Sandy "50 Cent" Alderson and nymgb44 present:

AAOP: GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN’

As we all are well aware, our fearless leader has capped our payroll at $110 million for the 2012 season. With approximately $80 million already doled out to previous commitments—and most of it going to just three players—Mr. Alderson certainly has a difficult road ahead of him if he wants to bring the Mets back to prominence. We all have our pipe dream trades and unrealistic signings that would immediately blast the Mets back into baseball’s stratosphere. "Let’s move Ike David to right field and sign Albert Pujols for 3/36!" "Trade Akeel Morris and a McDonald’s Happy Meal for Zack Greinke!" While this is obviously hyperbolic, the fact is that contention for the 2012 New York Mets is highly improbable, if not completely impossible. This plan focuses primarily on staying within while pushing the limits of the $110 million payroll cap (i.e. "gettin’ rich"), developing a solid roster of complementary players, minimizing long-term commitments, and making room for our top prospects and potential free agent grabs next year. I expect somewhere between 80-85 wins out of this team, with the improved pitching cancelling out the weaker hitting and a little more luck going our way.

It’s important to note that Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ assumes that Jose Reyes is unaffordable for the Mets. By "unaffordable" I don’t mean that the Mets do not have the finances to secure Reyes’ services—they certainly can physically pay him anything he wants. I mean that I’m only willing to go as high as five years and $90 million with a team option for a sixth year for Jose, and he will get a better offer than that on the open market. Someone (probably San Francisco or Boston) will pour open the pocket book for Reyes. It’s not that the Mets can’t match that offer—I simply wouldn’t. If the Bay contract wasn’t on the books, I’d give Jose as much as he wants, but we are just too tied down right now to think about hamstringing our books for the long term. 5/90 is perfectly reasonable for a player of Jose’s age, caliber, and injury history. If he doesn’t take that, and he won’t, then we need to move on. It sucks, but it’s necessary. And just as a caveat, Jose is my second-favorite player on the team behind Johan Santana. But baseball is a business, and keeping Reyes beyond five years is just not the smartest option.

On with the plan! Let’s see who will be In Da Club this year. (See what I did there?)

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