One of the Mets’ two majority owners is so sick of the team’s money-losing ways that he has thought about selling his stake, according to a report.
Saul Katz, 75, who owns a roughly 66 percent piece of the franchise in a partnership with Fred Wilpon, is tired of forking over millions of dollars to help absorb the nearly $100 million in losses the Mets have rung up in the last three seasons, the report said.
Katz, a brother-in-law of Wilpon, 77, didn’t act on the feeling because he didn’t want to risk having Wilpon lose control of the franchise, according to the report in the New York Times.
However, no matter how badly long-suffering Mets fans would like to see the cash-strapped Wilpon ride off into the sunset, the team’s ownership structure almost guarantees Wilpon staying in control of the team, The Post has learned.
Wilpon is the sole Mets managing general partner, and that means even if his family’s share of the team gets reduced to a minority stake, he will continue to run the club, sources close to the situation said.
Katz, who serves as the president of the team, quickly denied the report.
“There is no truth to the reports of any intention of selling,” he said. “I have no intention of selling my share of the Mets, nor have I ever had any intention of selling my share.”
While a sale may not be in his current plans, Katz does not have to worry about Wilpon losing control of the losing team.
“Someone who buys Saul’s stake would have no rights,” a source close to the situation said.
And even if a majority of new owners wanted to remove Wilpon as general partner, they would find it very difficult to doso, sources added.
Many Major League teams have general partners who own minority stakes in their teams. Those GPs cannot be forcibly removed.
Of course, if Katz sells, it could increase slightly the possibility that Wilpon could lose the team. For example, if a new co-owner was not willing or able to fund any future losses, the team’s overall financial problems could force Wilpon out.
This year, the Mets successfully refinanced their debt, making it easier for Katz to sell his stake, sources said — if he wanted to.
The Mets had borrowed money for years against Sterling Equities — the Katz-Wilpon partnership. Starting this year, the Mets refinanced $250 million of loans directly against the team, sources said.
That means a Katz sale would likely not break the team’s new lending agreement.
The Mets as a whole were valued at roughly $1 billion, so Katz’s stake could be worth about $300 million.