Jose Reyes (credit: Al Bello/Getty Images), Fred Wilpon (credit: Marc Serota/Getty Images), David Wright (credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)
Reporting Mona Rivera
NEW YORK (WFAN) – Mets fans might find themselves stunned after reading Jeffrey Toobin’s epic profile of Fred Wilpon in the latest issue of The New Yorker.
At times Wilpon sounds more like a jilted fan than the owner of New York’s National League franchise.
Midway through the article, Toobin recounts an exchange he had with Wilpon during the Mets’ 4-3 loss to Houston on April 20.
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“He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money,” said Wilpon after Jose Reyes singled and stole second, leading off for New York. “He’s had everything wrong with him. He won’t get it.”
After Josh Thole struck out, it was David Wright’s turn at bat.
“He’s pressing,” Wilpon said about the fan favorite. “A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar.”
But Wilpon wasn’t done. He ripped into Carlos Beltran after Wright walked his way on base.
“We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series,” Wilpon said, referring to himself. “He’s sixty-five to seventy percent of what he was.”
At least Ike Davis was in Wilpon’s good graces, even if the rest of the team appeared to be in the doghouse.
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“Good hitter,” he said. “Sh—y team — good hitter.”
“Lousy clubs — that’s what happens,” Wilpon added after Angel Pagan struck out to end the inning. “We’re snakebitten, baby.”
Wright responded to Wilpon’s comments on Monday in an email to the Wall Street Journal.
“Fred is a good man and is obviously going through some difficult times,” he wrote. “There is nothing more productive that I can say at this time.”
Of course, what would a Wilpon profile be without delving into the Bernie Madoff mess. Wilpon reiterated that neither he, his son Jeff nor Saul Katz knew what Madoff was up to.
“We certainly wouldn’t have had $550 million invested in something that’s a Ponzi scheme, when you know it can only evaporate at some point,” he said.
“Fred and Saul were only guilty of trusting their friend,” Madoff said in an email to Toobin, “and I will live with that guilt and shame forever.”
What do you think of Wilpon’s comments in The New Yorker? Sound off in the comments below…
49 Comments
FRED WILPON IS WRIGHT 100 % OF WHAT HE SAID. CARLOS BELTRAN IS AN OVERPAID PLAYER AND JOSE REYES IS AN INJURED PRONE PLAYER THAT IS IN HIS FINAL YEAR OF HIS CONTRACT..WHY HE DOES’T GET HURT NOW? JUST HE WANT TO PLAY GOOD AND EVERYDAY TO GET A GOOD CONTRACT.
May 24, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Fred is only saying what us Met fan have been saying all along.
http://nymbaseball.com/the-quarterly-report/
May 23, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Thanks, again, Fred. You give a contract extension to a GM that engineered two flops in a row and now you are destroying the trade value of players you can trade before July 31st. Unbelievable! Please keep your mouth shut.
May 23, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Good for Fred…Most people can’t handle the truth.
May 23, 2011 at 4:06 pm
mr. fred wilpon knows his team. i used to follow the mits, i mean the mets and i’m 100% sure that they will not win another championship in our generation! with players like beltran that does not slide at homebase or brake plays at second base or, with reyes hitting a single and celebrates like he just hit a grand-slam or, with underarchiver/overrated david wright the future of the mits, i mean the mets its uncertain.
May 23, 2011 at 2:56 pm
I’ve been a Yankees fan since the 1960s and I never minded Steinbrenner speaking his mind, even when what he said sounded mindless. If you are the owner of the team, you have the right to say whatever you want to about the ballplayers you are paying millions of dollars for, as long as ithe comments are confined to their ball playing, nothing personal. As for Wilpon, unless you can tell me he was wrong or unfair in his appraisals, I think it’s great he said what he did. Most likely these ballplayers will just shrug it off, but perhaps it could do some good. IMO, I thought Beltran has been good as long as he’s been healthy, same as Wright, but he’s right- neither are superstars. As for Reyes, yeah, I do think he’s in for a bit of a surprise. We’ll all find out just what they’re worth next winter.
