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Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make!

SteveJRogers Aug 08 2006 09:13 AM

Wally Matthews finally stops chirping on how bad of a deal it was that the Mets failed to go after Pay-Rod ] Wallace Matthews Phillips did Mets a favor Finally, Mets fans have a reason to thank Steve Phillips. The 2006 NL East-leading, possibly World Series-bound New York Mets, generally believed to be an Omar Minaya production, could not possibly be the team they are today if not for a move Minaya's predecessor, twice-removed, decided not to make nearly six years ago. That was when Phillips, invoking the infamous "24-and-1" tag, declined to make an offer to Alex Rodriguez. The ostensible reason was A-Rod's "selfishness," as embodied in agent Scott Boras' alleged demands for a private jet, his own office and a merchandising tent on the premises at Shea that would deal exclusively in All Things Alex. And oh, yeah, there was that business of money, as in $25 million a year for 10 long years. Whatever the real reasons, Phillips took the bullet for his employer and said no thanks. Rodriguez went to Texas when Tom Hicks agreed to give him $252 million for a decade of service. Now A-Rod suffers in the Bronx as the hapless target of spoiled Yankees fans for whom he can do no right. Meanwhile, everyone in Flushing continues to reap the benefits of the move Phillips chose not to make. Since 2000, the Mets have signed Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Billy Wagner, Jose Reyes and, as of yesterday, David Wright. Phillips got canned, but he still gets to play GM nightly on a TV show. Plus, he gets to continue ragging on A-Rod from the safety of a studio. Can you imagine how different this might have turned out had Phillips marched into Fred Wilpon's office two months after the Mets were overwhelmed by the Yankees in the 2000 World Series and convinced his boss to sign A-Rod? Wilpon's wallet would have tightened up like A-Rod with men on base had he committed to 10 years at $25 million per. Consequently, no Glavine, no Pedro, neither of the Carloses and no Wagner. As for Reyes and Wright? Well, because each of them plays a position also played by A-Rod, at least one, if not both of them, probably would be playing elsewhere. Yesterday's announcement that the Mets had signed Wright to a six-year, $55-million contract extension, three days after tying up Reyes for four years at approximately $5.8 million per, means that if you like this team the way it is, you're in luck. The multiyear deals given to Wright and Reyes, as well as Martinez (four years, $53 million), Beltran (seven years, $119 million), Delgado (four years, $52 million) and Wagner (four years, $43 million) guarantees the core of this team will be together through the 2009 season, barring a salary dump at a future trading deadline. It also means that the Mets have committed about $345 million for six key players. When you consider that if not for the want of a merchandising tent, three-quarters of that money could have gone to A-Rod, you say a prayer of thanks that a visionary such as Steve Phillips stopped to impart his wisdom in Flushing, however briefly. Meanwhile, it is Minaya who is taking the bows. So what if he panicked at the deadline, giving away Xavier Nady, his everyday rightfielder, for a 41-year-old reliever and a kid pitcher who looks like damaged goods? In the past three days, he recovered nicely. Before last night's 8-1 blowout of the Phillies at Shea, a game in which Reyes earned his dough with a fourth-inning grand slam and Wright did OK with an RBI double, the GM was all smiles as he announced Wright's deal. "If you're a fan today," Minaya said, "you can buy a lot of David Wright and Jose Reyes jerseys and know they're going to be here for a long time." Minaya opened negotiations with Wright's agents last week but had the misfortune of closing the deal just moments after Wright made a spectacular diving stop on a hot grounder in the ninth inning that would have tied Saturday's game. "I think that play cost me a couple of million," Minaya said with a laugh. It is not Minaya's money, of course, but Wilpon's, and he was careful to thank his boss for providing the means with which to build what so far shapes up as the best Mets team in 20 years. The man he really should have thanked was Phillips. He may not have known what he was doing, but he did it well.

Elster88 Aug 08 2006 09:30 AM

Do we still have that "you think you're a sportswriter thread"? I couldn't find it.

