Moneymaker
Good Morning,
The Mets acted as another tune-up for a World Baseball Classic team, losing 6–4 to Venezuela on Thursday. Starter José Butto helped out his native country by essentially throwing batting practice in 2+ innings of work. The right-hander from Cumana served up two homers to Jose Altuve and five total runs on six hard-hit balls. He also walked four.
Butto started in place of David Peterson, who threw live batting practice as he recovers from a contusion on his left foot. “He’s doing well. He gave me the ‘don’t ask me anymore’ today,” manager Buck Showalter said. “When I said how are you feeling? ‘It’s nothing. Don’t even think about it anymore.’”
Playing under WBC rules without a pitch clock, yesterday’s game took three hours and 28 minutes to complete. Have I told you how much I am loving the new rules?! Speaking of the WBC, I will provide a little preview today. I will also catch you up on the latest news.
But first, let’s talk about money!
💰 Citi Field earned a record $244 million in 2022 revenue, according to financial details revealed in documents obtained by Forbes. That was the ballpark’s highest revenue total since it first opened in 2009. As you can see in the detailed table below, the team earned over $133 million in ticket sales and $48 million in advertising. Gaining home-field in the wild card play-in net the team an extra $8.7 million in revenue.
These numbers give us a large view of the team’s finances, but we need a few more inputs to paint a full picture. First, we must add league-shared revenue from national TV deals that pay each team over $60 million, as well as the over $80 million the Mets receive from SNY. The numbers also also exclude the largest expense: player salaries.
⏭️ If we want to take the 2022 numbers and get an idea of what Steve Cohen might be looking at for the upcoming season, we can now do some simple math.
The Mets are projected to pay close to $500 million in 2023 player salaries when accounting for tax penalties. If we add $140 million in additional revenue (from national TV + SNY) and subtract $491 million for player salaries and taxes to the $126 million figure from the Citi Field filing, we get a net loss of $225 million.
That number comes exceedingly close to an earlier report that estimated the Mets are expected to lose more than $200 million as a result of their record-breaking payroll this season.
Of course, Steve Cohen should expect to see revenues increase this year. But he also incurred more expenses by building a bigger scoreboard and a new seating area past the right field fence. We know the team added advertising costs from their Super Bowl ad, but they should also see an increase in ticket sales. Obviously, a long playoff run would help everyone.
🤑 ALL IN: While we are surely missing some detail to provide a fully accurate estimate, we can see the power of having Mr. Cohen as owner. Without accounting for player salaries and financing for park improvements, we can project the Mets to make at least $260 million this upcoming season. Give the Mets a payroll like Atlanta’s and they would net a nice profit of close to $70 million. Instead, as the owner has stated, he is willing to lose money to put a winning product on the field.
Whether you have been waking up early to catch every possible second of the WBC, or you can't wait until it's over, I thought it would be a good time to at least provide a high-level preview of what is ahead. This is more for the audience who hasn't been paying close attention and might be wondering, Ok, How does this thing work again?
🌎 How is the tournament structured?
There are 20 teams representing different countries around the world, divided into four divisions or “pools.”
The “first round” of the tournament consists of a round robin schedule with each team playing against each of their pool counterparts in a double-elimination format. Team USA is in Pool C, so they play Mexico, Columbia, Canada and Great Britain.
The top two teams in each pool advance to the “second round,” which is a single-elimination, March-Madness-like bracket that pits the top teams from each pool against each other. This is all made more clear by looking at the graphic below:
🍎 How do I pay attention to the Mets?
Watch Team USA. The Mets have nine players competing in the WBC, four of them — Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley — are playing for the U.S. team. You get to show pride for both the Mets and your country at the same time, what’s better than that?
Puerto Rico and Venezuela are the two other teams worth watching. Puerto Rico has Edwin Díaz and Francisco Lindor. Venezuela has Eduardo Escobar, Omar Narváez and designated pool pitcher Elieser Hernández.
🗓️ When do the game start to matter?
Pool A has already started the round robin round. We saw Matt Harvey pitch for Team Italy against Cuba. Rubén Tejada hit a two-run homer in Panama’s loss yesterday.
Meanwhile, Team USA played an exhibition against the Angels on Thursday. Don’t look now, but Pete Alonso got hit by a pitch (he is fine). The Americans will play their first round-robin game on Saturday against Great Britain at 9:00 pm on FOX. They will play Mexico on Sunday night (10:00 pm), Canada on Monday (10:00 pm) and Columbia on Wednesday (10:00 pm).
⚾️ Why should I care?
Again, I understand a lot of people reading this want nothing to do with the World Baseball Classic. You are here for the Mets and you will pay attention to the WBC as much as you need to know that nobody important gets hurt.