May 23, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Wilpon has dementia. Time for the State of New York to commit him and take over the Mets.
May 23, 2011 at 1:58 pm
The Mets will get much worse before anything gets better, expect a few last place finishes in the next few years and of course even more empty seats at Citi Field.
The announced attendances have been inflated, the park has been empty for most games thus far.
May 23, 2011 at 1:22 pm
When the owner of the team trashes it i’ts time to sell and cut your losses. With the right people running the team the Mets can be a respectable team. Wilpon it’s time to go back to Brooklyn and leave the big lesges to the pro’s.
May 23, 2011 at 12:55 pm
This is a bitter old fool, captaining a sinking ship that is about to be repoed. The walls are crumbling around him and he is ready to set Rome on fire. Stay away from that Stadium, Met fans. Every dollar spent on tickets is helping keep the team.
If I was Reyes, I’d punch my ticket out of town. Next time a reporter asks him about re signing with the Mets, I’d say “Don’t you read the papers? How are they going to afford me when they have all those lawyers to pay? Hell, if they offered me points in the team, I’d be owing money.”
May 23, 2011 at 12:38 pm
This is the same idiot who built that cavern we call Citi field and now is whining about the players he has in it. GO AWAY FRED…..You are obviously not equipped to keep this team afloat nor to make any real baseball judgements. What brilliant plan do you have to replace Reyes? Calll your buddy in jail and ask him his baseball advice on shortstops
May 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Fred, I always thought that you had a semblance of a brain. Even now I think that you are preparing us fans for the big “dump”. This is your way of justifying what you are about to do which is to decimate this team. They say “when a fish stinks it stinks from the head”!
May 23, 2011 at 12:12 pm
“Lousy team?” “Shi__y team?” And who put that team together Fred? And now you’d rather tear the team apart rather than sell it to cover your losses.
May 23, 2011 at 12:09 pm
The Mets fell apart, crumbled completely, after Delgato went down. They built a shrine in lieu of Shea, it was all down hill from there. If someone had told you in 2006 it was all down hill from there they would have Wright ON The Bernie Madoff Money.
May 23, 2011 at 11:55 am
The Met’s cannot do anything right…this is a perfect example….
May 23, 2011 at 11:28 am
Oh by the way Fred your beloved Dodgers are going to up for sale soon, sell the Mets and go buy them and don’t let the door hit you in the a.. on the way out!
May 23, 2011 at 11:19 am
and Fred will move them back to Brooklyn, so what will happened to your Mets? One thing the Mets don’t need is another NL team to take the few fans the Mets have.
Fred would make a deal with MLB to relocate the Dodgers to Brooklyn & have the Mets move to L.A
May 23, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Hey Fred you might be a nice man ……but you certainly aren’t a good owner. You need to sell this team because no-one is coming here to play for you. Your living proof that you only need money to make money and you don’t need to have brains to make money. What a idiot you think that going to make them play better or ask when can I get away from this fiasco. Nelson Doubleday please come back and take over this team!!!
May 23, 2011 at 11:16 am
100% Correct!
May 23, 2011 at 11:06 am
Shut up Fred! You hired the Omar who made all the stupid decisions and hired these players. Sell the team to someone who likes the Mets and wants to make it a first class team. You can go try and buy your beloved Dodgers and let our team (the fans)have descent ownership.
May 23, 2011 at 11:05 am
I wish I had the money to give someone to take Reyes. They can have him and his grounders and his pop up foul balls. For the money Bey is getting, he should be hitting every single time he gets up there, Start taking money away from him for every time he gets up there and does nothing and watch how fast the $66 million dollar man wakes up. Wright cannot keep carrying this team. The kid is hurt and is hurt more than likely because they keep playing him. Beltran looks good since he has rehabbed, but if it’s time to go, then see ya. We have some good young talent and Wilpon needs to realize that. The Ponzi mess is his mess and he seems to be taking his problems out on a team that is already having a lot of their own problems right now. Someone needs to show a hell of a lot of interest and buy them before they get taken the way the Diodger’s did by MLB. I have been a MET fan since the 60′s and enough is enough. Give us what we deserve. A good strong, healthy solid team that can be in contention. WAKE UP WILPON.
