The Mets organization has endured a bad week, gracing the Daily News back cover several times with the unfortunate turn of events surrounding the announcement that the Wilpon family, who owns the team, are looking to sell part of the team to offset a lawsuit against them involving their dealings with Bernie Madoff. Fred and Jeff Wilpon met with MLB commissioner Bud Selig yesterday to discuss the worsening financial state of the team, and it seems he's been watching their backs for awhile; Selig reportedly encouraged Sandy Alderson to take the job as GM of the Mets, one he wouldn't have accepted without his encouragement. So how much are the Wilpons financial troubles going to cause for the team?
The Mets have already had two parties show preliminary interest in aiding the team, liquor distributor and Georgi Vodka owner/provocateur Martin Silver, and a group of investors that includes Martin Luther King III, but neither party seems prepared to purchase only 25 percent of the team, a non-majority share. According to Newsday, experts believe it will be difficult for the Wilpons to attract a serious investor without including their sports network SNY, SportsNet New York, which is believed to take in more than $300 million per year, or perhaps an interest in Citi Field. "There is no chance I would buy into the Mets without SNY - none, zero, zip - it just wouldn't happen," said Michael Cramer, formerly president and minority owner of the Texas Rangers.
The exposure from the announcement has been so bad for the Wilpons, they've been trying to have the Madoff lawsuit sealed. The extent of Madoff's involvement with the team has been largely dismissed by the Wilpons, but the Times reports that Madoff had an especially close relationship with the family, and the team in turn sometimes adopted the strategy of placing deferred money owed the players with Madoff’s investment firm. “Bernie was part of the business plan for the Mets,” a former employee of the club said. At least one person has hope that things will work out for the team in the end: "Maybe there's a silver lining. Maybe there's somebody who will get involved and has deep pockets and wants to put the team back where it belongs...Because Lord knows they truly have some work to do. It's a tough division," said former Mets star Mike Piazza last night.
