NEW YORK (AP) - New York Mets fans have been sending the team’s general manager money on a popular payment app in a show of disappointment over the club’s offseason signings - or lack thereof.
One fan in particular, 20-year-old Frankie Wilton, sent 1 cent, with the message: “Spare change for the poor.”
“So many of the issues with this team throughout my life as a fan have just stemmed from finances, and I guess this was the only tool that I had,” Wilton told The New York Times.
Brodie Van Wagenen said that since becoming general manager of the Mets in 2018, he’s received around 500 notifications on Venmo.
“I’m sort of embarrassed: I’ve never used Venmo,” Van Wagenen said. “And at the time, I didn’t realize I had a Venmo account until some of the emails and notifications started coming through.”
Wilton was upset that the team didn’t re-sign pitcher Zack Wheeler, who signed with the rival Philadelphia Phillies on a five-year, $118 million deal in December.
Another fan, Robbie Rose, 19, told the Times he sent $1 to Van Wagenen when the crosstown rivals, the Yankees, signed star pitcher Gerrit Cole to a nine-year, $324 million contract, making Cole the highest-paid pitcher in major league history.
“I didn’t even know if it was him, but it’s not a common name,” Rose said, adding that it was “just a lighthearted joke.”
“I just wanted him to make a signing,” he said.
Van Wagenen said he hadn’t cashed out any donations or paid out any Venmo requests. But he said he did get a chuckle from reading them.
“I’m active on Twitter,” he told the Times. “I’m active on Instagram. I enjoy both of those platforms, but I’m not really a Venmo user.”
The Mets did sign three pitchers this offseason: Michael Wacha, Rick Porcello and Dellin Betances.
The team has not won a championship since 1986 and has reached the playoffs in only six of the following 33 seasons, including a 2015 trip to the World Series.
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