May 23, 2011 at 10:57 am
His grounders and pop up fouls? He’s near the top of the league in hitting, number of hits, triples and stolen bases. The only knock is hitting with runners on base. Both he and Beltran are the only consistent hitters in the lineup right now. Get rid of them and there will be no body in the stands.
Agreed that Bay has been a disappointment. How someone can go from 30 homers, 100 RBIs and a .270 average to what he is doing now is beyond me. Maybe trade him to a team that that plays in a more hitter friendly park that will take over his contract (and where he won’t come back to haunt the Mets).
May 23, 2011 at 12:04 pm
`he is a stupid man, you dont say that about your own team, true or not, he should be talking up these guys especially if hes trying to trade them. The Mets are a mess. They need to re-sign Reyes , that stupid ballpark was built for him! Trade Wright and Beltran, and if someone can will take bay even better.The Wilpons are clueless.
May 23, 2011 at 10:24 am
even if he’s right, this sounds like him trying to shift attention away from his financial troubles and instead focusing on the players.
May 23, 2011 at 10:11 am
Life long Met fan and I could not agree more with him. He is %100 right. Wright is not a super star. If played anywhere else you would not know his name, Most over rated player on the team.
May 23, 2011 at 9:50 am
He’s 100% right about Wright as he will never be great until he learns how to relax & stop pressing so much. That’s why he is such a streaky hitter when heathy but now his body is starting to break down a bit as he ages. Might be time to let him go along with Reyes if they can get any building block value in return.
May 23, 2011 at 9:42 am
hes only 26 years old you idiot
May 23, 2011 at 11:27 am
YOU WONDER WHY THE METS ARE IN THE SHAPE THEY ARE. BUT HE IS RIGHT ON A FEW THINGS HE SAID. REYES DOESN’T DESERVE HUGE MONEY. HE ALWAYS INJURED AND ON THE DL FOR 6-7 WEEKS AT A TIME. WRIGHT IS A GOOD PLAYER NOT A SUPERSTAR. BELTRAN FOR THE MONEY HE IS MAKING HAS BEEN A HUGE MISTAKE.. AFTER THEY TRADE REYES AND BELTRAN THE STANDS OF CITIFIELD WILL BE EMPTY FOR ALL OF THIS YEAR AND FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS…..
May 23, 2011 at 9:35 am
What’s the difference? They’re playing before empty seats now!
May 23, 2011 at 9:38 am
OK, He need to sell the team or he will end up hated more than Walter O’Malley. Especially if he trades Reyes.
May 23, 2011 at 9:35 am
Just like the Wizard of Oz said “Pay no attention to the man behind the screen”.
May 23, 2011 at 9:20 am
EXACTLY!
May 23, 2011 at 9:22 am
I guess you don’t remember the ending of the Wizard of Oz do you? So you need to pay attention to the man behind the screen because he spoke the truth. Stop living in fantasyland Mets fans, come back to the real world & this is what Wilpon is saying, Reyes has no heart, Wright has not courage and Mets fans have no brains.
May 23, 2011 at 9:39 am
HOW WOULD YOU PORTRAY A POOR TEAM THAT YOU KNOW DARN WELL YOU WILL NOT OWN IN ANOTHER YEAR OR HOPEFULLY LESS? IT SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF SOUR GRAPES TO ME.GOOD RIDDANCE!
May 23, 2011 at 9:17 am
PS WHEN YOU PLAY THE GAME THEN YOU HAVE GOT TO BE PREPARED TO PAY THE PIPER AT SOME POINT IN TIME AND NOWS THE TIME FRED!
May 23, 2011 at 9:21 am
I wouldn’t have enough confidence to put Wilpon in charge of walking my dog let alone run a professional sports organization.
May 23, 2011 at 9:11 am
He’s made billions from scratch, not from inheriting it. How much have you made.
May 23, 2011 at 9:53 am
Carl Crawford’s money is an analogy for the blood money Wilpon siphoned off the Madoff scheme.
