New York Mets

No fan-base in recent history has been more disappointed in a team coming off a NL Pennant more than those who root for the New York Mets.

By Aniello Piro

There is no doubt that the New York Mets operate like a small market team with a small market payroll while playing in the biggest sports market in the world. Its a problem, and it drives Mets fans crazy every second of everyday.

Adam Rubin of ESPN did a poll on Twitter to get the opinions of Mets fans about the teams payroll. The results were as expected:

In 2015 the Mets opening day payroll was $100,133,953 which ranked in the bottom third of baseball.

For a full list of 2015 opening day payrolls click here.

With 2016 upon us the widespread belief around the league was that the Mets would be big time buyers in the trade and free agency markets this offseason.

That has not been the case.  The moves the team have made are solid, but will not put them over the top.

The Mets payroll will not increase that much in 2016 and a majority of the increase will come from arbitration eligible players.

Rubin calculated that the Mets payroll as is stands at about $106.5 million, and numerous other reports say the Mets projected opening day payroll will be in the ballpark of $113 million.

As it stands now, with the possibility of an addition of a complementary outfielder, the Mets projected opening day payroll looks like so:

TOTAL: $106.5175M 

All numbers are according to the reports written by Adam Rubin.

So in total the Mets went up roughly $6 million dollars compared to last year. To put all of this into perspective David Wright alone will be taking home roughly 20% of the teams payroll.

Related: What Is The Mets Offseason Plan?

The questions Mets fans are dying to have answered are why won’t the team spend money?

Well, there are a few answers.

  1. They are saving to make a strong push to resign some of their young pitching
  2. They do not see anyone that fits their needs on the open market
  3. Obvious financial issues with the owners

Mets fans need to understand the team may be in one of the worst financial situations in the history of sports, but even though they lack financially does not mean they wont spend. The team may move up slightly in the payroll rankings among other teams, but will be a middle of the pack team for years to come.

We saw the Mets give a big contract to David Wright just a few years ago, and just because its David Wright does not mean anything. Money is money.  They gave Granderson a nice sized contract that is worth $60 million, and we saw they were willing to give that amount of money to Ben Zobrist.

So, the Mets are willing to spend in order to get the guy they want, but they just are not in the market to sign any big name flashy type of players, and that has been the case for some time now.

Any way you put it the Mets finances are a joke, but we have seen that they will not always let them get in the way of winning.

Bottom line is the finances and ownership need a fix, but they will do what is necessary to keep the club competitive for the time being. The only question that remains is this: Will the teams conservative approach lead them to a championship?

You decide.

NEXT: NYC Sportsperson Of The Year: Sandy Alderson 

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Aniello Piro
I am a 17 year old Mets fan living in Denver Colorado. My feel for the Mets is much different than others. I bring unique experience and insight to the table when talking about the Mets. I express my passion for the team in my words! I have been featured on MLB.com/blogs, and run one of the biggest independent Mets blogs on the web.

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