Mets money

The New York Mets sent a letter to their fans base today that one supposes was meant to be reassuring. The Mets, as we have covered here, were caught up in the massive fraud perpetrated by Bernie Madoff. Since Madoff's scheme collapsed and the dollars disappeared along with it, there have been concerns about the Mets budgetary ability to compete. The new ballpark has not ameliorated those worries. The Mets do not print money like their crosstown rivals, the Yanks. Can the Mets afford the payroll to compete, especially in a division with the newly minted powerhouse ninety miles down the Delaware River...

The letter said:

"January 28, 2011

Dear Mets Fans:

As Sterling Equities announced in December, we are engaged in discussions to settle a lawsuit brought against us and other Sterling partners and members of our families by the Trustee in the Madoff bankruptcy. We are not permitted to comment on these confidential negotiations while they are ongoing.

However, to address the air of uncertainty created by this lawsuit, and to provide additional assurance that the New York Mets will continue to have the necessary resources to fully compete and win, we are looking at a number of potential options including the addition of one or more strategic partners. To explore this, we have retained Steve Greenberg, a Managing Director at Allen & Company, as our advisor.

Regardless of the outcome of this exploration, Sterling will remain the principal ownership group of the Mets and continue to control and manage the team's operations. The Mets have been a major part of our families for more than 30 years and that is not going to change.

As we have said before, we are totally committed to having the Mets again become a World Series winner. You deserve nothing less.

We wanted to share this information with you concurrent with sharing it with all Mets employees and the media. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Fred Wilpon
Jeff Wilpon"

Huh. If you were a Mets fan, dear readers, would you feel reassured?

The sports editor's dearly departed grandmother was a one of those fatalistic Mets fans who endured the drought between 1973 and 1986 when the Mets were a laughingstock. Right now, Mets fans aren't there. Despite the collapses and the disaster that was last year, Mets fans can still say, 'At least we don't root for the Pirates'.