Citi lost $8.29 billion last quarter. $45 billion in government loans. A $20 million check to the Mets.
Yes a deal is a deal, a contarct is a contract, but good business partners help each other - and I think the Mets would be wise to offer a statement announcing how they've reworked the deal with Citi to allow their good partner to get their feet on the ground without worrying about stadium naming rights. Let Citi pay $21 million for 19 years or whatever needs to be done.
I actually couldn't care less about Citi or the Mets balance sheet. As a fan what I don't want is to have the Mets play one year in Citi Field, three years in Barclay's Stadium, a year in Mets Field, six months in Jackie Robinson Park and then some time at the Coca-Cola Grounds. That's why I hate corproate names.
I still call buildings "Candlestick" and "Comiskey" and I still use terms like Triborough Bridge and West Side Highway. Name something and stick with it. Wrigley is a gum. Doesn't bother me. Name it, keep it...and I worry about this deal the Mets did.
A bad deal in Flushing? Nah, never happen.
www.metspolice.com
Showing posts with label citigroup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label citigroup. Show all posts
Friday, January 16, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Derek Lowe got his money and his fourth year. I guess it's hard to give a 35 year old a fourth year, thing stend not to work out (cough, Pedro) with that fourth year, but on the other hand it's the price of doing business these days. The old one stupid owner theory.
So I'd like to be mad and throw things but I get it.
So we're back to Oliver Perez. Guess who represents him. Guess who knows the Mets really need starters. How much do you think a 27 year old left-hander is going to cost now? Ollie, you can buy lunch.
What are the Mets going to do, say no? Tim Redding is a fifth starter....they need a four, and by four I don't mean Four Inning Pedro.
This Randy Wolf fellow intrigues me. He used to be pretty good back when with the Phillies before the Tommy John surgery. He might be worth a gamble.
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Morgan Stanley Stadium in 2010? Is there a single person out there who thinks the present Name Which Shall Not Be Said (until they stop using taxpayer money to name ballparks) will last 20 years? The Washington Post printed the following:
I may have to start my own Pantheon Of The Famous and invite Rose, Bonds, McGwire & Sosa to be in the inaugural class.
Finally, The Times says you can still get premium seats at Yankee III. 20 games will only set you back seven grand.
www.metspolice.com
So I'd like to be mad and throw things but I get it.
So we're back to Oliver Perez. Guess who represents him. Guess who knows the Mets really need starters. How much do you think a 27 year old left-hander is going to cost now? Ollie, you can buy lunch.
What are the Mets going to do, say no? Tim Redding is a fifth starter....they need a four, and by four I don't mean Four Inning Pedro.
This Randy Wolf fellow intrigues me. He used to be pretty good back when with the Phillies before the Tommy John surgery. He might be worth a gamble.
..
Morgan Stanley Stadium in 2010? Is there a single person out there who thinks the present Name Which Shall Not Be Said (until they stop using taxpayer money to name ballparks) will last 20 years? The Washington Post printed the following:
"I think within 12 months, Citigroup no longer exists," said William Smith at Smith Asset Management, who owns Citigroup shares. He has been calling for a breakup of Citigroup for years, and believes the government will force that fate in piece-meal fashion over the coming year.The Boston Herald has a piece about Roger Clemens not making the Hall of Fame. Absurd. Like I said about Rose unless you're going to re-write the results book, Clemens is a Hall of Famer.
I may have to start my own Pantheon Of The Famous and invite Rose, Bonds, McGwire & Sosa to be in the inaugural class.
Finally, The Times says you can still get premium seats at Yankee III. 20 games will only set you back seven grand.
SPORTS / BASEBALL
By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: January 14, 2009
The Yankees have hired a division of a residential real estate brokerage, Prudential Douglas Elliman, to help sell unsold premium seats and luxury boxes at their new stadium.
www.metspolice.com
Monday, November 24, 2008
from Huffington Post the following are the wods of Rep. Elijah Cummings.
After reading yesterday morning that Citigroup--which has already received $25 billion in bailout money--is adamant in maintaining its $400 million naming rights to the new New York Mets stadium, I was shocked to learn that the company came to the federal government asking for an additional multi-billion dollar lifeline. Surely, if the company has the funds to paste its name to a recreational facility, it has the money to maintain its operations and keep the 52,000 jobs it announced last week it would be eliminating.
While I understand that Citi is under a contractual obligation with the Mets, I cannot understand why the organization seems to be refusing at the very least to explore options out of that contract. This type of spending is indefensible and unacceptable to Citigroup's new partner and largest investor: the American taxpayer. My constituents in Maryland did not turn over their hard-earned wages to fund a baseball stadium in New York.
One would think that the Mets would be open to finding a new sponsor, as well. Why would any team want its new stadium, the symbol of a new era of victories, to be named after and symbolized by a company claiming to be on the brink of collapse?
I strongly urge Citigroup to find a way out of this contract and instead spend that $400 million on retaining its employees and restoring confidence in its operations. Furthermore, I encourage Citigroup and every other corporation depending on taxpayer dollars to stop the reckless spending, and I again insist that Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke start holding these companies accountable. We cannot continue to pour taxpayer dollars into buckets with holes.
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Congressman Cummings is likely not aware of the ways of the Mets. This is a s***storm brewing, and the Mets have a tendency to head right for the eye of the storm.
Sure it's really hard to walk away from $20 million. However the economy has gone to hell and people are losing jobs left and right.
The Mets and MLB should look into ways to be the good guys. Work it out with Citi that they don't have to pay the $20M this year. MLB can float the Mets the budget for a year. You don't want Congress taking a look at that anti-trust do you? The Mets can make some statement that they stand by their good friends at Citi but now is not the time to make people lose jobs just so Rafael Furcal can be paid to be in the DL all year.
Mets, I'm telling you, get this done today. Work it out. Keep the name, you'll get your money down the road, but cashing a 20M check today is a bad bad idea. That other team you're endlessly compared to has figured out how to make a go of it with a new stadium and no naming rights, you'll be able to get by for a year too.
