1
2011
Mets Source Says Einhorn Was Looking To Exploit Mets Financial Situation
An article by 
UPDATE 12:40 pm
According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, a source aware of the matter said Einhorn’s portrayal of the situation as the Wilpons continually changing terms is inaccurate.
Instead, the source said, Einhorn figured he had the Wilpons in a bind and looked to exploit it, thinking minor late changes from the current owners to the agreement were a sign of weakness. So Fred Wilpon met with Einhorn on Thursday morning in midtown Manhattan and informed the hedge fund guru that the exclusive negotiating window had expired and they were no longer going to be entertaining him as a minority partner.
Another source told Rubin that the Wilpons will now simply seek to raise that same $200 million by selling shares in the team to family and friends and they have no problem it can be done quickly and with no disruptions to the team.
UPDATE 11:10 am
David Einhorn issued a statement on why the deal broke down:
“I am disappointed to announce that I will not be purchasing an ownership interest in the New York Mets baseball team at this time. It is clear that it will not be possible for me to consummate the transaction on the terms that the Sterling-Mets organization and I originally agreed to several months ago. The extensive nature of changes that were proposed to me at the last minute has made a successful transaction impossible.
“I want to thank the entire Mets organization and Major League Baseball for their efforts. This experience will always be a happy memory for me because of the Mets’ fans. A good number of you have reached out to offer me encouragement. I will always be touched by the warmth that you showed me.”
Original Post 10:30 am
Richard Sandomir, who has been covering the Wilpon/Einhorn proposed partnership for the New York Times, is now reporting that the “Einhorn deal is dead.”
The Mets have just emailed me this statement:
The New York Mets’ Owners announced today that their period of exclusive negotiations with David Einhorn regarding a minority, non-operating interest in the Mets has expired and Ownership has decided not to extend the exclusive negotiating period any further. After months of negotiation, the parties were unable to reach agreement, and Mets Ownership has decided to explore other options.
Ownership has provided additional capital to cover all 2011 losses and is moving forward with the necessary resources to continue to operate the franchise. Ownership will explore other strategic transactions and is under no financial pressure to do a deal on any particular schedule.
“We are very confident in the team’s plans – both off and on the field,” said Mets Chairman and CEO Fred Wilpon. “We will engage with other individuals, some who have been previously vetted by Major League Baseball, along with other interested parties, regarding a potential minority investment into the franchise. My partners and I thank David for his interest in considering this opportunity and wish him well in the future.”
The reported deal called for David Einhorn to pay $200M for one-third of team.
More bad news for the Mets less than 24 hours after Sandy Alderson lamented over not spending this offseason. Somehow, I can’t help but think the two are connected.
Didn’t I tell you that this offseason would be anything, but boring?
More details to come… Keep refreshing this post….
Site Note – We Need Your Help!
To our faithful readers – We are having major problems trying to keep this site going beyond this month. Our expenses to run a site this large are out of control and we desperately need your help if we are to keep Mets Merized Online up and running beyond the next 2-3 weeks. We don’t have the luxury of a huge sponsor or the revenue from being part of a huge blog network. Basically, it’s just me, and I can’t afford it without some assistance from time to time. If there is anyway you can help, please click on the “please donate” button at the top of our site. Thank you for your help and support.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
32 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
Recent Comments
- DrDooby: on Last Night We Saw A Big Chunk Of “The Plan”: I agree that Omar also got a...
- jessep: on Last Night We Saw A Big Chunk Of “The Plan”: I think what Dooby is trying to...
- Corporal Klegg: on Last Night We Saw A Big Chunk Of “The Plan”: i was just gonna say before Vinny...
- Alex68: on Last Night We Saw A Big Chunk Of “The Plan”: Willie Randolph.... Billy Wagner Guillermo Mota Molina Heilmann Jeff Suppan David Wright Main...
- Vinny B.: on Last Night We Saw A Big Chunk Of “The Plan”: I agree. Winning a WS is the...
Latest From Mets Minors
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1333 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
The next time the Wilponzi’s get something right, will be the first time they get something right!
yeah and i hope it’s when they sell the team.that would be the best move they could ever make.
So long Jose…….
oh my god.. really??? can be a mets fan get any worse???????
Things will never get better until the Wilpons are gone. This entire mess is on their lap and nobody else’s.
Maybe the death of the Einhorn deal is because the Picard extortion is falling through. The Mets may not need the David Einhorn money as much. Let’s see.
