York Chapter chairman, Madden is a member of the Hall of Fame Screening Committee for the annual BBWAA ballot and the Historical Overview Committee that formulates the Veterans Committee ballots. He is also on the Veterans Committee electorate for players whose careers began prior to 1943. Madden majored in journalism at the University of South Carolina and lists as his mentors two previous Spink Award winners, Milton Richman at UPI and Dick Young with the Daily News.

Edgy DC Dec 08 2009 01:14 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Ugh.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 08 2009 01:29 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Meantime Gammo is leaving ESPN for "other endeavors." ?

Edgy DC Dec 08 2009 01:32 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Madden_(sportswriter)

TransMonk Dec 08 2009 01:35 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Meantime Gammo is leaving ESPN for "other endeavors." ?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 08 2009 01:37 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

New axeman for Hum Machine! I knew it!

Frayed Knot Dec 08 2009 01:50 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Madden is currently working on a biography of Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner Bet that'll be a hard-hitting expose!

Ashie62 Dec 08 2009 06:09 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="metsguyinmichigan":3aj24ptc]Hey, call 'em up and give them grief. Write a letter and voice your concern. But please, don't cancel your subscription. I make that request on behalf of all of us employed by newspapers![/quote:3aj24ptc] Michigan..print is doomed You can be the "King of online media" Right behind Perez Hilton

metirish Dec 08 2009 07:38 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

[quote="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1ppt3d52]Meantime Gammo is leaving ESPN for "other endeavors." ?[/quote:1ppt3d52] Those new endeavors will keep him plenty busy as an on-air analyst for MLB Network and New England Sports Network, cable arm of the Boston Red Sox. He will also write columns for MLB.com and NESN.com. Neil Best

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 08 2009 08:43 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Good. The Daily News sports editor is Leon Carter. You can write him directly.

Benjamin Grimm Dec 09 2009 06:49 AM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

The article in the News today about Madden's selection includes a photo of Madden and George Steinbrenner getting all cuddly, and quotes from The Boss praising Madden. I'll read Madden's "definitive biography" right after I finish reading Sarah Palin's memoir. I do think that these "enshrinements" of reporters and broadcasters (and some players!) often have more to do with longevity than with quality.

Frayed Knot Jan 31 2010 03:07 PM Re: Bill Madden: Mets Only Want "Low-Budget Latin Players"

Madden chimes in again today with his by-now standard line that the Mets have "a farm system that rates among the bottom in baseball and the absence of any real desirable trading chips" ... even though that's something that no one else seems to agree with. I never saw BA's final ranking although they indicated they saw the NYM system as average to below although specifically rules them out of the bottom feeders. Meanwhile Keith Law has them at 15th best - essentially dead center, praising the int'l players even while knocking their recent drafts and John Sickels, while he doesn't give an ordinal ranking of systems overall, said in his comments that; "Overall the Mets system is stronger at the top than a lot of people think, but could use more depth. On the pitching side, the Mets have something potentially special in Jenrry Mejia, ... Niese is ready now, and while he's not spectacular I think he will have a good career. Holt and Niesen have upside but need to sharpen their command. ... [and] I'm very intrigued by the pitching the Mets have gathered in A-ball. On the hitting side, Martinez can still be a star, but he's got to stay healthy ... Flores' numbers in the Sally League aren't great, but he was the youngest guy in the circuit and we have to cut him some slack for that. ... Ike Davis should be a solid hitter, while Tejada, Havens and Nieuwenhuis can at least be contributors and maybe more." Madden seems to have had a bug up his ass about the Met prospects at least since knocking the Milledge pick and praising the Yanx choice of (the recently released) Eric Duncan. And, of course, it's these type of comments that echo around NYC as radio hosts assume them to be accepted fact and repeat them accordingly.