MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said he has "no (financial) concerns about the Mets," amid a report that co-Owner Saul Katz is looking to divest his stake, according to Steven Marcus of NEWSDAY. Selig: "I have no reason to have any concerns about the Mets. I'm very optimistic about what they're doing. ... People keep telling me I should have concerns. They have an excellent farm system; I have a lot of faith in [GM] Sandy Alderson. I've talked a lot to him. I have a lot of faith in the Wilpons and the only people telling me to have concerns are people who don't know and haven't seen any facts" (NEWSDAY, 5/14). In N.Y., Christian Red notes Selig "scoffed" at any "alleged grumbling among other MLB owners over the Mets ownership." Selig said he has "never heard one word" from another owner about the Mets (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/14). CBSSPORTS.com's Jon Heyman wrote even "if Katz (secretly) does have interest in selling his shares," there is "no real reason to believe that would threaten the Wilpons' long-running control of the ballclub, and certainly not in the near-term." It seems "pretty hard to fathom Katz selling a stake that would strip his in-laws of their hold on the team, short of a family falling-out." While a sale by Katz "could conceivably push the Wilpon family shares below" the 50% mark, there is "nothing in baseball's bylaws to suggest a team's managing partner has to hold a majority of the shares, and many current controlling partners (i.e. the Phillies' Dave Montgomery, the Giants' Larry Baer and many, many others) own far less" than a 50% stake in the team. Putting aside Katz' "strong denial" yesterday that he might sell, there is "still little reason to believe the Wilpons would be forced out of power by a sale by Katz" (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/13).
