It would be easy _ so, so easy _ to crush the Mets after the comments from Brodie Van Wagenen and Jeff Wilpon on Thursday about why the team is not pursuing free agents Bryce Harper and/or Manny Machado.
Same old Mets! They're not the Wilpons, they're the Coupons.
(Get it? They're cheap.)
If you want to foam about the mouth about the Mets staying out of the tepid races for Harper and Machado, by all means feel free. Swooping in and signing one of these prime 26-year-old future Hall of Famers would be a final masterstroke in Van Wagenen's first offseason as general manager and would make the Mets much, much better than they are today (which, in this observer's opinion, is still not good enough to make the 2019 postseason).
But neither Harper nor Machado is going to call Citi Field his next home. It ain't happening. We all know that and we all know why. Rather than saying the Mets are cheap, it's more accurate in this instance to say they just don't want to swim in the waters of $300-million contracts. Or even $250-million ones. Not now and probably not ever.
"I don't know how many teams have two $30-million players," Wilpon said Thursday at a Citi Field luncheon with the team's beat writers, citing Yoenis Cespedes' contract. "I think that's a bit of the answer ... We do have a $29-million outfielder on the roster that we hope to come back sometime this year and be productive."
Considering how few teams are in on Harper and Machado, the Mets are not alone in staying away. But it's still a terrible look for a team with the Mets' penny-pinching reputation. What Mets fan is going to rush to buy tickets after this public relations faux pas?
It doesn't help to cite Cespedes, who may not play until midseason after surgery on both heels. The Mets will recoup a great deal of Cespedes' salary if he can't play.
Van Wagenen threw potential fuel on the fire when he said: "Cespedes has the highest (average annual value) of any outfielder in the game, and he was rewarded with that contract for a reason. We believe in him, we believe he can make a high impact and we hope that he will in the coming season and beyond."
They are not paying Robinson Cano $30 million, either. The second baseman is due $24 million a season over the next five years, but the Mariners agreed to send $20 million to the Mets as part of the blockbuster deal and also took on the salaries of Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak.
Still, Wilpon gave the public a window into the Mets' thinking, something the team's COO has been criticized for not doing personally. In the past, Wilpon would leave it to his subordinates to speak for the organization, but the GM is not the one who writes the checks. Or decides not to write the checks.
It's good to hear from the boss. And the boss has to be able to handle the inevitable criticism, fair or not.
But here's a helpful hint: Stay away from talking about money when everyone and their grandmother believes you don't spend enough of it on your ballclub.
So what's the correct answer for the Mets when they are asked why they are not going after two of the best players on the planet?
We do know saying you're already paying big money for two other players _ one of whom may not play much this season _ isn't the correct answer. Saying you're really excited about Jeff McNeil as an outfielder isn't the correct answer.
Maybe something bland such as "we haven't ruled anything out" or "we'll consider anything that will make us better, but we like the team we have" or "holy heck, are you kidding? We're the Mets, not the Yankees!"
OK, maybe not that last one.
