Mets COO Jeff Wilpon Says Minaya, Manuel Deserve Another Chance

Wilpon Scoffs At Suggestion That Mets Payroll Will Go Down Next Year

Mets COO Jeff Wilpon yesterday called the '09 season "totally unacceptable," but he said that GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel "deserve another shot to win in 2010," according to Brian Costa of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Wilpon: "Ownership is dedicated to delivering a championship-caliber team. It is our belief Omar and Jerry have the expertise and deserve the opportunity to help us get there. Once again, we'll be providing Omar with one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball to address our needs." Wilpon "scoffed at a suggestion that the team's payroll will go down next year." He said that ownership has "not set an exact number, but he expects the team to be major players in the free-agent market" (NJ.com, 10/5). Wilpon: "What the payroll is -- we didn't necessarily spend well with $147[M] this year -- so I don't want to say what it's going to be. Last year we started the offseason with a $135[M] payroll and it went up to $147[M]. We didn't have that as a plan." On Long Island, David Lennon notes at one point during the season, the team had $88M "tied up in 13 players on the disabled list and six had season-ending surgery." Wilpon said, "We are changing our medical protocols to better treat and prevent injuries. Injuries are not an excuse. In the past year we have done a poor job of communicating medical information to all of you in the press and our fans. I take responsibility for that and plan to oversee the improvement and communications going forward" (NEWSDAY, 10/6). Wilpon also noted that the team has not talked to Minaya "about his responsibilities changing one bit." Wilpon: "They are not going to change. Omar is the General Manager. His responsibilities and his responsibility for his staff is the same as it has been since he got here” ("Mike Francesa," YES Network, 10/5).

NOT GOOD ENOUGH: On Long Island, Wallace Matthews writes, "Jeff Wilpon retains his status as the most destructive son of a rich father in town. So much for accountability. So much for consequences. ... The Wilpons have got to be the only owners in the history of professional sports who can captain the Titantic as if it were the Good Ship Lollipop" (NEWSDAY, 10/6).

MONEY MATTERS: Wilpon said there is "no affect on the Mets as a business to anything that happened" with Bernie Madoff. Wilpon: "We're operating the same as we have in the past" ("Mike Francesa," YES, 10/5). On Long Island, Anthony Destefano notes the Mets Limited Partnership last month reported in the Madoff bankruptcy case that Madoff trustee Irving Picard had "denied its claim 'in the entirety.'" While U.S. Bankruptcy Court records "don't give details about the Mets partnership or the size of its original claim, they were signed by a key executive" of the team. The claim denial "means that the partnership has lost out on up to $500,000 from the Securities Investor Protection Corp. and on a share of the billions of dollars in assets Picard is finding" (NEWSDAY, 10/6).