Selecting the Mets All-Wilpon Team Part 5: Starting Lineup
Which Mets best represent the dysfunction and turmoil of the Wilpon era.
It’s time to name the Mets’ All-Wilpon Team starting lineup.
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Starting Lineup
Catcher: Paul Lo Duca
After the 2007 season Paul Lo Duca’s contract was up and he never received a phone call from the Mets about returning. Baseball-wise it made some sense. Lo Duca, after two solid seasons in a Mets uniform, would be entering his age 36 season. But then the Mets replaced him with another aging backstop with comparable if not worse numbers in Brian Schneider. So what gives?
Turns out Lo Duca was beefing with Jeff Wilpon throughout his tenure.
Since he’s retired, Lo Duca has not been shy about bashing Jeff Wilpon whenever he’s handed a microphone. He’s gone on to tell stories like how Wilpon once stole the sunglasses he’d wear in games and that he’d critique his catching technique with about as much insight as a volunteer tee ball coach.
Wilpon, according to Lo Duca, would also pitch at Shea Stadium with his friends when the Mets were out of town in an effort to fulfill his dream of being a Major League player.
In an interview on Barstool Radio, Lo Duca quipped “[Owners] should never ever enter the clubhouse. For what? You trying to look at all of our penises?” Honestly Paul, if that’s the case I would’ve just given him the sunglasses.
Lo Duca is seemingly not the only one to have such odd interactions with Jeff. The New York Times reported in 2019 that a star Mets player recalled Jeff tossing him a new glove to break it in. What an absolute weirdo.
Lo Duca, who grew up a Mets fan and maintains his fandom to this day, has also attacked ownership’s ability to build a contender, lack a chain of command, and mindset in operating a team. His stance, having seen it first hand, is that the Wilpons strive for mediocrity and settle for being a .500 team at best.
He’s been critical of how they built a massive pitcher’s park in Citi Field when the face of their franchise was an offensive star in David Wright. In the wake of the initial sale to Steve Cohen, Lo Duca pointed out how the fallout included a smear campaign on Cohen so they wouldn’t look like the bad guys.
Ultimately, the common thread in all of Lo Duca’s anecdotes and soundbites is confirmation of what fans already know — the Wilpons can never get out of their own way.
Side note: I have to shout-out Travis d’Arnaud who was mishandled over and over again by the Mets and has found his footing in Atlanta. If his 2020 campaign is any indication of the player he will be moving forward, the Mets truly botched yet another talented player at a position of need. The dude has been an absolute beast for the Braves during the playoffs. Good for him.
First Base: Mo Vaughn
First baseman Mo Vaughn was arguably on a Hall of Fame track before he left the Boston Red Sox for the Anaheim Angels after the 1998 season. The west coast wasn’t kind to Vaughn though as chronic injuries plagued him to the point of missing the entire 2001 season. That’s when the Mets traded for Vaughn.
While the talent cost— veteran pitcher Kevin Appier — wasn’t significant, the Vaughn acquisition itself was costly as the first baseman came with the remainder of the six-year $80 million deal he signed in Anaheim — $28 million of which was still owed when he hit the disabled list for the final time.
Vaughn was one in a collection of unsuccessful moves prior to the 2002 season that would be a sign of things to come. Even when the Wilpons are willing to dip into their pockets, that money will be dedicated to aging veterans, faded stars whose production and health collapse creating a financial burden.
Then-general manager Steve Phillips would eventually be fired thanks to a bevy of boneheaded moves, this one included. According to Joel Sherman, Phillips, however, was far from the only one to blame as the Wilpons had their fingerprints all over everything.
In a New York Post article from March 2003, Sherman writes “You would have to be naive to think Wilpon’s role in player acquisition ended with OK’ing the budget. He was intimately involved in every Roger Cedeno and Mo Vaughn.”
What a shock! Sherman continues confirming that the GM seat is all but ceremonial writing “Nothing changes with Phillips’ firing except the name on a door.” Not only did nothing change then, but nothing has changed since.
If only there were hints that a 34 year old wouldn’t live up to a hefty contract. Hints like, say, age or injury.
Other fun names that have fit the Mo Vaughn category over the years are Cedeno, Roberto Alomar, Moises Alou, Jason Bay, and Yoenis Cespedes, the second time.
Second Base: Jose Reyes (and Carl Crawford’s money)
Nope, it’s not Roberto Alomar. Alomar, one of the biggest Wilpon era busts, certainly would have nabbed the spot had his trade turned out differently. Steve Phillips offered the Cleveland Indians two prospects as the centerpiece of the Alomar deal. They chose Alex Escobar, who never materialized, over an 18-year old shortstop named, you guessed it, Jose Reyes.
Jose Reyes is a bit of a paradox. In the infamous Jeffrey Toobin interview in New Yorker, Fred Wilpon mocked Reyes for expecting to earn “Carl Crawford” money that off-season. “He won’t get it,” Wilpon told Toobin.
Reyes would head to Miami signing a six year $106 million contract with a $22 million option for a seventh season — which is lower than the seven year $146 million contract Carl Crawford agreed to in Boston.
