The Mets are $625 milliion in debt

[erik316wttn]

Holy crap, I, like many others, knew they were having financial difficulty, but I had no idea it was this bad.

 

$625 million in the hole. Good luck trying to find an investor to take that on.

 

Oh, and they've got a $145 million payroll, and are paying Bobby Bonilla and Brett Saberhagen for the next 15 or so years.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/04/27/mets.finances/index.html?eref=sihp

 

Somewhere, Ron Santo is smiling.

[Sammy Sofa]

As much as I want to like it from the sense of the old rivalry, this is not good for baseball at all. MLB really can't afford to have franchises like the Mets and the Dodgers this screwed up for a while with sales down across the board. Hopefully these situations get righted relatively soon.

[apete6]

As much as I want to like it from the sense of the old rivalry, this is not good for baseball at all. MLB really can't afford to have franchises like the Mets and the Dodgers this screwed up for a while with sales down across the board. Hopefully these situations get righted relatively soon.

 

I just hope to God that Ricketts crying poor to the state is just posturing to get them to help with the stadium enhancements and not a sign that the Cubs could be on this list eventually.

[erik316wttn]

As much as I want to like it from the sense of the old rivalry, this is not good for baseball at all. MLB really can't afford to have franchises like the Mets and the Dodgers this screwed up for a while with sales down across the board. Hopefully these situations get righted relatively soon.

 

I would hope so, but I don't see an investor looking to take on that kind of debt. Knowing nothing about finance of this magnitude, I'd guess they'd either do a debt restructuring or some sort of complex bankruptcy?

[imb]

Oh, and they've got a $145 million payroll, and are paying Bobby Bonilla and Brett Saberhagen for the next 15 or so years.

 

Hahahah, is this true?

[erik316wttn]

Oh, and they've got a $145 million payroll, and are paying Bobby Bonilla and Brett Saberhagen for the next 15 or so years.

 

Hahahah, is this true?

 

Yes, it's in the article.

[SouthSideRyan]

As much as I want to like it from the sense of the old rivalry, this is not good for baseball at all. MLB really can't afford to have franchises like the Mets and the Dodgers this screwed up for a while with sales down across the board. Hopefully these situations get righted relatively soon.

 

I don't care what's good for baseball, I care what's good for me.

[imb]

Oh, and they've got a $145 million payroll, and are paying Bobby Bonilla and Brett Saberhagen for the next 15 or so years.

 

Hahahah, is this true?

 

Yes, it's in the article.

 

Hilarious. Bobby Bonilla was washed up when I was like 9.

[SouthSideRyan]

I didn't know it was possible to have not heard the Bonilla story.

[Sammy Sofa]

As much as I want to like it from the sense of the old rivalry, this is not good for baseball at all. MLB really can't afford to have franchises like the Mets and the Dodgers this screwed up for a while with sales down across the board. Hopefully these situations get righted relatively soon.

 

I just hope to God that Ricketts crying poor to the state is just posturing to get them to help with the stadium enhancements and not a sign that the Cubs could be on this list eventually.

 

Aren't the Mets' trouble primarily due to Wilpon getting fleeced by Madoff? And the Dodgers' from Mcourt's divorce and general scumbaggery? For now it doesn't seem like we need to worry about such things from the Ricketts.

[UMFan83]

I can't see the Cubs joining that list anytime soon. The Dodgers and Mets both had random events happen that led to their financial problems, the Mets with Madoff and the Dodgers with McCourt's divorce.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I didn't know it was possible to have not heard the Bonilla story.

or the Saberhagen one

[SouthSideRyan]

It's unlikely Wilpon was "fleeced" by Madoff. He knew what was going on.

[Post Count Padder]

That's so bad it's funny.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's unlikely Wilpon was "fleeced" by Madoff. He knew what was going on.

 

Well, whatever; he lost a [expletive]-ton of money because of Madoff.

[erik316wttn]

I didn't know it was possible to have not heard the Bonilla story.

or the Saberhagen one

 

I actually knew of the Bonilla money but not the Saberhagen money.

