Reyes needed to get out of NY. Unfortunately, he's playing for the Marlins. If Pujols ends up in Miami, I could see them contending in the NL East, especially if Josh Johnson is healthy this year.

yeah, see how reyes plays when it isn't his contract year, you are right he needed to get out of NY, NY shouldn't want him. Mets are screwed for the next 10 years though, this is going to be bad. Trade right and get prospects, I just wish that they had traded reyes as well.

Glad to see a new owner for the Astros...extremely sad to see them moving to the AL. They should have moved the Brewers who have a history of being in the AL. What a gyp.

Even moving the fences in to Little League distances isn't going to help them.

I'm interested to see where Fielder ends up. Glad to see Houston moving to AL, but my whole life, I will think of them as an NL. It's going to be weird having a 5 team AL West!

I will be glad to not have the extra team in the NL central. But I agree that it should have been the brewers to go back.

We don't need 2 Texas teams in the same league. I was so hoping for an I-45 Series sometime in my lifetime.

I thought nothing could ruin the 49ers first playoff birth and division title in a decade...

And this doesn't quite do it, but it comes as close as it can get...

DAMN!

I knew Reyes was likely gone, but still...DAMN! :(

Honestly, I just am hoping that pujols stays in stl. Otherwise, I'm mostly indifferent to the FA market.

The Mets were never in the Reyes sweepstakes. He signed for 6 years and 17+ million per year. The Mets were mentioning that they may have difficulty with it if he wanted more than 5 years at 20 million. I hate the Wilpons- they should sell the team as they're continued ownership is bad for baseball.

Though the Mets have done little since 2006, I have believed they could be contenders every year. 2007, they fell apart at the end. 2008, they fell apart at the end. 2009, they probably would have fallen apart at the end, but injuries handicapped them too much to allow them to hang on until the end. 2010, they contender for a time at the beginning of the season, and Pelfrey had a great first half. A god-awful start to the second half of the season led to the Mets, who were being talked about as wild card contenders at the All Star break, to be all but out of contention by August 1st. Last year, though they started off poorly, they steadied the ship and hovered between 3 games under and 3 games over .500 for almost 2 months. The trade of Beltran, just as they were starting to look like they may make a push for the wild card saw the team fall apart and eventually end the season under .500 by a few games.

I've honestly watched and saw the Mets at least look like they could contend if they had a hot streak. This season, I'm expecting them to get 90+ losses. I'll still watch, but I damn well won't be at a Mets game until the Wilpons sell... or go bankrupt. Wish they would lose the god damn suit right now :(

1) I have a friend who moved to LA from London and has become a baseball-nut. He tells me that season ticket prices are on the way down, does that apply everywhere? Certainly in the UK, football prices are still going up, albeit slowing a little. Maybe we have this to look forward to; in my view not before time.

2) I see that someone referred to the Wilpons, I guess that they own the franchise, is that right? We have similar arrangements here for football of course. I much prefer the ownership of the clubs by the fans e.g., Spain and, even more so, Germany. Would that be possible in the States?

Let me address number 2 first.

2) Yes, it is possible. The champions of American football, the Greenbay Packers, are owned by the fans. There are some other teams I believe, but none come to mind. I prefer that system, and I am a fan of Tottenham Hotspur, who are also technically owned by the fans (though the owners control 88% of stocks or so). The reason baseball, though, has no teams owned by the fans is because of certain rules and practices. It's not technically illegal, but the Commissioner of baseball would probably never approve it. And yes, the Wilpons own the Mets and are dealing with being sued for about 1 billion dollars as well as losing money with the organization at the same time. The majority of Mets fans dislike the owners and would be much happier with them gone.

1) Yes, I believe it is a trend across baseball- I know it is certain for the Mets organization. The reason, though, I believe, is because baseball seems to have hit a certain ceiling. There are only a few teams who can spend more than has already been spent (Yankees, Red Sox, maybe Dodgers or Cubs?). Due to this, contracts have leveled out; on top of that leveling out, people are having more trouble buying tickets because of the ongoing recession, and teams are lowering prices (which they're able to do since contracts have leveled out and operation costs have remained the same), bringing more fans in for less individually but more collectively.

@ patizcool, thanks for the very informative answers. I am now a Greenbay football man! What do they pack? ;-)

I went on the LA baseball site and I saw that the cheap seats now work out at less than $10 per game (maybe I had it wrong?). I suppose that they fleece you on the price of food and drink, but at those prices it's a steal.

Incidentally you might find this club interesting, they are on the way up: http://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/aboutthetrust.php?Psection_id=10

Or even these guys, but don't mention the names to you very own Glazers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_United_Supporters%27_Trust
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.C._United_of_Manchester

Times are changing and I wish these organisations all the best.

Green Bay is actually having a stock offering this week, if I'm not mistaken. They want to expand and update stadium facilities.

Most baseball teams are starting to realize that their approach of the last ~10 years of catering to rich, corporate clients is an incredibly dumb move, punctuated by the recession and lots of empty seats in luxury suites and boxes. For a good story on this phenomenon, check out ESPN's piece from a few years ago on Yankee Stadium and their "Legends Suite," which prices tickets for thousands of dollars for behind home plate, yet boasts half filled seats every game: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=091005yankeestickets

In other words, teams are realizing that being greedy bastards isn't working when you alienate fans. Not to mention, it's a lot easier and convenient, and better view of the action, for fans to stay home and watch the game in HD on TV.

@2ndwhiteline
''In other words, teams are realizing that being greedy bastards isn't working when you alienate fans. Not to mention, it's a lot easier and convenient, and better view of the action, for fans to stay home and watch the game in HD on TV.''

Absolutely. I would add to this the increasingly aging demographic of the fans who actually go to the games, presumably because Dad can't afford to take the kids anymore. I can't help feeling that, in the long-term, these greedy proprietors are killing the golden goose.

With some honourable exceptions: Step foraard Barry Hearn: ''Tommy Johnston Stand season ticket holders will be able to watch the club in action from as little as £13.04 per game, whilst the attractive family packages in the North Stand mean a family of four can watch for less than £20 per match for two adults and two under-11s.''http://www.leytonorient.com/page/SeasonTickets

So, who is the 3rd mystery team offering Pujols over 200m?
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/albert-pujols-rumors-tuesday.html

Also, I forget which one of you is the Mets fan but, ha!, enjoy our shitty bullpen.

All you need next is Shawn Camp.

lol I am the Mets fan... you would expect we'd now go out and get some good pitchers, right? But I wouldn't be surprised to see our payroll under $100million this year. It's ridiculous. No big market team like the Mets should ever lose a player for financial reasons. As far as the other team, assuming you don't mean the Cubs, I could see the Red Sox maybe getting in on it. Other than that... Angels? Yankees? Don't know if anyone else has the money to sign him.