Last night new Mets GM Sandy Alderson spoke to reporters about the current fiasco surrounding Fred Wilpon, Sterling Equities and the lawsuit recently brought against them from the trustee collecting money owed from Bernie Madoff's mess. As most of you know, the Mets are owned by Fred Wilpon and Fred withdrew nearly $575M from his account with Madoff just weeks prior to the government kicking in Madoff's door.
The Wilpons had been working closely with Bernie Madoff for over two decades, seeing him as a genius and a friend, and always saw a profit. Little did they know this was not the same for everyone else who invested in Madoff's "geniusness", some of which were close to the Wilpon family. Certainly Fred Wilpon would not have put his family and friends in this kind of situation had he known the severity of Bernie Madoff's actions, however I think it's pretty obvious they began to uncover dirty little secrets within for a few months leading up to Madoff's arrest, and their failure to give back the fraudulent money has them in a terrible situation.
Now because of their screw up, the Wilpons are looking for one or more potential financial partners who would purchase approximately 20-25% of the Mets -- this way, the Wilpons still own about 70-80% of the team. However, one has to wonder how serious this is and what Bud Selig's involvement could potentially mean for Mets fans down the road.
As a Knicks fan, I'm well aware of fans being disappointed, although I am also aware of how quickly a smart man can turn things around. Figure this for example -- Sandy Alderson (remember him? I mentioned him at the beginning) said yesterday that essentially he did not want the Mets GM job this fall, mainly due to the fact he already had a job for the MLB Front Offices and working for them down in the Dominican Republic. He said that Commissioner Bud Selig "urged" him to interview for the job, because as many people in baseball operations understood the Mets were heading into disaster mode as we all knew about their investments in Bernie Madoff's ponzie scheme.
As a Knicks fan, I have seen how Donnie Walsh took the garbage put forth by Isiah Thomas' reign of terror at MSG and brought them back to glory, producing a roster consisting of Amar'e Stoudemire and young guns who have a world of potential, while also giving them room to invest in other potential vital superstars such as Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. He has brought them back to being contenders, and it is all thanks to NBA Commissioner David Stern's involvement in convincing Knicks owner James Dolan to fire Isiah finally and bring in James Dolan. His involvement has turned the franchise around and as long as James Dolan sticks to what is working (renew his contract instead of trying to bring Isiah back), the team will be serious contenders next season. I have to believe that Bud Selig's involvement in Alderson's hiring sets up a very similar story -- taking a popular team down in the dumps and bringing back hope. I believe Alderson has the ability to establish a younger, cheaper team while retaining the core members such as David Wright and Jose Reyes, so long as they continue to produce, while lowering the team's payroll and investing in a stronger Minor League farm system.
I also believe that what could be unsealed on February 9th about the lawsuit brought against the Wilpons could either make or break the fans, however it will not make or break Alderson and the organization. Alderson is so knowledgeable in the secrets behind moneyball that he can apply that strategy to bringing in the proper players for less money over the next 4 years, while also reviving the club's minor league affiliates. If the information we discover on the 9th is worse than we expected, I think it is safe to assume that Commissioner Bud Selig had knowledge of the potential severity for the club based on what he learned from the Wilpons and that he made the right move. If the lawsuit isn't so bad, well then, maybe he made the right decision in Alderson being able to change up the roster, but was not influenced for the club's financial reasons.
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