Mack and Company on... Settlement

Mack: So?



Michael Scannell - Evil lives to ruin another day for Mets fans.


Teddy Dziuba - David, what is the net number the Wilpon's will owe when they factor in the funds they will recoup from the Madoff's?  Do we not know that number yet? In terms of the Mets bigger picture, the $162MM Picard clawed back is just the tip of iceberg.  The most shocking thing I've learned from all of the Madoff/Wilpon articles is just how much of the decision-making process was predicated on the rate of return Madoff was generating on Fred's invested assets.  Wilpon was so sure that he would continue getting those 10% annual yields that he basically offered Bobby Bo a deferred annuity that will end up costing the franchise $30MM over the next 25 years, when in reality, they could have bought him out for $5.9MM years ago.  You can write that off as just one bad business decision, but if that's how Fred ran his franchise all those years, is it that much of a stretch to think that now that he can no longer bank on making so much money on his investments, that the Mets will no longer be a big market team under his ownership?  Its easy to spend hundreds of millions on MIke Piazza and Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana when their salaries are covered by capital gains, but now that the well has run dry, I just don't see this franchise ever being worthy of the New York market as long as Fred signs the checks



Erik Hudson - 

Here's a link to the settlement agreement: 

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/40365/wilpon-picard-settlement-agreement 


This part was interesting:


4. Claims Against Madoff Estate and Similar Matters. The Defendants' Customer Claims shall be allowed in full and will be entitled to full recovery thereon on the same basis as all other "good faith" BLMIS customers, except that (i) SIPC will not be obligated to "advance" funds to the Defendants pursuant to SIPA Section 78 fff-3 and (ii) Customer Claim Recoveries will be assigned as set forth above. "Customer Claims" means all claims of any Defendant against the BLMIS Estate, the fund for victims of BLMIS established by the U.S. Department of Justice or any similar fund for the benefit of BLMIS customers. The parties agree that Defendants' Customer Claims total approximately $178 million. 


Guarantee. Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, jointly and severally, and on behalf of all Defendants, will irrevocably and unconditionally guarantee the payment of the Remaining Amount up to a total aggregate amount of $29 million. 


So, does that read, that AT MOST the Wilpons will have to pay $29M because they are owed money from the recovery as well?



David Rubin - 

 Teddy- we won't know how much $$ the Mets will be "getting back" from their supposed Madoff "losses" until all $$ have come in from every lawsuit and judgement, many of which have yet to be settled. I have heard varying numbers- from as low as only having to shell out around $40 mil to upwards of $120 mil. We won't know for quite a while, it seems...

Totally agree with your comments. What the Wilpons have done is essentially make this team the Royals of 2001-2009 - which just won't fly in NYC. Sad that Bud Selig can't compel them to sell the team; our only hope is for them to decide they need a major investment partner, not another group of minimum investments, to the tune of 40-45 percent ownership for a much larger (think 400 mil plus) stake, which would get them out of their negative debt. Moving forward, their is a stink-cloud over the team's ownership, as the majority of the fanbase does NOT want to support this team as long as the Wilpons are the majority owners, and with the possibility for fans to protest/stay away, a la what happened in LA with McCourt's situation, ultimately we (fans) are once again the net-losers. The team won't be flush with cash for the next decade, and we will have to get used to losing top prospects to free agency, like Reyes, rather than being in the market for these players moving forward. Nothing good happened in this settlement, unless your name is Wilpon or Katz... 


Erik... 

No- best as I can tell, it means that the MINIMUM they will be responsible for is that $29 mil. Above that amount will be determined by how much they will be entitled to in THEIR "supposed" losses...still don't see how you can categorize something as a "loss" when they made so much money over time, but that's what happens when you have great lawyers and a judge who favors you and a commissioner who is best buds with you... 

We are ALL Charlie Brown missing that football over and over again...





Brian Berness - 

Still remains to be seen how long this can last. The problem now isn't Madoff, but business profitability. How are they going to build a viable team with no fans coming to the stadium and with a now antiquated royalty from Sny?

This could still get very ugly. Not 1979 ugly, but 1996-1997 ugly. Better hope the kids work out and quick.