 

For those who don't know:

 

Bonilla is owed $1.2 million annually for the next 25 years, and Saberhagen is owed $250,000 per year through 2029.

[shnsajax]

I like having the Dodgers and Mets out of contention for Pujols already.

[javy knows my name]

I like having the Dodgers and Mets out of contention for Pujols already.

 

Like SSR said; bad for baseball, good for me.

[third eye]

The $625 million number isn't that shocking. The Ricketts reportedly lined up $450 million in debt financing on a $900 million purchase for the Cubs. So if the Mets were valued at roughly the same amount, that would still leave $275 million in equity value to the owners. Now, trying to raise $200 million through a sale of a 49% stake is probably not going to work unless someone out there is willing to value the Mets franchise at just over $1 billion. That seems unlikely with the club's current cash flow issues. Still, I dont think the overall debt balance is quite as severe of a problem for the actual ballclub as the headline suggests. The situation sucks for the Wilpons in terms of diminished value of their ownership stake and ongoing cash outlays to meet operating obligations. But I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to line up $100-$125 million for a 49% equity stake.

[Soul]

I didn't know it was possible to have not heard the Bonilla story.

or the Saberhagen one

 

I presume they were large deals that Bonilla and Saberhagen elected to spread out over the long haul after the fact...but still.

[EhDubya]

I didn't know it was possible to have not heard the Bonilla story.

or the Saberhagen one

 

I presume they were large deals that Bonilla and Saberhagen elected to spread out over the long haul after the fact...but still.

 

Even better. Bonilla had 5.9m and 1 year left on his deal that Steve Phillips didn't want to pay, so of course he agreed to this beaut of an arrangement..

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339013108198050.html

[erik316wttn]

I didn't know it was possible to have not heard the Bonilla story.

or the Saberhagen one

 

I presume they were large deals that Bonilla and Saberhagen elected to spread out over the long haul after the fact...but still.

 

Even better. Bonilla had 5.9m and 1 year left on his deal that Steve Phillips didn't want to pay, so of course he agreed to this beaut of an arrangement..

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339013108198050.html

 

I guess this is a lesson:

 

No matter how bad you think Jim Hendry has been, he hasn't been as bad as Steve Phillips. My cat could be a better GM than Steve Phillips.

[Guest]

It's unlikely Wilpon was "fleeced" by Madoff. He knew what was going on.

 

Well, whatever; he lost a [expletive]-ton of money because of Madoff.

Actually, if the stories are true the Wilpons made money with Madoff and may have helpd perpatrate the scam so he could get cash from banks.

[SouthSideRyan]

It's unlikely Wilpon was "fleeced" by Madoff. He knew what was going on.

 

Well, whatever; he lost a [expletive]-ton of money because of Madoff.

Actually, if the stories are true the Wilpons made money with Madoff and may have helpd perpatrate the scam so he could get cash from banks.

 

And I'm not sure 'we're successful businessmen who had no idea something was screwy with this return on investment" is going to hold up in court.

[champaignchris]

I didn't know it was possible to have not heard the Bonilla story.

or the Saberhagen one

 

I presume they were large deals that Bonilla and Saberhagen elected to spread out over the long haul after the fact...but still.

 

Even better. Bonilla had 5.9m and 1 year left on his deal that Steve Phillips didn't want to pay, so of course he agreed to this beaut of an arrangement..

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575339013108198050.html

 

"After Florida traded Mr. Bonilla to the Los Angeles Dodgers in May 1998, the Mets then re-acquired him that following off-season, sending relief pitcher Mel Rojas to the Dodgers for Mr. Bonilla on Nov. 11, 1998."

 

...and the Mets originally got Mel Rojas from the Cubs in a trade that also sent Brian McRae and Turk Wendell to the Mets, with the Cubs getting Lance Johnson, Mark Clark, and Manny Alexander.

 

So, in the end, it's all the Cubs fault. Revenge is sweet. :D