Ken Davidoff of Newsday spoke to Mets general manager Omar Minaya about the chances that Fred Wilpon's involvement in a Ponzi scheme would lead to changes in the way the Mets do business.
"Based upon what we've been told, they're separate entities," Minaya said, referring to the Mets and Sterling Equities, the real-estate firm co-founded by Mets CEO Fred Wilpon. "My understanding is the baseball team is totally separate from the other business. I'm expecting to proceed the way we were before."
It seems much too early to make a judgment about how Wilpon's losses will relate to the Mets, especially since Minaya hasn't spoken to him about anything. Sterling Equities is going to have to appease their investors and some portion of that money is going to come directly from Wilpon's coffers. There's also the open question of whether or not Wilpon is expecting to get some of his money back as a result of Bernard Madoff's arrest. However it shakes out, the entities are only as seperate as Wilpon's wallet allows them to be.
Will that affect Minaya this offseason? We'll see. The team needs a starting pitcher and free agents like Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez aren't going to come cheap. If the Mets don't sign them, will they trade prospect Fernando Martinez? Will they just go along with what they've got and add an economy guy to eat some innings? Either one could be spun otherwise, especially in a dismal economy, but people will still connect the dots.
All in all, it's doubtful that there would be much immediate effect on the Mets. Too much is invested in the team and Citi Field already for them to close the flow of money to Minaya.
