Mets VP Squares off Against Madoff Author
By Mike Silva ~ August 31st, 2009. Filed under: Mike Silva.
Great job by Brian Costa finding this video from Fox Business News.
Mets VP of Business Operations, Dave Howard, disputes the claims of author Erin Arvedlund live on television. If you remember, Arvedlund claimed the Wilpon’s are in financial distress and may need to sell the team. He calls her sources “bogus” and the story “erroneous”. Former GM Jim Duquette joins the conversation later on in the program.
Arvedlund claims to have a source that worked for the Mets front office for two decades. She also questioned Howard why the Mets were silent on Larry King’s claims regarding Madoff losses, but have been so vociferously against her.
Bottom line, Howard claims the Mets are not for sale and they will not be bringing on any investors.
All I can say is this: I will take the words of David Howard, Fred Wilpon, and Jeff Wilpon at face value. I have no information to dispute the Mets claim that they are financially viable. As a result, I expect them to be able to improve the team, maintain their payroll and, if the right player is available, have the ability to take on additional salary. As I mentioned yesterday the fan base is putting the organization on notice. Mediocrity and incompetence is no longer acceptable.
By the way this was great television. Things continue to stay feisty in Metsville.
August 31st, 2009 at 10:43 pm
The fact that they canceled fall league seems to indicate they are in definite financial trouble. But my take on it, and perhaps it’s not going to be popular, is that fans don’t need to know everything about the business of their team. I KNOW a lot of sports fans don’t agree, but it’s how I feel. If the Mets are having as bad of financial trouble as we believe, then I say they should be able to work it out without us feeling we need to know every detail. I’m a big believer in teams requiring a certain amount of privacy in matters of business.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Mike,
David Howard says he jokes about being nice to JEFF Wilpon’s son because he might work for him, not Fred Wilpon’s son. So he was joking about working for I assume a teenager or however old Jeff’s kid is
September 1st, 2009 at 1:18 am
Hey Mike. In light of our spirited Mauer/Teixeira MVP debate over here last week, I thought you might be interested in reading the brief column I wrote supporting Mauer’s candidacy here. Also, I’ve added a link to your blog on my sidebar and look forward to visiting back frequently. Keep up the good work and take care.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:06 am
Thanks
I didn’t pick that up.