May 23, 2011 at 8:58 am
Just relying on common sense I use the term “the truth hurts”
May 23, 2011 at 8:54 am
This guy is the f’ing schmuck, he’s nuts. And he better give Reyes the money, he’s a player that deserves it. The problem is he had schmucks running the team and he’s one of them. I hope he f’ing sells. Btw watch him now back track on his comments.
May 23, 2011 at 8:54 am
nobody deserves that much money to play ball
May 23, 2011 at 11:31 am
What ever happened to constructive criticism? If the Mets organize stop focusing on having long ball hitters and concentrate on basic baseball and just putting the ball in play, they would be unbeatable. Mr. Wilpon, if you’re going to speak negatively about one player, then there is something negative to say about all of the players INCLUDING Ike Davis.
May 23, 2011 at 8:45 am
I find it hard to believe that someone that pours hundreds of millions of dollars into a business every year feels that strongly against a team. He has some say in what players are signed on that team if he didn’t want Beltran he should have said so. Sounds to me that Jeffrey Toobin is just throwing wood on the fire.
May 23, 2011 at 8:39 am
God if only someone was in a position to do something. Oh wait YOU WERE! As the owner you have final say. Why did YOU sign those players you no what’s lousy? Your ownership style
May 23, 2011 at 8:38 am
You probably criticized him for meddling when they didn’t sign the players you wanted so now you know he didn’t meddle and you criticzie him anyway.
May 23, 2011 at 9:52 am
This is more Steinbrenner’s style, which I never liked. It’s bad enough he even thinks like that, much less says it, especially to be published. I have been sticking up for him during every mess he’s been involved with. Now, I’m rethinking if I’ll ever renew my season tix as long as he owns the team. Maybe all those naysayers are right, he should sell the team. I think it’s madness to even consider getting rid of Reyes or Wright. They are part of a nucleus that can be a really good team. They’ll never get good enough prospects to take their places. Maybe it’s not all that bad–after all, Derek Jeter seems to have shrugged off the bad-mouthing the Yankess have done.
May 23, 2011 at 8:28 am
Steinbrenner did a lot of good things in his life but also many rotten things. The only reason he won so many titles is because HE GOT HIMSELF SUSPENDED and Showalter and Michael built the nucleus of a great team without his meddling. As soon as he came back he fired Showalter and demoted Michael so he could get the credit for himself. Wiilpon has been a great businessman but he has to be out of his mind to talk like this. At the very least, you don’t knock a product you’re trying to sell. I see from some of the other posts Wilpon is being criticized for agreeing to signing these guys; however, back then he was criticized for not allowing his baseball men to run the team. You can’t have it both ways.
May 23, 2011 at 9:25 am
Whatever Ari, Steinbrenner still was the owner, the money used was he’s. He’s the one who hired the personal. There was a reason why he fired Showalter, just as the Diamondbacks & Rangers after.
You continue to want to sound like an intellect but yet never make a valet point; all you do is ramble nonsense. The topic here is Wilpon & the Mets not the Yankees & Steinbrenner.
Wilpon is the owner, it’s his money & he has a right to criticized players just like your boss does if the work is not being done. You had no problem with Wilpon when the Mets won ages ago in ’86, but it’s a problem now.
As you said, you can’t have it both ways, Stop crying
May 23, 2011 at 10:10 am
Gee, why don’t I just contact you any time I need to express an opinion. I started out by saying uncharacteristically was acting like Steinbrenner, which was something I never liked. Sure the boss can say whatever he wants, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I have always been a supporter of the Wilpons and I think they have been vilifed very unfairly. I am only making an observation that he is making a serious error in judgment.. I am a season ticketholder for many many years and have not jumped ship because the team is down, unlike a lot of other subscribers. Plus I don’t even live in the U.S. most of the time but I have my cable sent over so watch a lot of games when I am not in the U.S., usually at ungodly hours. Whatever you want to say about Showalter, he did build the team and did not deserve the fate handed down by his boss the egomaniac. As far as my boss is concerned, wait a minute–I am the boss and I don’t treat my staff like that. Maybe it’s YOUR boss that’s the problem.
May 23, 2011 at 11:23 am