Mets Literally Auctioning Off Unwanted Pieces Of Citi Field

One of the many, sad pieces of Citi Field that will be auctioned off (via)

While the Yankees have been busy amassing a killer rotation and becoming the most dangerous team in the AL East again, the Mets have spent their winter cutting coupons out of the paper and binging on boxes of chocolate. And now, they're taking their penny-pinching to new levels: the team is literally auctioning off pieces of the discarded outfield wall in Citi Field. Because who wouldn't want to own a giant "Wheat Thins" ad?

In response to their lack of offensive production since moving there three years ago, the Mets previously announced several changes to Citi Field for the 2012 season intended to make the park a bit friendlier for hitters. In particular, both the left and right field walls are moving in, which means the team needs to unload what's there now—so they are auctioning the wall which had the "Wheat Thins" ad, the Verizon ad, the Delta ad and the Lincoln ad on it, with bids starting around $800-to-$1K for each of these!

Although we can't imagine ANYONE wanting any of those signs, it is imaginable some Mets fan might want to own pieces of the 1988 NL East Division wall banner, the 2006 NL East Division wall banner or the 2000 NL champion wall banner, all of which are also being auctioned. Perhaps if the Mets really wanted to get people to buy their terrible leftover corporate swag, they could at least sweeten the pot—perhaps throw in a pass to skip the line at the Citi Field Shake Shack? Hopefully David Wright won't turn out to be on the scrap heap as well.

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By Ben Yakas in News on January 19, 2012 5:08 PM

Comments [rss]

Peanut_Butter

Can we all please stop the unnecessary use of the word "literally"?

ed_Ex2

The Mets should be moved to New Jersey or Indiana.

vertigone

You should be moved to New Jersey or Indiana.

ed_Ex2

ha! is that the best ya got?

soxinthecity

It's such a shame that the greedy pig that was Walter O'Malley took the Dodgers out west, and broke Brooklyn's heart. It's sad to think how popular the team that broke the color barrier could have been as the only NL team in NYC, which was historically a National League city, with a hometown hero like Sandy Koufax as a gate attraction, and 3 titles in 1959, 1963, and 1965.

The only thing that makes me feel better about them leaving is imagining
how seeing the Mets outdraw the Yankees every year from 1962-1976 must
have given O'Malley an ulcer.

LtWorf

Even though the Mets are indeed broke, this is not a symptom of a bankrupt baseball team. The Yankees would do the same exact thing and would charge probably 5x the price.

longacre

Agreed. Though as a realistic Mets fan, I can see that bits of 3-year-old CitiField are hardly worth the starting bids they're quoting, while anything attached with new or old Yankee Stadium is valuable just by the virtue of the name.

I'm sure there are some school gyms or baseball fields that could use some newish, well-maintained padded walls. The PR cache they'd earn from donating the walls would far outweigh the few bucks they're going to make selling them.