N.Y. Mets: Year Sixteen After Doubleday

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

The AGE of WILPONianism

METS YEAR 0016 A.D.

(AFTER DOUBLEDAY)

New York Mets: Blame SON of PON For Setting My Mood.

It's that time of year again.

The equipment truck has been unloaded; pitchers and catchers have arrived; and the Wilpons still own the Mets.

Despite being one of the winter's busier teams, COO Jeff Wilpon nevertheless made finances an issue again this off-season when he informed media and fans of the club's intention to shave $20 million dollars from this year's opening day payroll.

Son of PON offered no particular reason why; offered no particular insight into the team's plan; and quite frankly, said nothing worth my while other than they're trying to spend less money more wisely.

Therefore, I'm going to make their finances an issue as well.  Because fifteen years have passed since Fred Wilpon's acrimonious divorce from Nelson Doubleday, and where has it gotten us?

In order to answer that, we must rewind this saga back to its genesis.

After the passing of club matriarch Joan Whitney Payson, her widow Charles Shipman Payson (and daughter Linda de Roulet) eventually put the Mets up for sale.  Ed Kranepool led a group of investors and submitted a bid which was rebuffed.  According to SABR, Kranepool says that after making a presentation to Linda de Roulet, "... she put together her friends, her social group, and they (Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday) bought the ball club."

It was Fred Wilpon who initially convinced his brother-in-law and Sterling Equities partner Saul Katz into submitting a $21.1 million dollar bid.  According to a 2011 article in the New Yorker, Wilpon and Katz put up a mere $650,000 each, thus requiring investors still willing to sign on despite knowing control of the team would ultimately be vested in Wilpon's hands.  

Jeffrey Toobin of New Yorker magazine continues with John Pickett, then owner of the New York Islanders, informing Fred Wilpon that Nelson Doubleday's publishing company was interested in financing the rest of the bid.  According to a 2015 article in the New York Times, Nelson Doubleday (through Doubleday and Company) put up eighty percent of the purchase price, a record at the time for a baseball franchise.  It's partners were the City Investing Corp, and Fred Wilpon.

With Nelson Doubleday in the midst of selling his family business in 1986 to Bartelsmann, the New York Times wrote it was possible that he and Fred Wilpon would not have become 50-50 partners if Doubleday had been aware of a clause in their original agreement which gave Wilpon the right of first refusal on any sale of the team.  Doubleday, Wilpon and Saul Katz, would ultimately resolve the matter by becoming equal partners in purchasing the Mets from Doubleday and Company for $85 million dollars (and an agreement to assume $25 million dollars in team liabilities).

The issue of Fred Wilpon's right of refusal resurfaced six years later.  A 1992 New York Times article reported on Doubleday's veiled threat to sell his half of the Mets after a majority of MLB owners voted in favor of ousting then commissioner Fay Vincent.  At the time, the team's valuation was estimated between $180 million to more than $200 million dollars.  Doubleday said at the time he would not be putting his half stake in the Mets on the market, but would instead be offering it to Fred Wilpon.

The two never did get along very well - if at all - and they disagreed over a great many things.  Most famously, Nelson Doubleday felt it business wise to extend Mike Piazza's contract, whereas Fred Wilpon did not.  On the flip side, Fred Wilpon wanted to build a new ballpark.  However, Nelson Doubleday knew they couldn't afford it, preferring instead to renovate Shea Stadium.  Their differences and overall business relationship had become irreconcilable, and by 2002 Doubleday decided he wanted out.

That led to their most infamous disagreement, as the two engaged in a contentious court battle over the team's fair market valuation.  Nelson Doubleday believed the team should have been appraised for $500 million dollars, but was forced to accept a $391 million valuation established by a previously agreed upon independent appraiser, Robert Starkey.  As a net result, a furious Nelson Doubleday was forced to settle for $135 million after debt, with a promise for upwards of $40 million more if the Mets moved into a new stadium.

On the way out, Nelson Doubleday took some rather harsh parting shots at his former partner, going so far as predicting Fred Wilpon would "... run the Mets into the ground."  He also likened Jeff Wilpon to a little pharaoh, and scoffed at the notion of the boss' son learning how to become a baseball man.