Yet, it has long been speculated that Reyes was one of Jeff Wilpon’s favorite players, an idea that has weight considering the duration and circumstances of his second tour in blue and orange.
According to the New York post, Wilpon was the one leading the charge to bring back the former shortstop in 2016 despite Reyes’ then-recent suspension for domestic violence. Reyes would maintain ownership’s support as the reunion dragged on for far too long.
Despite abysmal results the organization wouldn’t let Reyes go because Mets officials thought he deserved a proper send-off, a hero’s farewell.
Reyes hung around through 2018 as a shell of the exciting player he once was, taking at bats from the likes of Amed Rosario and Jeff McNeil. Between that and a list of mismanaged injuries he suffered through in his first run make Reyes the All-Wilpon second baseman. Well, that and someone else is in the lineup card at short so we moved Reyes to second. Sound familiar?
Third Base: Jose Reyes (and David Wright’s insurance money)
Jose Reyes is here too, baby, and he’s absolutely electric! Slashing a cool .189/.260/.320. with a .580 OPS, fans can’t help but get on their feet and walk away when this guy steps in the box.
2018 was the best of both worlds for the sake of the All-Wilpon team. Wright wouldn’t play enough to interfere with his contract’s insurance policy while Reyes lingered on the roster wasting space.
Wright has always been loyal to the Wilpons, but deserves a mention here for Fred calling him “not a superstar,” in the Toobin interview, and for how his career came to an end. Not only did the insurance money collected on his contract become a focal point of criticism against ownership, but given the Wilpons’ history of forcing players to play through injury, I’ll always wonder if there was pressure for Wright to play with the stress fracture in his back.
Shortstop: Kazuo Matsui
Fred Wilpon’s, shall we say, distaste for the crosstown rival Yankees is well documented. Following the Yanks’ trade for Giancarlo Stanton in 2017, a person close to Wilpon told the New York Post that “Fred is pissed every time the Yankees make a move.”
Well, in December 2002 the Yankees made a big splash. They brought Godzilla to the Bronx. Hideki Matsui signed with the Yankees amid much fanfare in both New York and his native Japan. In his first Major League at-bat he hit an RBI single. That postseason he became the first Japanese player to hit a homerun in the MLB postseason. He would lose the Rookie of the Year voting by two-votes — two writers excluded him on their ballots due to his age.
Following the 2003 season the Wilpons would follow in-step with their perceived nemesis by not only importing a Japanese star of their own but one with the same surname in shortstop Kazuo Matsui. Doesn’t this just reek of trying to one up the team across the Whitestone Bridge?
Kaz was lauded by reporters and talent evaluators as a potential superstar, and that reputation and buzz created issues with ownership almost immediately. According to the New York Times, Jeff Wilpon was dead set on Matsui playing injured in televised Spring Training games as, essentially, a marketing ploy to boost fan morale after a last place finish the prior season. Things would continue to go poorly for the shortstop.
Matsui slashed .256/.308/.363 with 13 homeruns in three seasons in New York. A far cry from what was hoped for. Defensively he was worse. Matsui committed 23 errors at shortstop in his rookie season after displacing rising star Jose Reyes, who had his own issues adjusting to second base.
By mid-season 2005 Matsui was on the losing end of a timeshare at second base with Marlon Anderson and Miguel Cairo. By mid-season 2006 he was gone. While Matsui would piece together some decent years in Colorado and Houston his Mets career is defined my mismanagement and being run out of town before he ever really settled.
Hideki Matsui, on the other hand, would win a championship in pinstripes in 2009 — he was named the World Series MVP— and is ingrained in modern Yankee lore. I wonder how mad that makes Fred Wilpon.
Left Field: Yoenis Cespedes
Since signing a four-year $110 million deal after the 2016 season, Yoenis Cespedes has played in a minuscule 127 games. How’d that happen?
First, Cespedes was plagued with a series of recurring lower body injuries which culminated in surgery to remove calcification in both heels. The heels likely were the catalyst for frequent hip, quad and hamstring issues.
Cespedes’ need for surgery was treated as a bombshell despite his condition being present for quite a while. There was speculation at the time that the Mets were trying to avoid the operating table, but Cespedes could not run pain free.
So, all is good he’ll be back in 10 months, right? Just in time for a playoff run? Nope! The wild boar strikes!
Cespedes fractured his right ankle in May 2019 while on his ranch. When the news hit Twitter it felt so scripted for LOLMets that everyone was in shock. The circumstances of the injury were undisclosed and imaginations ran wild as to what could have happened. Did he fall off his horse? Did he lose a wrasslin’ match with a wild hog? Who’s to say?
The Mets filed a grievance and they would settle with Cespedes on a restructured deal in late 2019. Fans, meanwhile, clamored to see the insurance money recouped on the contract be reinvested in the team, but like the David Wright insurance money it was not.
All of this was enough to earn Cespedes the All-Wilpon selection… but then 2020 happened to add a final stamp of dysfunction to his Mets tenure. On August 2, Cespedes did not report for the Mets game which prompted management to release a statement that he was missing.
