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Good Cop, Bad Cop;

batmagadanleadoff Dec 16 2011 04:55 AM

Megdal claims in new book, that Wilpon went behind Einhorn's back and asked Selig to scuttle Einhorn's path to ownership, so that it would appear that Wilpon was dealing with Einhorn in good faith. Mets asked MLB to stop ownership deal: book By JOSH KOSMAN Mets owner Fred Wilpon asked baseball commissioner Bud Selig to “play the bad cop” and help him scuttle a deal that could have resulted in him losing majority control of the team, a new bombshell book reports. Earlier this year, hedge-fund titan David Einhorn was set to invest $200 million for a 17 percent minority stake in the Mets. In exchange, Wilpon agreed that if the team didn’t repay Einhorn in five years, he would be able to acquire a majority stake for a nominal amount. But months after Wilpon agreed to the deal, he got cold feet, fearing he could lose control of the team. “Wilpon asked Selig to strike the provision requiring him to enable and assist David Einhorn in his pursuit of majority ownership, if Wilpon couldn’t repay him,” author Howard Megdal writes in “Wilpon’s Folly.” “The idea would be that Selig would play the bad cop. When Major League Baseball put the kibosh on Einhorn, Wilpon would have plausible deniability, and could throw up his hands and say, ‘What can I do? This is how MLB works.’” Einhorn heard about the dealings and, on Sept. 1, had a heated discussion with Wilpon that resulted in Einhorn walking away from the deal, according to the book. MLB lawyer Rob Manfred said, “I don’t believe the account in the book is accurate. I think the reason the deal did not come to fruition is the two parties did not have a meeting of the minds on a key provision in the deal.” A Mets spokesman said, “The author’s desperate self-promotional campaign for relevance has led to perpetuating baseless speculation and complete inaccuracies.” Megdal told The Post he stands by his reporting. An Einhorn spokesman declined comment. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/m ... z1giYf0Iuc Predictably, the Mets deny Megdal's version of events. The Mets also denied that they would be forced to sell as little as a minority share in the team. Video from 2009, where Dave Howard browbeats Erin Arvedlund; Arvedlund was first to report on the record that Sterling's involvement with Madoff would force a sale of the Mets:

Edgy MD Dec 16 2011 05:00 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Megdal is pretty predictable too.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 16 2011 05:01 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

So are you.

metirish Dec 16 2011 05:25 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

It seems plausible , I guess until Einhorn can talk we will never know the truth(if then even), either way I loath the Wilpon's.

Edgy MD Dec 16 2011 05:28 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

batmagadanleadoff wrote: So are you. What am I going to say next? Huh?

Fman99 Dec 16 2011 05:35 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

batmagadanleadoff wrote: So are you. I knew you were going to say that.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 16 2011 05:35 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

metirish wrote: It seems plausible , I guess until Einhorn can talk we will never know the truth(if then even), either way I loath the Wilpon's. Megdal's probably right. Einhorn himself practically said all this in so much code right after his purported deal with the Mets fell through. And right or wrong, I'd bet anything that at minimum, Megdal has a confidential source -- a credible insider -- who corroborated this.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 16 2011 05:35 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Fman99 wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: So are you. I knew you were going to say that. Me too.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 16 2011 11:26 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

The Mets are really ripping him a new one on this, if it's really untrue what would be wrong with respectfully saying so. From a biz-journo perspective "play the bad cop" is one of those phrases that's surely going to be misinterpreted by one party or the other, and the kind of thing that would draw a so-called wronged party to call the writer an attention-seeking hack.

Edgy MD Dec 16 2011 11:53 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

The Wilpons are still major league owners, to my thinking, because every step of the way, they've supported Selig's initiatives, be they his outreach to folks of color or his strong-arming teams to offer amateurs slotted, controlled signing bonuses. And they've done it at a cost to the team's success. I think Megdal's desire to bring down the Wilpons is clear and it's easy enough to dismiss him as a pretender out of his depth, whether he's got something or not. But their ownership is in an existential crisis, and their relationship to Selig has been a lifeline, and anybody trying to drive a wedge between them is probably a frightening thing to the bosses. A thought: even if they surivive a year or two, there's little reason to think Selig's successor would be as willing to continue helping them out of the quicksand.

Gwreck Dec 16 2011 11:59 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Edgy DC wrote: I think Megdal's desire to bring down the Wilpons is clear I don't think that's clear whatsoever, at least not from the example you cited.

seawolf17 Dec 16 2011 01:03 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Gwreck wrote: Edgy DC wrote: I think Megdal's desire to bring down the Wilpons is clear I don't think that's clear whatsoever, at least not from the example you cited. I don't remember the book being anti-Wilpons.

Edgy MD Dec 16 2011 01:10 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

OK. I guess I see it diff. He's a fanboi publickly taking his fantasy out for a walk, which is fine. But I think it does hurt the Scoop persona. As a journalist, he's in many ways what Minaya insinuated about Adam Rubin. In the end, if he has a source, he has a source. Sounds like interesting conjecture to me. I do think he's right enough in anything that matters. Wilpon's deal was going to bite him in the ass, he got gold feet, tried to get the clause altered, and Einhorn walked.

Gwreck Dec 16 2011 01:16 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Edgy DC wrote: As a journalist, he's in many ways what Minaya insinuated about Adam Rubin. Really? I thought it was pretty clear that Megdal's book about "running for GM" was satire.

Edgy MD Dec 16 2011 01:29 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Not satire, so much as fantasy.

