Sources Say Stake In SportsNet N.Y. Could Eventually Be Offered To Mets Bidders

The Mets are "asking for initial bids to come in by early next week for a minority piece of the team," and a stake in SportsNet N.Y. "could be part of the sale," according to Kosman & DeCambre of the N.Y. POST. Sources said that the bidding groups who have been approved by MLB are "being told to make non-binding offers Monday and Tuesday." However, "some hurdles exist, including: Will the minority stake satisfy investors who now know the team is losing $50 million? Will the team be valued highly enough so sale proceeds fund the Mets until attendance rises?" Throwing in part of the Mets owners' 65% stake in SNY "as a sweetener for suitors who do not feel the team is worth close to the Mets guidance of roughly $1 billion might help." A source said, "We are hearing that a stake in SNY could be introduced into discussions at some point." A second source said that despite reports to the contrary, the Mets "believe they can sell a stake in SNY without permission from SNY investment partners Time Warner and Comcast." But two separate sources close to potential bidders who are interested in SNY but not the Mets said that the team "has said that SNY is not for sale" (N.Y. POST, 3/30).

TIME FOR A CHANGE? Fox MLB analyst Tim McCarver yesterday said that he "believes it is time for a change atop the Mets organization." McCarver: "I personally feel that the Wilpons have to sell the ballclub." McCarver called the team's financial situation "agonizing" and "deplorable." He added, "I would not want to be a player on that team right now, not because they're not talented enough, but because all of the questions surrounding that team this year will be about the off-the-field problems." McCarver said that SNY Mets announcers Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling "will find it 'very difficult to broadcast under these circumstances' because of the delicate nature of the ongoing story" (NEWSDAY, 3/30). McCarver added of Mets ownership, "I don't see how they can escape by selling a minority position, especially when they don't allow any control" (N.Y. POST, 3/30).

DOG EAT DOG WORLD: In N.Y., Mitchel Maddux reports Brooklyn federal judge Roanne Mann yesterday "accused the Mets of ignoring a court order in a dispute with a vendor who sells kosher hot dogs" at Citi Field. The Mets "don't want to disclose how many dogs they sell." The team has said that figure is "highly confidential" and that releasing such details to the vendor "would cause a tremendous amount of harm" (N.Y. POST, 3/30).