Here are a few items of note coming out of Mets camp on Friday night …
- GM Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins admitted that Mets fans' disdain for Luis Castillo factored into the team's decision to release the embattled second baseman earlier today, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Collins implied that even if Castillo had played well, fans would have been hard on him at his first sign of struggles. Here are the early reports on where Castillo might and might not land.
- There is "decent interest" in buying a minority stake in the Mets, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com, but the potential partners are apparently insisting on including a clause that would make the team theirs should the Wilpons not be able to afford running the team anymore. This would seem to indicate that the cash from a minority partner might not necessarily solve all the Wilpons' financial troubles.
- The trustee trying to recover funds from Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme in a lawsuit against Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz is now seeking a total of more than $1 billion, writes Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The previous amount sought by the trustee wasn't far short of $1 billion, so, either way, it's a lot of money. If the Mets' owners lose and have to pay, it could be crippling to their chances of retaining the team, depending on how much they are forced to pay, of course.
I feel like Picard is starting to realize he actually doesn’t have a case at all.
Picard has saved millions of Federation lives. We owe him all.
I agree but why cant Captain Picard stick with Star trek leave the Mets alone already.
Because the Borg must be stopped at all costs.
The man just can’t help himself: “resistance is futile!” :p
“Picard has saved millions of Federation lives.”
Picard is actually going to save millions at some point in the distant future.
(A dark future where they never talk about or play baseball…)
Who else must repay the funds they made from Madoff?
NVM, got it.
link to en.wikipedia.org
You know, going back to yesterday’s report that the MLB considered contracting the League and having Stu Sternberg become Mets owner, we just might be seeing some real signs that even Selig [and his old boy club] is beginning to tire of the Wilpons’ schtick – despite the loan. Selig may very well sense that the end is near for the Wilpons as owners…and for the fans’ sake, I sincerely hope he’s right!
The Wilpons are not crooks. They actually lost a ton of money with Madoff. If they knew, they would have pulled out all their money before he went down. They were victimized by Madoff.
Was that really a report? I thought it was just another in a long line of Joel Sherman concoctions. You know, pure speculation on his part. He does that all the time and tries to make believe it’s real.
There IS that (Sherman). I guess we’ll just have to see.
Still…there is Selig’s genuine concern about the viability of the Wilpon’s tenure. Friendship and cash can only go so far together before healthy self-preservation sets in – especially when it’s an “old boy” we’re talking about.
Well, it’s a good thing we have a court of law in this country now isn’t it? They’ll sort out those pesky questions of guilt without even consulting you! Imagine that!
Haha where are you getting their billion dollars in profit from? The lawsuit? Back in reality I’m pretty sure they lost their entire initial investment, which was several hundred million, and only “profited” $50 million or so.
The Wilpons had a loss on paper of over half a billion dollars. They were “net winners” in the sense they took out more than they put in, but they still loss a ton of money.
No, the suit is not saying they made a billion dollars profit. It is saying they made around 300 million profit. It is asking for another 700 million of principal because Picard alleges the Wilpons “should have known” that it was a ponzi scheme. Many lawyers say the 700 million part of the lawsuit is weak.
Well, I can sue a ham sandwich and allege it stole $1 Billion from me. But ultimately, the rubber meets the road when one has to PROVE their allegations. Allegations are cheap. Proof is another story. I’ve seen nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, that supports the Trustee’s allegations in this case, and I am no fan of the Wilpons. It may be that the Wilpons are guilty, but I’m not prepared to judge them liable or guilty in a court of public opinion WITHOUT AN IOTA OF PROOF. You have, and that is where you are despicable.
Sure Selig is concerned about the Wilpon’s finances. But that crap about contraction is pure made up stuff. Sherman also is making up any idea that Selig is putting pressure or thinking of putting pressure on the Wilpons in terms of their ownership. Sherman is king of the fantasy-made-to-look-real story.
You clearly don’t understand litigation. Frivilous suits often have to go all the way to trial because a plaintiff gets a “pre-trial” presumption that their allegations are true. No, it would not “be gone already,” even though entirely frivilous.
Correct, and even the $300 Million part is not very stable. Its conjecture, and its highly dependent on the subjective knowledge of the Wilpons at the time they took money out. Did or should the Wilpons have known? Let’s see the trustee prove that.
You are correct. Their initial investment was entirely lost. But they took out funds that exceeded their investment by about $50-100 million.
The courts say all funds that were taken out were “ill-gotten gains” since there were no real profits and dollars cashed out were actually stolen from new investors. So they want the Wilpons money back.
On the other hand the Wilpons say they were just being prudent and cashing out on an investment the way all the investors should’ve – and they claim that they shouldn’t be penalized for being smart.