Looking back, much of what ensued does indeed make Mets fans young and old shake their collective head, oft times in bewilderment, sometimes even in shame.  I speak for myself when saying along with Mr. Doubleday so went ownership's better baseball acumen, this team's authoritative check and balance, the front office's operational conviction, and above all else, there went the organization's Mets-centric sensibilities.

Nelson Doubleday may have said some things in anger, but it's more likely he knew things most of us did not.

For instance, in 2015 the New York Times wrote Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz used their accounts with Bernie Madoff to persuade lenders into refinancing certain loans thus allowing them to buy-out Nelson Doubleday, according to the lawsuit filed against the Mets owners by the trustee for the victims of Madoff's fraud.

In a separate 2011 article, former Mets general manager Frank Cashen acknowledged to the New York Times it was his understanding that several million dollars of his deferred compensation had been invested with Mr. Madoff.

This suggests Madoff was a stranger to no one and had long remained at the forefront of Fred Wilpon's financial operations right up until Dec. 8, 2008, when the greatest investment ponzi-scheme in American history was revealed.

There's no need rehashing all the financial minutia as it relates to Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz in the aftermath of the Madoff implosion.  They already simplified the details for us.  In the summer of 2015, Fred and Saul refinanced $700 million in remaining team and SNY debt.  According to the New York Post Sterling Equities owns 60 percent of SNY, and 60 percent of the Mets.  The five year loans against separate entities carry lower interest rates and tie the maturity dates together.  We are now inside year three of their continuing debt repayment schedule.

However, they were initially forced into selling limited minority shares of the team in order to survive and even get to that point.  We know Anthony Scamarucci, Bill Maher, and Steve Cohen are just some of the new silent, minority owners.  All told, the Mets reportedly raised $240 million from the sale of twelve minority shares according to a report in Newsday, with some shares purchased by SNY, and some privately purchased by Fred and Jeff Wilpon, and Saul Katz themselves.

It was also around this time Ed Kranepool and team COO Jeff Wilpon crossed paths at a team dinner.  Kranepool said to Jeff, "I hear you're selling shares in your team" according to the New York Times.  Kranepool immediately followed-up, "I don't want shares.  I want to buy the whole team so I can run it better than you and your father."

EDDIE!!   EDDIE!!   EDDIE!!

Fast-forward, and Fred Wilpon is upset with the cross-town Yankees over their off-season acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton.  He says their business model is unsustainable.  Hal Steinbrenner continues operating as if it is.

Why is it Fred Wilpon has no problem purchasing the (AAA) Syracuse franchise; has the want and wherewithal for developing the chop shops across the street from Citi Field; and tried involving himself in the Belmont Park project approved for the New York Islanders; yet has stated numerous times that in order for the Mets to increase spending, fans must attend more games and spend their money first?

To that I say gratitude is a two-way street.

Baseball Reference says Mets attendance for the years between 2012 through 2014 averaged 2,175,756 fans per season.  Between 2015 and 2017, they averaged 2,606,659 fans per season which translates into an average of 430,903 more money spenders per season.

Is it coincidence, then, that in 2003 the Mets finished in last place with a 66-95 record, then ordered Jim Duquette to freeze spending, only to finish in fourth place fifteen years later with a 70-92 record, and hand general manager Sandy Alderson a reduced budget over the winter?  Outside of Omar Minaya's ability to extract money from the Wilpons, the evidence suggests this is standard operating procedure.

Sure they recently signed Todd Frazier.  But it was the least they could do considering their recent increases at the gate.  Heaven forbid we expect more.

In the fifteen years between 2003 and 2017, the Mets compiled a sub par 1,194-1,235 (.491) record.  Over that time, they've posted only six winning seasons, won a Wild Card, captured two division flags, and clinched one National League pennant.  They've also posted nine losing seasons (including six in a row).  They won a single-season high 97 games in 2006, and in 2003 won a single-season low 66 games.

We are now 5,523 days and counting into what I call the AGE of WILPON.

I don't know about you, but I'm convinced ...

The Nelson Doubleday prophecy is fulfilled.