A Turning Point

The Wilpon/settlement/investors news has been dissected already. To the dismay of some fans that news brings the greater possibility of the Wilpons keeping the Mets for the foreseeable future. I'm taking another approach.

I am not completely familiar with the status of the Wilpons' accounts/budget/other big economic word but I know this situation never got to the same extreme as the Dodgers, the team many are comparing the Mets to. There didn't seem to be a time when team personnel were in danger of missing a paycheck. The Mets could have been financially massacred but they weren't. It may have cost them Jose Reyes but that wasn't the first time a big player left his original team. And maybe they will have to pass on other big free agents for a couple more years, it won't be the end of the world.

It should be no surprise that I would love to see the Mets have a homegrown team. A limited payroll could be exactly what is needed for that to happen. The Mets have already started to go that direction with six of nine planned Opening Day starters coming from their own system. Even past that, the farm system isn't as dry as it was only a few seasons ago.

It really is up to the fans now. They have to realize the Mets are building their own team. They're not going to see star players right away. They're also going to see some players before they're stars. It's going to take time. And ultimately, if they want the Mets to sign and keep their homegrown stars they have to have the money and some of that money needs to come from revenue. The fans need to stick with the team if they want the big players. If they want to see the good times they should be there for the bad.

The Mets are seemingly working their way up from the bottom. It won't be easy and it won't be fast but it'll happen. It has always been hard to convince New York fans to wait yet that's exactly what has to be done. The other thing about New York is that money will come eventually no matter what (having fans is always helpful though) so once the Mets do bounce back their ceiling could be sky-high.

Monday's ruling was a turning point for the Mets organization. They already had a reason to build from within but now there's a glimmer of hope for the financial future of the team.