Last week, I wrote a little bit about some information I came across regarding Bud Selig, his friendship with Fred Wilpon, Sandy Alderson, and the state of the Mets. I left that post with this:
“There is something amiss with this franchise. Can you see it?”
Here is another log for that fire to warm you up:
According to ESPN.com, the Mets could be increasing their debt, currently well above $400 million, by as much as $140 million. It all depends on whether the new investors want to use their funds to buy equity stakes in the Mets or earn 3% annual interest and cash out in six years. If the investors decide to collect their interest than Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, who have yet to pay back MLB for money the Mets secretly borrowed a year ago to meet their revenue-sharing obligations, would have surpassed the Los Angeles Dodgers as the most indebted team in baseball history. ~ Forbes Magazine
Each new development leads to more questions.
The Mets are being allowed to operate in a state that violates MLB rules which have always been strictly enforced in the past. At this point the Wilpons have so much stake in the team leveraged by debt, it’s hardly fair to refer to them as owners anymore.
Bud Selig continues to turn a blind eye toward his good friend, Fred Wilpon, whom he has been close with for over 30 years.
In my post entitled, “Not Everything Is What It Seems“, I warned:
They can’t sign Jose Reyes. Even if all it would take is $60 million. It’s not happening. Payroll must come down lower. Slashing it to $100 million is not nearly enough to satisfy the banks, the debt collectors and the folks at MLB who want their $25 million dollars back.
There is a reason that Sandy Alderson is here and it had nothing to do with coming out on top when the Mets were interviewing GM Candidates.
Alderson was hand-picked by Bud Selig to cut payroll and right the Mets ship from a financial perspective. Fred Wilpon couldn’t object because he had just requested a $25 million dollar loan from MLB to help him cover payroll and other expenses.
Alderson’s job here has little to do with building a winner, and almost everything to do with putting the Mets in a position to pay back all the money it owes MLB and everyone else.
For all the talk of Sandy Alderson’s vision of the Mets in 2014, I do not believe he will even be here with the Mets to see it.
I’m certain that he will instead be the top candidate to replace Bud Selig when he retires after the 2012 season, and that Sandy Alderson could become the next commissioner of baseball.
The New York Mets are his test.