That said, as we get used to following a team with championship aspirations, Grapefruit League games become less meaningful. There aren’t many open roster competitions. It’s hard to get excited about a José Butto outing in March.
The WBC gives you high-intensity baseball before Opening Day. We don’t have to wait three more weeks to see Pete Alonso grip his bat a little tighter in a big spot. You can see it this weekend!
It also indirectly adds intrigue to the spring games. We will get a longer look at all of the top prospects. Could Mark Vientos or Brett Baty prove they are ready to start the year on the big club? They will have every opportunity to prove their mettle in an everyday role.
I think the biggest drawback with the WBC are the different rules. Players will have less time to adjust to the pitch clock since it won’t be used in tournament play. We have already seen this is an area that will take some time to adjust.
🔻 In the end, whether you like it or not, the World Baseball Classic is here for the next few weeks. I will make sure to highlight how current and former Mets are performing along the way. And we will all keep our fingers crossed that nobody gets hurt.
A few more notes…
🤷♂️ WHO KNOWS: Remember when José Quintana was supposed to return to New York for further testing? We later found out his original plane was cancelled. And five days later we still don’t have an update. “We’re hoping for good news,” Showalter told reporters yesterday. “I don’t think anybody really has a full grasp of exactly what we’re dealing with yet.”
1️⃣ FIRST THINGS FIRST: Mark Canha played five innings at first base yesterday. Canha has appeared in 119 games at first over his eight-year career, but has only manned the position six times since the start of the 2020 season. He could become a depth option behind Pete Alonso.
🔥 ABSOLUTE FIRE: We are due for a deep dive on Bryce Montes de Oca, which I will work on for next week. The 26-year-old right-hander looked absolutely unhittable against Venezuela yesterday, touching 101 on the radar gun and retiring the order in 12 pitches.
🎈 HOT AIR: Kodai Senga practices breathing by blowing up balloons. I wonder if he could help me for my daughter’s birthday party on Sunday. “Just using my lungs and opening up my body and closing it the way I want to,” Senga said this week via the NY Post.
◾️ Matt Harvey on playing for Team Italy in comparison to pitching for the Mets in 2015: “Playing with the Mets, what we did...it was a pretty special time,” he said. “It was electric playing at home.”
◾️ Yankees starter Carlos Rodón will start the season on the injured list due to a left forearm muscle strain.
◾️ Phillies star Bryce Harper joined his team at spring training but still has “a long way to go” before setting a timeline for when he can return from Tommy John surgery.
🔗 Repping Venezuela 'very special' for Escobar in 1st Classic, by Anthony DiComo, MLB: “If Cabrera is the foremost legend on Team Venezuela, and Altuve was Thursday’s star, Escobar is the heart of the clubhouse. That wasn’t always the case. A lightly recruited amateur, Escobar didn’t become an everyday Major League player until his age-29 season -- a year after the most recent WBC. When Team Venezuela was formed for that tournament, Escobar wasn’t invited.”
🔗 Giants GM Farhan Zaidi embracing team’s reality after free agency Plan B, by Joel Sherman, NY Post: “That a player with not insignificant health risks would be the second pick in my mock draft defines the current state of the Giants. They need Conforto and the oft-injured Haniger to be healthy, productive and playing the corner-outfield spots near daily. They need a group of No. 4-ish starters behind Webb to pitch well, and a prospect like lefty starter Kyle Harrison and third baseman Casey Schmitt to offer some impact, and for a bunch of Thairo Estrada/Wilmer Flores interchangeable parts to bring depth.”
📺 Mets manager Buck Showalter on the pressures of coaching in New York, via the Adam Jones Podcast: “Buck Showalter joins former Orioles All-Star Adam Jones to discuss opening day pitchers, the pace of the game, the unbalanced schedule, why teams should not play in divisions anymore, the economics of baseball, his family and the pressures of being the manager of the Mets. Additionally, Jones talks about what it has been like in Sarasota at the Orioles camp, and his time with both the Grapefruit League and the Cactus League.”
And we close this one out with a check-in on the early success of the new rules…
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Great information on revenue and expenses. I was under the impression road teams get a percentage of the gate. If not, isn’t it yet another give away from high payroll star laden teams to low payroll phoning it it in teams? No one shows up at Citi for the Marlins. Mets lose potential revenue. Miami doubles attendance when Mets are in town.
I ask myself almost daily when i see a headline "WBC" - 'who is watching" ? All it is is a means to injure your players. Of course we don't know the status of Quintana injury - its the Mets. Injured Mets Pitcher, sits for a week or two, then we find out out for 6-8 weeks. Also I can attest that the Mets spend no money on Customer service as a partial season ticket holder.