I disagree with you my friend. Just last week the Mets tried to have the case dropped and were denied. Nobody expects them to walk away from this trial without at least $700 mil in fines and restitution.
I’d like to bet you a friendly cup of coffee on your claim. It won’t come to anything like the amount you anticipate. The Wilpon’s have a friendly judge who can pretty much do whatever he wants until (and perhaps after) a court specified amount is announced. Not having the case dropped may be no more than a pro forma practice which is intended merely to move matters along. It’s not unusual.
to my understanding, the clawback charges were dismissed. Those made up $700 million of what Picard is seeking.
It’s the $300 million in profits that the judge wouldn’t dismiss.
then again, this is not my forte, so I’ll defer to someone with applicable knowledge of such a situation
The Wilpons will have to return the ill gotten 300 million in Ponzi profits. As to paying a penalty … tough to prove that they were more than a victim.
Even if that is true, we still need new owners, it’s time……….
can MLB do something about this situation.?? how can MLB baseball allowed a team from the largest market in baseball have this type of owners..
Selig isn’t going to step in unless there is a real financial issue.
The only thing left now is to buy the cemetery plot, and call the funeral home to pick up the dead body. NY Metropolitan Baseball Club
1962-2011
We Will Miss You
Your beloved Fans
Let’s face it. The Mets have not been run well since the Wilponzi’s purchased Doubleday’s stake in the team. Doubleday was the man that brought the Mets back from the dead in the 80′s and pushed Wilponzi to make Mike Piazza a Met when Wilpnzi said no. He flexed his muscle and Wilponzi eventually signed off on the deal.
It should also be noted that Doubleday didn’t have a woody for the Brooklyn Dodgers! He loved the Mets. Citifield would not be an homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers if he were around.
Said Einhorn, president of Greenlight Capital Inc.:
“I am disappointed to announce that I will not be purchasing an ownership interest in the New York Mets baseball team at this time. It is clear that it will not be possible for me to consummate the transaction on the terms that the Sterling-Mets organization and I originally agreed to several months ago. The extensive nature of changes that were proposed to me at the last minute has made a successful transaction impossible. … I want to thank the entire Mets organization and Major League Baseball for their efforts. This experience will always be a happy memory for me because of the Mets fans. A good number of you have reached out to offer me encouragement. I will always be touched by the warmth that you showed me.”
Does anyone know terms were changed at the last minute?
lifelongmetsfan, I just tried emailing you but the email came back because it said email address was invalid and undeliverable. Please contact the site at getmetsmerized@aol.com.
No thanks. say it here……
Kudos to the Wilpons! Einhorn was trying to pick their bones. Good ridence to him.
The Wilpons are in a much better position to bargin now. They have cut their payroll and the Madoff case looks far more managable. If they strung Einhorn along so be it. He is just a hedge fund vulture at heart.
Really? Kudos to the Wilpons for allowing the deal to fall through? The team NEEDS the influx of cash just to make ends meet, to say nothing of the Madoff suit. The Wilpons have shown time and time again that they are not competent enough to run this franchise properly. What they are afraid of is that Einhorn might one day be able to take their “family” team away from them. Which, I must say, is ABSOLUTELY necessary for the long term health and success of the franchise. These fools will never be able to see that they are the reason for the problems this team has in being a consistently strong team or that they have made them the laughingstock of MLB.
They cannot grasp how it looks for a team in the largest market in the game to be run as if they were in Pittsburgh or San Diego or Milwaukee rather than New York. Okay, they got a brand spanking new ballpark a new TV network and yet, they have NO idea of how to leverage that to make this a first class organization. On the contrary, under the Wilpons the Mets have become a 2nd or 3rd rate franchise. Embarassing for a team with so many options available to them as a New York professional sports team. So, yeah, they needed that $200 million, at the very LEAST, and in reality much more than that. All because they got the team in the mess they’re in right now.
No the Mets don’t need Einhorn. Einhorn wanted to buy the Mets for $200 million dollars. Do you really think a guy like that would have been good for the team? Obviously the Mets are worth a TON of money. A lot more than $200 million dollars. He wanted to steal the team and make a ton of money off of it without investing a lot of money. Sounds like Jeffrey Loria.
