Two very interesting articles involving the Mets came out over the last week. One by former newspaper writer turned blogger Murray Chass, and another by the Joel Sherman of the NY Post.

While reading Chass’s piece, something I wasn’t sure I was allowed to do because of my qualifications, I came across this nugget:

Even closer to the organization, a Mets’ employee has observed to a friend from outside the baseball operations department that “Minaya is a ‘puppet,’ a ‘figurehead’ as he put it – for Jeff Wilpon and John Ricco,” the assistant general manager. “Wilpon and Ricco are making decisions and running the show. Further, the real decision-making authority on baseball operations rests with Jeff Wilpon. My college buddy feels that Jeff thinks he knows a lot more about running a baseball organization than he actually does, and ‘it’s just not working out for him.’”

Wow. Nelson Doubleday does look like a prophet. The Mets have been obsessed with creating a “GM by committee”, initially offering Minaya the job in 2003, but having him serve as co-GM with Jim Duquette. Rightfully, Minaya turned it down, but I found out while interviewing former GM Al Harazin the Mets tried to do the same thing with him and Joe McIlvaine in 1993. Doesn’t Mets ownership watch NBC’s The Office? Can’t they see the problems “co-management” creates in the Dunder Mifflin hierarchy? Maybe Michael Scott and Jim Halpert are next on the Mets GM short list. They amazing part of all this is the Mets are guilty of simple management sins. This type of structure doesn’t work for a fictional paper company in Scranton, much less a big league ballclub.

Joel Sherman delves into even touchier territory. His reasons for why Minaya shouldn’t be a general manager- deficits in areas of communication, organization and ability to creatively multi-task- are right on the money. Essentially Minaya is a scout in GM’s clothing, who got lucky with a blessed 2006 season. Give him credit for recruiting Carlos Beltran, but even that team was sorely short on complementary pieces.

But even more interesting is Sherman’s quote from an AL executive who believes the Madoff government payday is really holding the Mets back. If that is the case, the Wilpon’s ownership of the team could be in jeopardy and, in my opinion, could lead to a messy situation. Remember, if the government wants restitution of those that made profits with Madoff, the Mets and their profits could be part of that if capital was invested. Of course, the Mets have denied this, but do you really believe anything they say anymore? I sure don’t.

Ask yourself this question. If you invested the amount of money that reportedly the Wilpon’s did, wouldn’t you have been curious how Madoff did it? This was a guy routinely achieving 12-15% returns, even promising up to 50% in little over a month! Wouldn’t that raise an eyebrow? Remember, Madoff has yet to implicate anyone he dealt with. He went down with the scheme just like Captain Smith and the Titanic. All I know is I would want to know how Madoff did it if I were a big investor- wouldn’t you?

Obviously, there is no proof of any wrongdoing regarding the Wilpon’s and Madoff. Even reports of them making, or not making, profits are allegations. You are innocent until proven guilty in this country and the Wilpon’s should be treated no different. However, where there is smoke, there usually is a fire, and I see an awful lot of smoke billowing from the offices of Citi Field.

Perhaps all the grandstanding the team has done with Bud Selig will pay off. As Sherman notes, the Mets made competitive offers to free agent without breaking the bank. They routinely play nice in the amateur draft and don’t go over slot. Perhaps all that equity will help if the government comes calling regarding Madoff. Regardless, one thing is for sure, the Mets are on the verge of collapsing, just like the banking system did in 2008. There are warning signs, even those with blue and orange sunglasses have to admit it, of a major catastrophe about to happen. This might not just be on the field, but off it, as well. The Mets version of a Wall Street meltdown very well could become the theme of the summer of 2010.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

Mike Silva

View all posts by Mike Silva
Mikes website

Tags: Al Harazin, Bernie Madoff, Bud Selig, Carlos Beltran, Citi Field, Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon, Jim Duquette, Joe McIlvaine, John Ricco, Omar Minaya