Clarion Content

The New York Mets baseball club continues to deny that they are having financial difficulties, but mounting evidence suggests otherwise. The Clarion Content had been down this road with you even before they let reliever Billy Wagner go to the Red Sox in a patently cost-cutting move. We didn't hit on that transaction because we thought it made baseball sense too. Wagner was an expensive loud-mouth on a team that was and is going nowhere. Getting him gone was a good idea.

The latest Mets maneuvering to cut costs came to our attention via the New York Times Richard Sandomir. It was not a player transaction. Rather the Mets are moving 75 prospects from the team’s program in the Florida instructional league to the Dominican Republic. The Mets, of course, claim that this is not a cost cutting move. However, there is no denying that there will be significant savings in the living and maintenance expenses for the franchise and the players. For example, the per diem the team doles out to the roster can be far less.

These are times when a great many organizations are trimming expenses. The Mets have no compelling reason to be different. It is only the continued rumors of the ownership's massive Madoff related losses that bring these moves under such scrutiny.

Labels: baseball, sports, Sports Economics