The trial for Mets Owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz on allegations of willful blindness in the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme "will begin on March 19 in federal court in Manhattan, and it could see Wilpon and Katz testify under oath about the inner workings of their considerable real estate, sports and financial empire," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. Whatever its outcome, the trial "seems certain to create a couple of weeks of unpleasant headlines for the Mets just as the club struggles to field a credible team" for the '12 season. The Mets, having lost $120M the last two years, "made the biggest one-season payroll reduction in baseball history last fall." They signed "no big-money players for the second straight off-season, saw their revenue at Citi Field shrink further in 2011, and have key players coming back from injuries or nursing new ones." Wilpon and Katz’ "greatest hope for relief" was that U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff, who had "earlier reduced the size of the lawsuit, would declare there was not enough evidence against the men to go to trial." Instead, they now "face a possible jury verdict" of more than $300M. However, Rakoff in yesterday's ruling said that he "remained skeptical" that Irving Picard, trustee for the Madoff victims, "could prevail at trial on the question of whether the men’s conduct met the legal standard of willful blindness, a threshold that must be established for the jury to award the $303 million that will be at stake in the trial" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/6). In N.Y., Kaja Whitehouse notes Rakoff yesterday "blasted the evidence put forth in the case thus far, calling it 'nothing but bombast.'" Rakoff said that the quality of evidence is so bad, he "fears much of it may not even be 'admissible at trial.'" Whitehouse notes Rakoff's decision, while "not totally unexpected, is a blow to Picard" (N.Y. POST, 3/6). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Bray, Albergotti & Futterman note a jury verdict that "awards more money to Mr. Picard could have a potentially devastating impact on the team's owners." Sources said that the total amount Picard is seeking "isn't one that the team's owners are in a position to pay" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/6). ESPN's Jayson Stark said, “There are a lot of people inside the sport that are not comfortable with where this is heading with the thought that baseball could lend another penny to keep the Wilpons operating" ("Mike & Mike in the Morning," ESPN Radio, 3/6).
KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM: Clemson Univ. economics professor Raymond Sauer said that the ruling "won't directly impact the day-to-day financial operations of the Mets ... but it could force the Mets ownership to sell the franchise" (USA TODAY, 3/6). Baseball agent Scott Boras yesterday suggested that MLB and the Mets "would be better served if the team's current owners are replaced." Boras said, "The major franchises who are getting the majority of revenues should provide a product, or an attempt at a product, that has the near-highest payrolls commensurate with the markets they are in." He added, "When you're seeing franchises in major markets not pursuing to the levels that the revenues and the fan base and the market provide, then I think you have an ethical violation of the game" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/6). In New Jersey, Bob Klapisch writes it is "hard to imagine the Wilpons ever emerging from the mountain of debt, not with a team that projects to lose 90 games." A thin roster, "nonexistent bench and message-board talk of an anti-Wilpon boycott could keep attendance in the low 2 million range, depriving the Mets of the revenue they so desperately need." One source "believes the Wilpons are on a 'direct line' to declaring bankruptcy." Mets 3B David Wright is "too kind and too loyal to the Wilpons to say he wants to play somewhere else." But if the "money is this tight, and the team is headed toward the basement in the East, trading Wright wouldn't just be a financial necessity, it would also be an act of mercy" (Bergen RECORD, 3/6).
SPOTLIGHT ON ALDERSON: In N.Y., Joel Sherman writes fair or not, Mets GM Sandy Alderson's "honeymoon has an expiration date." Soon it "will not matter whom he replaced or who signs his paychecks." No one is "going to care the financial hurdles are far more problematic than even Alderson envisioned when accepting this huge challenge." And no one is "going to care the Mets are in financial retreat as the rest of the NL East has a more full-throttle approach." Fans and media "will not put off indefinitely how long he has to author a product that will defy that shrinking payroll" (N.Y. POST, 3/6).