Couldn’t have been any worse than the Wilpons. Do REALLY want the Wilpons continuing to run this team into the ground? Now comes the rumor they’ll sell shares to family and “friends” to raise the money. Oh joy, more Wilpons getting their incompetent hands on the Mets franchise. Maybe Einhorn would’ve been bad, maybe not. But his name is not Frank McCourt so it would’ve been nice to find out. What would really be nice is to see the Wilpons sell the team outright and get out of Dodge.
To 86mets: I understand your frustration. The baseball decisions for much of the the Mets history have been poor! Omar came close to GREATNESS in 2006. His win now at any cost stratagy almost worked. It failed due to a lack of pitching debth.
Since then we have continued to get worse. Our free agent signings have been expensive in money and minor league talent.
We were broke! Alderson is putting a stop to the bleeding. Rip out, painefully, is part of the rebuilding.
Do you think Einhorn was going to throw money around? I think he was trying to buy the Mets on the cheap.
To 86mets: Milwaukkee spent well this year, as you would have the Mets spend.
Pittsburgh killed their good season by bringing in trading deadline help. It comes down to the guy making the deals. Alderson is not building for 2012. You may not like this offseason.
PS The Wilpons aren’t going to give up the team to make you happy.
Ah. you know what Jerseymet I had not consider that! It makes sense. Scoundrels!
To me it sounds as if the Wilpons feel they don’t need the money. Only question is why did it take so long to announce they weren’t interested in Einhorn? Wasn’t the clawback case closed out? Or is there a string of misinformation flying around?
It looks like Einhorn was really just looking to buy out the majority ownership of the team instead of investing in the team like the Wilpons wanted. They wanted to keep ownership and he wanted to buy the team on the cheap. They finally wised up that he wouldn’t be into owning just part of the team and said no thanks. Just speculation but thats whats it looks like from the outside.
down the road, mark it.. einhorn will own the mets.. as long as alderson is the GM, the stadium will be empty.. it was imo insulting to the fans what he said about not showing up to the game, so is our fault if he doesn’t sign anybody this offseason
Come on guys and Gals. If you were Einhorn, wouldn’t you want some type of assurance that if the Wilponzi’s don’t repay your loan of a whopping $200 million, you’d be taking over controlling interest? That’s smart buisness. Einhorn obviously feels that there is a very good chance that the Wilponzi’s can’t pay that back and Bingo! He now owns the Mets. Brilliant! Face it, the Wilponzi’s used to be avid buisness people when real estate was hot, and of course, pre-Madoff. Today’s economy has forced them to use the Mets as bank. Attendance is down, fan confidence is neutral at best and both the Wiplonzi’s and fans alike are feeling the effects. This means Allderson has to cut payroll and so on. Wilpon wimped out and will likely have to sell at some point down the road anyway.
Unfortunately, the soap opera continues. We are getting no where with the Wilpons in control. They have coughed up enough cash to cover this year’s losses. That only leaves the team flat on its back with no way to improve for the future. The Einhorn deal needed to fly and the Wilpons sleezed out in breaking it. It’s only a matter of time until they will be forced, kicking and screaming, to sell the team lock stock and barrel. Bankruptcy will force their hands. Until they go down in flames this team will not make any headway. The Madoff claw back will seal the deal and empty seats at Citi will give them no way out as the losses continue and mount higher. They are in a whirlpool that is sucking them under and once they realize that, we will have new owners and a better future ahead.
I find this statement enlightening: “Ownership has provided additional capital to cover all 2011 losses and is moving forward with the necessary resources to continue to operate the franchise.” In other words, the Wilpons have introduced funds to cover the cost of operations. That’s simply called paying the bills as all ordinary folk have to do on a daily basis. Why is this a notable statement? Simply because it indicates that the Wilpons are accustomed to taking funds out of the business instead of putting them in. In no uncertain terms, the Wilpons have been living off the profits of the Mets and habitually withdrawing funds. Now the tables have turned and they have actually had to pay to keep the operation going. The important question is how long they will have to keep paying in now that the team sucks and the prospective partner has packed up and left. And even more important is the question of how long they will be ABLE to keep paying the bills. I sense a forced sale is coming before bankruptcy comes down on their heads. We’ll see how long this state of affairs continues. I doubt it will be long before this team is sold 100% for whatever they can get for it. As “astute businessmen, they wlll sense the grim reaper approaching. Mark my words: the Wilpon clan will be gone before ST next year! The days of Freddie the Freeloader are over!