You might think Peter Angelos is bad news...

[BaltimoreTerp]

...but the Mets sound like they are screwed with a capital "W".

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/but_will_baseball_brightest_7PwTaYoBp7ZLhGuwZ4YKbP/0

Let’s give Jeff Wilpon the benefit of the doubt here for a moment.

Let’s say he is not short-tempered. Tone deaf. A credit seeker. An accountability deflector. A micro-manager. A second-guesser. A less-than-deep thinker. And bad at self-awareness.

Fine, he’s none of these things. But here is the problem: This is his perception in the industry as the Mets try yet again to fix their baseball operations department.

...

Want a sampling? A baseball executive in regular contact with the Mets: “Jeff is the problem with the organization, and he is never going to realize that. He cannot help himself. He has to be involved. He will never hire anyone who will not let him have major input. He will not hire anyone who does not run every personnel decision through him.”

...

An AL executive: “This is not an attractive job unless you want the money. The only person with a worse reputation then Jeff Wilpon in the game is [Marlins president] David Samson.

I guess the McCourts [Dodgers owners] also are in that conversation. Jeff’s reputation is not good in the industry. The perception is that behind the scenes he will throw people under the bus rather than take responsibility.”

This is no small sample. Ten officials were spoken to and the best anyone offered on Wilpon was this from an AL front-office man: “Jeff is a challenge, but most people [looking for a GM job] do not have the luxury of writing off the job because Jeff is there. There are only 30 of these jobs and they all come with warts.”

Talk about Confederate money...

[twoBshorty]

People like this have never made sense to me. How can you sit there year after year in charge doing the same thing where it's obvious from the results that things are going badly and not once wonder if maybe YOU need to change or YOU are the problem? How can that seriously never occur to some people? Is a segment of their brain not working correctly? Being able to evaluate and assess your own performance compared to what you want to be doing is part of basic adult executive functioning. Is Jeff Wilpon brain-damaged?

[makoman]

People like this have never made sense to me. How can you sit there year after year in charge doing the same thing where it's obvious from the results that things are going badly and not once wonder if maybe YOU need to change or YOU are the problem? How can that seriously never occur to some people? Is a segment of their brain not working correctly? Being able to evaluate and assess your own performance compared to what you want to be doing is part of basic adult executive functioning. Is Jeff Wilpon brain-damaged?

Well, what we don't think about is that baseball isn't really what they do, but more the culmination of their lives. Running a MLB team isn't something you just work up to, if you're in position to be in charge of a major league baseball team, you've probably already been ridiculously successful in life. I don't know Wilpon's past in particular, but these are the type of guy where whatever they've touched in life turned to gold, so I don't really blame them for continuing to think that it will be that way even years after being in charge, that next time it will work out, after all it's always worked out before for them... I'm sure Angelos thought, I created a law firm that led to my billion dollar net worth, that's shown that I'm a capable business man, why can't I run a baseball team too?

[twoBshorty]

Well, what we don't think about is that baseball isn't really what they do, but more the culmination of their lives. Running a MLB team isn't something you just work up to, if you're in position to be in charge of a major league baseball team, you've probably already been ridiculously successful in life. I don't know Wilpon's past in particular, but these are the type of guy where whatever they've touched in life turned to gold, so I don't really blame them for continuing to think that it will be that way even years after being in charge, that next time it will work out, after all it's always worked out before for them... I'm sure Angelos thought, I created a law firm that led to my billion dollar net worth, that's shown that I'm a capable business man, why can't I run a baseball team too?

Well, in the case of Jeff Wilpon, he's Fred Wilpon's son. He may have achieved nothing of note other than be born to the right guy and be riding Daddy's coattails to the top without a lick of success of competence on his own part. I don't know, but it's at least possible. Witness Hank Steinbrenner.

[TGO]

Well, guys who ride dad's coattails are often worse than people who have been successful in other businesses, and for a different motivation--they have to prove they can do it. Admitting failure in a business you inherited is admitting failure in life.