Elster88 Aug 08 2006 09:31 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 08 2006 09:33 AM

Oh and by the way that entire article is bullshit, since it's entirely based upon the premise that the Mets would've paid the same amount that Texas did. If they had signed ARod it would've been for a lot less. Not to mention that that was....oh....five years ago. It's time for another game of "I have no idea what to write about so let's bash ARod."

MFS62 Aug 08 2006 09:33 AM

This just in. Mr. Matthews' next article will be about why it was a good idea for the US not to invade mainland Japan in 1945. Later

KC Aug 08 2006 09:33 AM

Wallace, have some breakfast ....

soupcan Aug 08 2006 09:40 AM

Stupid. That's a big assumption saying that the team would institute a moratorium on signing anybody else once A-Rod was in the fold. He's also assuming that A-Rod would not have made this team successful. A-Rod would have of course played SS. Wright at 3rd and Reyes at second. Matsui never would have signed. 5 years from now Matthews will write an article chastising Minaya for trading future Hall-of-Famers Jorge Julio and Jeff Keppinger conveniently forgetting how succesful a season the Mets had in '06.

Frayed Knot Aug 08 2006 09:41 AM

This column would have been more relevant (not to mention gutsy, timely &, oh I dunno ... INTERESTING) had it been written at some point over the last 4 years. That the deal Rodriguez got from Texas was going to be a drain on whatever team gave it to him and be a huge roadblock for future moves has been true - and obvious - since about 20 minutes after he signed it. Putting this out now is just jumping on two current trends; the always popular Monday Morning Quarterbacking, plus the suddenly popular ARod bashing.

Edgy DC Aug 08 2006 09:59 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 08 2006 11:10 AM

Yup. Though I'm not sure where we can work from the assumption that "If they had signed ARod it would've been for a lot less." Seems to me that if they offered him less, they don't get A-Rod. Nobody, least of all Scott Boras, walks away from the kind of money Texas put on the table. Not for all the tents in Araby.

Yancy Street Gang Aug 08 2006 10:02 AM

Exactly. It really doesn't matter whether the Mets were right or wrong to break off negotiations because of the "tent request." No matter what happened, the Texas Rangers were going to sign him because nobody else would offer him anywhere near that amount. So whether Phillips was wise or foolish is irrelevant.

Willets Point Aug 08 2006 10:36 AM

Is this the same guy who suggested the Mets were so hapless they should relocate to Salt Lake City?

SteveJRogers Aug 08 2006 10:43 AM

Elster88 wrote: Oh and by the way that entire article is bullshit, since it's entirely based upon the premise that the Mets would've paid the same amount that Texas did. If they had signed ARod it would've been for a lot less. Not to mention that that was....oh....five years ago. It's time for another game of "I have no idea what to write about so let's bash ARod." Yup. I put this up because its a departure from Matthews' stance that the non-tender is the worse "transaction" in Met history (personally I'll put the Vlad Gurerrero mess over it) Also the factors surrounding what the Mets could and could not do are unknown. Hampton probably would still have been gone and we'd still have the opportunity to draft Wright. Who is to say Reyes would be able to play 2nd in the minors rather than learning on the fly when the Mets signed Matsui ect... And of course given what has happened the last two plus years, whos to say ARod would have the same relationship with Met fans that he currently has with Yankee fan. Though the one caveat of course is no Jeter factor, but still Met fans are just as harsh to the player they see underperforming (see Beltran, Carlos 2005) Hell, if ARod and Buck clashed horribly in Arlington, I'd hate to think of the combo of ARod and Bobby V! You have a known sulky diva who wants to be loved by everyone and a manager than will say whatever is on his mind. Great possiblity that either Valentine or ARod would be gone by mid-season, and Met fans would want the World Series appearing manager over a sulking, over paid super star. Thats the problem with alot of declarations of "Worse move ever made" usually the opinion maker doesn't take every aspect into account and just blindly makes a black-and-white generalization based soley on an agrument that everything else will remain constant.