The Mets won't let minor leaguers use their fancy, newly renovated clubhouse for a petty reason

Joe Rivera

The Mets won't let minor leaguers use their fancy, newly renovated clubhouse for a petty reason image

What an offseason it's been for the Mets.

Carlos Beltran was hired, then fired. The Wilpons sold the team, then they didn't. Now, their fancy, newly renovated clubhouse is going to be used for spring training and spring training only. Minor leaguers be damned.

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New York — but, really, Floridian taxpayers — spent $57 million on a spring training stadium renovation that included major updgrades to its clubhouse in Port St. Lucie, Fla. You could probably play an arena football league game in here.

Well, there's a catch. The Mets' new clubhouse will only be used for the major league squad, and not for the St. Lucie Mets, the High-A affiliate that calls First Data Field home for their regular season.

Per MLB.com Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo, the Mets are only using the new digs for spring training, and the reasoning is pretty absurd: "To give minor leaguers a reminder of the status they're working to earn." DiComo did clarify and make sure the message came from the higher ups, and that it wasn't speculation on his part:

It's so very, incredibly petty that these guys need a "reminder of the status they're working to earn." I mean, after all, even for the Mets' High-A affiliate, it seems pretty ridiculous. These guys are baseball lifers scratching and clawing to make the Show. What harm is there in letting them use nice facilities for the season?

To be fair, the High-A Mets got a nice little refurbishing of their own, but it's not as gaudy as the big-league's deal.

Also interesting to note — and likely customary — Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen has a locker, too, in the auxiliary clubhouse at the park. 

The question remains: What will this clubhouse be used for when the Mets break camp? Storage? A jazz club? Jousting tournaments?

Motivation comes in all shapes and sizes, but if a minor leaguer needs a nice clubhouse as a reason for motivation, then maybe they're playing the wrong sport.

Minor leaguers get paid crap, they get put up in the worst hotels, and they're often accustomed to the playing in the worst conditions at the worst times. Let them use some nice freakin' lockers, Mets. Jeez.

Joe Rivera