[scOtt]

Well, guys who ride dad's coattails are often worse than people who have been successful in other businesses, and for a different motivation--they have to prove they can do it. Admitting failure in a business you inherited is admitting failure in life.

Yeah, at least King George and (hopefully) Big Peter eventually realized.

It said that Wilpon wants to be in on every personnel decision. I wonder if that is to the point of DFAing a guy off the 40-man? That would be a nightmare for a GM.

[sangar]

I remember after Carol Rosenbloom died his wife, Georgia, held the starting QB (forget his name) out of practice to attend a cocktail party with her.

Foolish owners will always be a part of every sport. I'm just happy ours finally got clued in.

[byrdz]

Well at least they have a large market and plenty of money to burn.

[scOtt]

Well at least they have a large market and plenty of money to burn.

"Burn" usually being the operative word... :laughlol:

[BaltimoreTerp]

Bump for the awesome cluster-McCourt going on in LA...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/lawyer-testifies-he-switched-la-dodgers-ownership-document.html

"Did you think it was OK to switch an exhibit to a legal document after it had been signed and notarized?" asked David Boies, attorney for Jamie McCourt.

"In certain circumstances, yes," said Larry Silverstein.

Boies asked Silverstein how long he had practiced law.

Silverstein said he had done so for 33 years.

"In all of your experience," Boies asked, "have you ever known a situation in which a lawyer, after a document has been signed and notarized, has removed a schedule and substituted another without the express written permission of the parties to that agreement?"

Silverstein replied, "Express permission or implicit permission, no."

Silverstein said he had not notified Jamie McCourt of the switch.

For those not following the case, part of the divorce issue has to do with whether both Frank and Jamie own the team as a joint couple (Jamie's side) or whether she signed the Dodgers away to Frank in a deal* designed to protect both in case of a catastrophic business failure (Frank's side).

*Basically each would own a certain half of their "joint" assets just in case. According to the deal, Jamie received the ownership rights to their houses and other property, while Frank got the businesses and the Dodgers.

Today, the lawyer who negotiated the deal basically admitted to changing it after it was signed, which most likely will make it void. And as Craig the Baseball Lawyer says, since they will be unable to run the team jointly, either one will have to buy out the other (which he says is next-to-impossible) or the team sold outright.

Lots of stuff going on owners-wise right now...

[Jurczak]

Well, guys who ride dad's coattails are often worse than people who have been successful in other businesses, and for a different motivation--they have to prove they can do it. Admitting failure in a business you inherited is admitting failure in life.

Luckily this won't happen to the Os...

[scOtt]

Luckily this won't happen to the Os...

Hopefully!

[BaltimoreTerp]

Get out your chainsaws, the McCourts are going to need help cutting Dodger Stadium in half...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/12/07/dodgers.mccourts.ap/index.html

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A judge has ruled that a postnuptial marital agreement giving sole ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers to Frank McCourt is not valid, a spokesman for his estranged wife Jamie McCourt said Tuesday.

The decision means the Dodgers could be shared under California's community property law, spokesman Mark Fabiani told The Associated Press.

And, of course, Craig Calcaterra on what he would do: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/07/what-id-do-to-mess-with-the-dodgers-if-i-were-jamie-mccourts-lawyer/

[Camden_yardbird]

I'd rather take a meddling owner who spends than Bob Nutting. Since the year 2000 the Pirates have paid more than $5 million to 2 free agents.

Jeromy Burnitz got $6 million for a one year deal in 2003.

Derek Bell got a $5.1 million dollar deal in 2001.

In 1997 they signed Kevin Young to a 6 year deal that paid him on average around $7.5 million a year.

They have not had a player make more than $10 million a year, free agent or otherwise except the ill conceived Matt Morris trade. He only lasted until June.

[incubus]

Hopefully!

I've met John Angelos, he seems to have his own stuff going on, business-wise. I don't know how interested he'll be in the O's after his father passes.