15
2012
Selig Believes Wilpon Will Get Back On Track
An article by 
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports gives his take on the state of the Wilpons as they head toward their March 19 trial date for the clawback suit from the trustree Irving Picard.
Selig is betting that the Mets’ picture will become clearer over the next several months, says Rosenthal, and Selig may be proved correct.
The way the Mets see it, they are on the verge of raising $200 million from minority investors. That money will help them pay back a $25 million loan to baseball, a $40 million bridge loan to Bank of America and part of a $375 million loan on the team.
The Mets also believe they will prevail over Irving Picard, the trustee for the victims of Bernard L. Madoff. Picard initially sought $1 billion in claims against Wilpon and his co-owner, Saul Katz, but U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff already has knocked down that figure.
Rakoff threw out most of Picard’s claims, leaving him to seek about $386 million. For Picard to claim more than about $83 million, he must prove that Wilpon and Katz were “willfully blind” to Madoff’s wrongdoing — something that the owners deny.
The trial is scheduled to begin March 19. Even a lesser judgment against Wilpon and Katz might not amount to $83 million, if the owners collect some or all of the $160 million they say they are due from the Madoff estate.
Another optimistic sign for the Mets, in the view of some industry observers, is that McCourt is likely to sell the Dodgers for more than $1.5 billion by April 1, the deadline for him to pick a new owner.
One industry expert says the Dodgers and Mets are not comparable; the Dodgers’ value is based in part on the billions they will command in their next local television contract, while the Mets are locked into a “last-era” deal with their own network, SNY.
Another insider, however, disagrees, saying the Dodgers’ deal will raise the value of the Mets to more than $2 billion, a number that, at the very least, would make banks more comfortable with the team as an asset.
Rosenthal says when you put it all together, the potential for fresh cash, minimal damage in the Madoff case and a high, post-Dodgers valuation, could be enough for Selig to give Wilpon every opportunity to get the Mets back on track.
Are there big obstacles that remain? Of course, but with the smart decision to bring CRG in, the Wilpons have already acted to stop the approximate $65 million a year in losses. The bridge loan has also helped a great deal and in two weeks the $200 million form those 4% stakes will close and stave off most of the incoming hits with about $50 million to spare.
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.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.0 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 6.5 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
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Time will tell. I’ll bet Selig wants to give them more rope than he might be able to.
I’m thinking minimum nothing happens this year – if at all.
I just can’t see though you’re projected lowering of payroll to around 60-65 MIL is going to be in line with ‘the best interests of the game must come first.’ as Rosenthal puts it.
I said a few times, that the payroll projection of mine could change. And the bigger interest of the game would be to keep a New York Market team from claiming bankruptcy. That’s the biggest issue and the biggest incentive for MLB, regardless of what some Mets fans are hoping for.
Yeah, and with the cleaning out of the salaries of Bay / Wright / Santana, I’m sure they can make some splashes on the FA market and if the kiddies are playing well, the revenue is up, they can probably make more than just 1 splash in the market. But, patience is virtue desired by many, yet owned by few…
I don’t see them making any splashes in FA, but if the financial situation does improve I could see them paying a big piece of Bay’s remaining Salary just to be rid of him.
We all keep Hoping Bay has a bounce back year so he can be traded but even if that happens no one is going to trade for him without us eating a major chunk of what he is owed.
Losing 8 Mil a year is better than losing 16 Mil but still only 8 Mil left to sign someone which is not going to get you much of anything significant…
Just more Franciscos and Rauchs!
Was meaning more down the road, but yeah, agree with what you say until they are off the books.
As NJTX says below, that projected payroll could then rise a bit with a FA signing – especially if the revenues come back up in the next couple of years.
again though, there is no minimum payroll in MLB. So is there some kind of unwritten sliding scale?
NY has to spend 80mil, or lose the franchise. KC has to spend 50. Texas 120. Etc…
Look, the team is rebuilding to a large extent. and it is hard to argue that 1-2 FAs was the difference between a serious WS threat and an also ran. So the payroll is a red herring.
bottom line is, if the mets have gotten the financial ducks in a row and can meet payroll and operating expense, there is not a damned thing Selig can do about it.
I can guarantee though if he tried to take over, the lawsuit fighting it would be filed the same day.
so like any 30 year long owner, they will get every inch of rope available before going with the nuclear option of an MLB reposession.
Agree with all of this.
You know Selig doesn’t want to be portrayed as the heavy in this – especially since they’ve been friends for years – so either they become solvent and it’s not a problem or they miss payroll in which case it’s a done deal.
i think too much is being made of the selig and fred are friends factor.
Much more likely that MLB really does not want to open up that can of worms again and deal with the mess that trying to take over a franchise is. Look at how nasty it has been out in LA, you think they want to deal with NY at the same time? plus they have much less of a lef to stand on.
I agree to two situations (Dodgers and Mets) were/are completely different.
But not sure you can discount that friendship factor totally. Or maybe more to the point that the Wilpons have always backed Fred up on anything – stuck to slot (except last year), etc. etc.
Just have to wonder if this would play out differently next year if Selig’s term wasn’t extended.
not saying that the long term relationship is not a factor. just that it is not the reason the Wilpons still have the team. If it was some other owner in the same situation, he would be making the same accomodations.
another aspect that gets overlooked is that Fred and the gang are one of the few “family” owners left (where they basically own the whole thing). I believe Mccourt was too, but not sure about minority partners.
having a corporate owner or some ownership consortium has to change the dynamics, right? mroe people pressuring from the inside?
‘having a corporate owner or some ownership consortium has to change the dynamics, right? mroe people pressuring from the inside?’
I would think so. Although as minority owners, I’m sure they often have no official say in how the club is run.
When it’s a corporation though, I would think they’d be quicker to dump a losing investment then a mostly family owned team.
One has to believe keeping the Wilpons afloat has little to do with the friendship they have with Selig. The Commissioner is still an employee of the 29 other owners and if they didn’t like the moves he was making, they would have made their opinion known. As some have alluded to, this is business and one has to deal with realities, not emotions.
I agree Joey. Too much is made of the relationship between the two. Lots of Met fans point to the situation in LA with McCourt and how Selig took over the Dodgers but that’s an entirely different situation.
My comment to Matt Cerrone on MetsBlog:
It would be in the best interest of the game not to have a team in the biggest sports market in the world go bankrupt. And all those who wrongly believed that going to CRG was the precursor to inevitable bankruptcy were dead wrong and merely caught up in some wishful thinking.
The strongest opinions on this mess unfortunately come from the non-legal experts who seem to think they have a grasp of everything.
They are also the ones who who continue to try this case in the court of public opinion to suit their needs.
Let justice run it’s course and prevail, without all these non-experts butting in only to further muddy an already murky situation.
Hey Fonzie,
Failed to mention I kept on thinking of Henry Winkler before realizing who you named yourself after. LOL.