I don't know enough about MLB finances but I think the Mets are probably making the Wilpons a lot of money. With the revenue for national coverage, SNY, and the revenue from the 1-1.5 million people that are coming to watch the Mets play, the Mets have to be profitable. Doesn't every MLB team make like 50 million alone from the national TV contracts? The Mets have a 100 million dollar payroll these days when teams in similar markets are sporting payrolls of up to twice that figure.

I don't doubt that the Wilpons are struggling financially and they might very well be broke. You'd think that keeping the Mets would be the best way for them to improve their financial situation.

If true, why isn't Bud forcing them out at this point like he did Frank McCourt? You have a huge cash cow sitting there embarassing themselves, and baseball loves to milk cash cows.

How much money did the Meta have confiscated by the league last year?

The problem with the Wilpons might be that they are paying off loans with whatever cash they get from the Mets.

Wait, so its not a good idea to believe rumors you read on the internet?

If true, why isn't Bud forcing them out at this point like he did Frank McCourt? You have a huge cash cow sitting there embarassing themselves, and baseball loves to milk cash cows.

Probably because of what is going on in LA right now. Bud wants cronies with payroll restraint, not guys who want to spend like the Yank... er, Dodgers. Part of it is to keep money in the owner's pockets, but another part is probably to keep the larger market teams from turning the payroll disparity into a complete farce.

The Dodgers may be spending enormous sums, but in an utterly stupid way. They're not turning anything into a farce except themselves. Every other team is going to treat the new luxury tax ceiling as a cap (and I have no doubt that the Dodgers will starting four years from now).

. . . I think the Mets are probably making the Wilpons a lot of money.

Don't forget to add in all those salaries for the executive positions held by a Wilpon. Oops, those are expenses, not profits.

And the cherry on top. Michael Salfino retracted his comments with a series of tweets, most damnably the one that said “I have no knowledge of the Mets financial situation other than hearsay.”

This is bothersome. "Hearsay" is a perfectly fine basis for reporting. If Salfino was told by two reliable, well-placed sources that the Mets were broke, that's a good basis for an article. It's still "hearsay". It just doesn't matter that it's hearsay.

The goal of a reporter isn't to convict someone of a crime, it's to investigate and publish publically-pertinent information based on evidence. The state has broad powers to investigate and demand information which no reporter has, so we hold them to different standards for obvious reasons.

Now, if he just had one source, and now he's weirdly backing off from him, that's all not very good. But the legal notion of "hearsay" is not relevant here.

The Dodgers may be spending enormous sums, but in an utterly stupid way. They're not turning anything into a farce except themselves. Every other team is going to treat the new luxury tax ceiling as a cap (and I have no doubt that the Dodgers will starting four years from now).

Which isn't going to stop critics from complaining, or fans from looking at the Dodgers and asking why their cheapo owner won't shell out a few million more.

Bud wants cronies with payroll restraint, not guys who want to spend like the Yank... er, Dodgers. Part of it is to keep money in the owner's pockets,

That doesn't seem like an appropriate motivation for an individual charged with protecting the sanctity of baseball.

That doesn't seem like an appropriate motivation for an individual charged with protecting the sanctity of baseball.

But it's a perfectly reasonable motivation for the person charged with being baseball's business leader and chief negotiator with the player's association, which is what the office has become.


And it's arguable that trying to check payroll disparities without resorting to an extended lockout (which is what it would take to get a true cap) is protecting both baseball and the business of baseball.

Any obvious candidates out there to buy the club from the Wilpons?

Any obvious candidates out there to buy the club from the Wilpons?

Derek Jeter has talked about being interested in owning a MLB team.

So this is an article about someone else's source saying that Wilpon would be gone?

That's pretty irresponsible to print.

I'll believe when I see it. And then I'll go back to disbelieving it until a few years pass. Then maybe I'll believe it.

Maybe.