Panic ensued on social media. What could have happened to Yo if the Mets can’t find him? Is he safe? Well, he opted out.
In typical Mets fashion, a media shitstorm was created. Was it to make Cespedes look bad? Well, it tracks. The smear campaign was on. According to the New York Post, Cespedes was frustrated with the Mets over playing time and its influence on his contract incentives. He was being selfish. He wanted his money. He was out dancing!
Meanwhile, the Athletic reported that Cespedes opted out over Covid-19 concerns and that his ill mother was a driving force in his leaving the team. He certainly sounds selfish to me (just to be clear that is sarcasm).
Just for good measure this is not even the first time hit pieces ran in the press about Cespedes’ character. After the 2016 season the Mets were reportedly turned off by his independent nature, his lack of hustle, and his apparent chain smoking in between innings. They were in the middle of contract negotiations.
You can argue that the Mets should have never given Cespedes the second contract — a fair argument at the time and a valid argument now. But only the Wilpon Mets can take someone like Cespedes, the hero that vaulted them to a pennant in 2015, and turn him into a figure of embarrassment by shrinking his legend into a lingering debacle of bullshit.
Center Field: Carlos Beltran
Carlos Beltran is most remembered for a pitch he didn’t hit. A pitch he didn’t swing at. An at-bat that Fred Wilpon mocked in The New Yorker piece. He was much more than that at-bat and could have been even better had his injuries been handled properly.
Beltran originally wanted to undergo surgery during the 2009 season to clear up his injured knee, but the Mets preferred he rehab so that’s what he did. That off-season he sought opinions from his own doctors and hit the operating table in January 2010. The Mets didn’t like that. They felt it was done without their permission.
On a conference call following the operation, Assistant GM John Ricco said “We told the agent for the player that we wanted to have the ability to discuss the diagnosis and possibly have a third opinion because, you know, of the nature of this injury. We wanted to have the opportunity to digest the information, the diagnosis, and unfortunately we were never afforded the opportunity to do that.”
Imagine being in pain while doctors are advising surgery and your employer, who’s already gone out of their way to avoid you getting surgery, wants you to get a third opinion. Not to mention that he could’ve had the surgery when he wanted to originally or immediately following the 2009 season. The 12 week rehab timeline would have put him in line to be ready closer to Opening Day 2010 instead of being behind the eight ball. Everything was delayed to fit the Mets’ desires until Beltran opted for the surgery himself.
Beltran defended himself in a statement saying “I am totally surprised by the reaction to my recent knee surgery. I have done nothing but follow the directions of my doctors. Any accusations that I ignored or defied the team’s wishes are simply false.”
In the Toobin article, Fred Wilpon said that Beltran was 60–70% of the player he once was. That’s what happens when you meddle with a player’s health, Fred.
The legacy of Beltran as a Met is a curious one. Yes, he was paid a ton of money, but when he was on the field he produced. Had the team not botched and deterred his return to health maybe that production lasts longer. Maybe the backend of that contract doesn’t look too bad.
Instead, just as Fred Wilpon alludes to in the Toobin interview, he is most remembered for not swinging at an 0–2 Wainwright hook even though, in a case of revisionist history, he was probably robbed of an MVP that same year. Harvey Dent said “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” and that is the legacy of many high profile Mets. You stick around long enough and the drama will inevitably control the narrative.
At least Beltran now has another embarrassing Mets moment to diffuse from the 06 NLCS: his two month managerial stint during last off-season.
Right Field: Jay Bruce
Jay Bruce may seem like a curious choice given how deep the outfield options are, but Bruce is a prime example of ownership’s short-sighted decisions becoming a long-term problem.
Prior to the 2018 season the Mets were close to trading Paul Sewald for Jason Kipnis before ownership squashed the deal presumably over the $30.5 million left on Kipnis’ contract.
So, the Mets pivot by giving Bruce the money inking him to a three-year $39 million contract. To fulfill the infield help that Kipnis would provide, the Mets turned to Todd Frazier and the aforementioned Reyes.
Bruce had such an awful, injury plagued first year of his new contract — slashing .223/.310/.370 over 94 games with 9 homeruns, 37 RBI and a .680 OPS — that freshly minted General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen needed to dump the contract.
Bruce, who even when healthy never really fit in the Mets lineup, would be shipped to Seattle with Jared Kelenic, Justin Dunn and Anthony Swarzak for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano.
So to recap the Mets:
- squash a trade for an older second baseman with a hefty contract
- re-sign an aging outfielder to play in an already crowded outfield
- trade that outfielder, two prospects, and a reliever to the Mariners for a reliever and an older second baseman with a heftier and longer contract
In an alternate timeline the Mets have Jared Kelenic waiting in the wings and an vacant place in the everyday infield for Jeff McNeil and/or Andres Giminez. Kipnis would have left in free agency.
Instead the Wilpons got Jay Bruce.
There you have it folks. The All-Wilpon team. Feel free to get mad at me online for the choices. Thankfully the Mets seem headed for greener pastures.
Recap the first four parts of the series below.
