Why be content to meet the Mets when you can own a piece of them, too? Anywhere from 20 to 25 percent of the beleaguered franchise is for sale, following yesterday’s announcement the club is seeking “strategic partners” to help offset potential losses in a lawsuit filed by the trustee in the Bernard Madoff ponzi scam.
On a conference call yesterday, Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon said his family would retain control of the club’s operations even if a percentage of the team is sold.
Forbes has valued the Mets at $858 million, excluding Citi Field and SNY — neither of which would be part of any sale, according to Wilpon.
“In any event, we will remain the principal owners of the Mets,” Wilpon said. “We will continue to control the franchise and govern its operations.”
But with the possibility the Mets may be on the hook for as much as $1 billion to settle the lawsuit — which claims the Mets profited from the Madoff scam — a major league executive told The Post yesterday the Wilpon family ultimately might surrender close to 50 percent of the team. The executive said he could not envision the Wilpons selling the club outright.
One potential buyer already has emerged. Mike Repole, the co-founder of Vitamin Water and owner of Kentucky Derby favorite “Uncle Mo,” told The Post he has made initial contact with the firm handling the sale.
“I’ve been a New York Mets fan since I was 6 years old,” said Repole, a Queens native. “That’s why my racing silks are orange and blue. I would love to be a part of bringing a Mets resurgence to New York. But we are in the very preliminary stages of information gathering.”
So with only 21⁄2 weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, another cloud of uncertainty is hovering above the Mets, who had hoped for a fresh start with the shakeup that occurred in the front office and manager’s chair after last season.
Instead, Wilpon will be left to answer questions about cash flow and if the team has the financial wherewithal to compete in the NL East. The Mets have a projected payroll of about $140 million for this season, but raised eyebrows by committing only $8.1 million to major league contracts in the offseason.
The true test could come next offseason, when the Mets conceivably could have $65 million in contracts coming off the books. But general manager Sandy Alderson may have tipped his hand at the Winter Meetings last month, when he hinted the Mets’ payroll could drop significantly in 2012.
“Let’s say arguably we have $50 million or $60 million coming off next year,” Alderson said. “Do I think it would even be prudent to invest that full $50 million or $60 million again in a situation which binds us going forward so that we’re only in the market every three years when this lump sum comes off our books? No.”
Alderson later amended that statement to say he could possibly spend the full amount of money coming off the books if he could do it by signing players to one-year contracts, giving the Mets financial flexibility on an annual basis.
The Mets’ last big splash on the free agent market came in December 2009, when they signed Jason Bay to a four-year contract worth $66 million — a deal containing a vesting option for a fifth year. The next true test of where the Mets stand financially could come regarding Jose Reyes, who is unsigned beyond this season. If Reyes has a big year, his next contract likely would be worth upward of $100 million, testing the Wilpons’ stomachs and piggybank.
Additional reporting by Lenn Robbins.
mpuma@nypost.com