January 28, 2011Mets Say They Will Seek to Sell Part of TeamBy KEN BELSONFred Wilpon, the chairman of the Mets, said Friday that team would seek “one or more strategic partners” to offset the uncertainty created by a lawsuit brought by the trustee who is trying to retrieve losses stemming from the multi-billion dollar fraud orchestrated by Bernard Madoff.The trustee sued Sterling Equities, the Wilpon-controlled investment company that owns the Mets, alleging that it was a “net winner” in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. When Madoff was arrested two years ago, there was widespread speculation that the Wilpons lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the fraud.But in October 2009, the trustee, Irving Picard, said that Mets Limited Partnership put a total of $522.7 million into Madoff accounts and withdrew $570.5 million, for a profit of $47.8 million.This qualified the Mets as “net winners,” and subjected them to a potential clawback lawsuit that would seek to recover those profits and redistribute them to eligible victims.The lawsuit has been hanging over the club. In recent weeks, there was speculation that Wilpon was seeking investors to buy a portion of the team and provide needed cash. Jeff Wilpon, Fred’s son and the chief operating officer of the Mets, insisted to The New York Times several times in the past week that no portion of the team was for sale.Adding to the sense that the team was in under some financial pressure was its unwillingness to spend any significant money in the current off-season. However, their payroll, which exceeds $140 million, still remains one of the largest in baseball.In a statement, the team said: “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.“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 said they have hired Steve Greenberg, a managing director at Allen & Company, as an adviser.
