At Baseball Time in Arlington, Mike Hindman writes about the future of Texas general manager Jon Daniels:
Having backed himself into a corner on roster space, Daniels didn’t do what everyone else would do on July 31 — stick a guy on waivers and cross his fingers. Instead, with not much in the way of bargaining power, he used that “problem” to add to his seemingly unending armada of power arms. I can’t decide which is nastier: getting Engel Beltre for what was left of Eric Gagne or getting Ramon Mendez for what’s left of Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s “future”. Almost certainly the former, but Mendez has the sort of electric arm that could make a horse race out of it.
Meanwhile in Queens, the Mets — with plenty of money and plenty of needs — were unable to do anything to make their club better. You can bet that Fred Wilpon is watching what the kid who grew up as a Mets fan is doing down here in Texas.
Omar Minaya has run his course in New York. Jon Daniels can become a free agent this winter. Do the math.
Maybe. Texas can offer people a lot of money. Broadcast viewership is up, and so is attendance. Since Jon is a smart man and good negotiator, he’ll at least use the Rangers to get the most out of the Mets.
Whether the Mets have “plenty of money…” is an open question. They were sued for recovery of funds last week by a Madoff trustee. Beyond that, the ponzi cash cow blew up at the same time CRE, the Wilpon bread and butter, got slammed. Given the debt involved in the new stadium, the team and network must generate significant positive cash flow. I believe the litmus test for payroll additions was “will this guarantee we are in the race through Sept.” Omar could not make that promise, so the deals were not done. If attendance does not spike they will be forced to confront deepening financial concerns in the off season. The only positions they will be spending to fill will be GM and manager.
I don’t see why Daniels would move on. Even if they offer a boatload of cash, he’s done well in Texas and if he can build a winner, he should be able to reap the rewards of that team, not the Mets. Who know what he’ll deal with there.