Mets Ownership and trustee of the “Madoff recovery “suit
Irving Picard finally reached an agreement this past Monday. The settlement
entails the owners paying $162M (much less then predicted), most of which they
expect to receive via “Madoff loser funds”, set up to assist those who lost
money in the $64 billion Ponzi scheme.
Then yesterday, in response, the Owners finalized the sales
of 12 minority shares of the team totaling $240 million. They then used that
money to pay off loans obtained through Major League Baseball and Bank of
America—a total payback of around $65 million.
These are huge steps toward the Wilpon and Katz families
retaining ownership of the Team for years to come. Though not what myself or
many other fans want to hear, this news is encouraging in terms of a successful
season this year. Hopefully—as they are expected to—Ownership will pump that of
the newfound cash directly into the team’s payroll and therefore quality of
play.