HahnSolo Dec 16 2011 01:31 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Edgy DC wrote: OWilpon's deal was going to bite him in the ass, he got gold feet, tried to get the clause altered, and Einhorn walked. Fred could only wish.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 16 2011 01:33 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Edgy DC wrote: Not satire, so much as fantasy. Seemed like a 'tweener to me. (Is "satasy" a thing? How about "fantire?")

Edgy MD Dec 16 2011 01:36 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

HahnSolo wrote: Edgy DC wrote: OWilpon's deal was going to bite him in the ass, he got gold feet, tried to get the clause altered, and Einhorn walked. Fred could only wish. Ouch. And the C and G aren't even close.

Edgy MD Dec 16 2011 03:12 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

While I don't hear as much harsh tone from the Mets as Lunchie does, I agree that the volume and character of the denials can be telling. Madoff called Erin Arvedlund "That idiot woman from Barrons" when she was among the first to sniff him out.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 16 2011 05:21 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Here's what I wrote last September 2nd: batmagadanleadoff wrote: It's also possible that the Mets cut ties with Einhorn from a newly found position of strength, as some believe, but I don't believe that just because the Mets say so, or imply so. If you'll remember, over the past four, five six weeks, both the Mets and Bud Selig were reporting that the closing of the Einhorn deal was a simple formality and that the delays in completing that now ill-fated deal were neither material nor unusual. We now know otherwise. For all I know, the Mets might have moved on because Einhorn was insisting on terms that would increase his likelihood of one day, acquiring majority control of the franchise. Perhaps the Mets want less demanding investors. My attitude with respect to this matter is not to believe any comments coming from The House of Wilpon that are supposed to be favorable to the Mets, until proven. batmagadanleadoff wrote: Also, it's possible that the team cut ties with Einhorn because their position has worsened rather than improved. Under this theory, Einhorn's chances of one day acquiring majority control of the team have improved, and so the Mets decided that if they couldn't alter the terms of the Einhorn deal in their favor, they should end negotiations and move on. All this for the Plane Boy. batmagadanleadoff wrote: And another thing: I'm not convinced that it was the Wilpons who walked away from and killed the deal, although I recognize the possibility. Einhorn surely signed a confidentiality agreement, so we might not get to hear his side of the story in anything other than superficial and vague soundbites followed by lotsa no comments.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 17 2011 10:24 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

I don't understand why Megdal's drawing so much heat, or any heat at all, on this forum and on this thread. He seems to be one of the very few out there who are conducting comprehensive investigative reporting into the Mets financial crisis. We've got Megdal, the New York Times, and Josh Kosman over at the Post. I don't follow Newsday, so I don't know what they're doing with this story. And then we've got the Daily Snooze, snoozing away on this one, content to simply report what other sources have already reported, and the softballs tossed around at press conferences. Maybe the Snooze really is the Mets mouthpiece, as some insist. It's Megdal's fault that the Mets finances became untenable? This is one of the biggest stories in franchise history, and probably the biggest one outside of the white lines, but some people here would rather dismisss every negative thing written about the Mets owners, while instead writing 45 posts about Mike Nickeas' options or the Bisons' 3rd string third baseman. I guess that that diversity of interests is what makes a forum.

Ceetar Dec 17 2011 10:44 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

uhh yeah, because I'm a Mets fan, not a business student. and Megdal's seemingly crossed into 'every decision I disagree with is because of money' territory. The Mets probably didn't resign Paulino because Paulino sucks and they used what's clearly a larger subset of information than we have to come to that decision. Not because they physicaly couldn't spend the extra mllion dollars over Nickeas or whoever they end up playing there. The Wilpons/Mets have certainly earned that scrutiny, but that doesn't make it automatically true. Personally I prefer Dan Lewis' take over at Amazin' Avenue. It seems a little more honest in it's assessment of what we do not know rather than making blanket assertions about what the Wilpons are doing right now, and what the future holds.

Edgy MD Dec 17 2011 11:35 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

The notion that Medgal is "one of the very few out there who are conducting comprehensive investigative reporting into the Mets financial crisis" doesn't hold water. The Mets and their money issues are everywhere.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 17 2011 12:15 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Like who? After the NYT, Kosman and Megdal, 95% of the rest of the coverage out there is a rehash of whatever the Times wrote the day before. Who are all these other investigative reporters? Not that this is an easy story for a reporter to investigate. The reporter would need an insider willing to breach his or her confidentiality agreement. And even then, the reporter's credibility would be vulnerable to attacks more so than usual because the corroborative sources must remain anonymous. I don't doubt that others are covering this story. But for the most part, they're not reporting their findings. Maybe they're saving it for a future book, or a made for TV movie, depending on how this story finishes.

Edgy MD Dec 17 2011 02:18 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Nobody except Medgal, but then you add the Times and the Post, so he's really not a lone wolf at all. Daily News: Doing their own work, banging on doors at MLB to break their own findings about how concerned MLB is http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... e-1.991269 You don't know about Newsday, but they've done their tabloid-quality own work and called their own sources and found MLB's concern to be less dire than the News did. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ ... -1.3390173 So all the major area dailies have somebody making calls. National media? Adam Rubin is breathless at ESPN, tweeting every minor detail as he gets them. Barron's, of course, had Erin Avelund forecasting the demise of Wilpon's ownership years ago. Don't trust the big boys? Want to hear from the 99%? Amazin' Avenue has an comprehensive look at where the Mets money is and where it has gone, culled from many sources: http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/12/11/ ... s-finances Fangraphs build on that and Megdal and walked through the big question: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.ph ... -the-mets/ This is one of the biggest stories in franchise history, and probably the biggest one outside of the white lines, but some people here would rather dismisss every negative thing written about the Mets owners, while instead writing 45 posts about Mike Nickeas' options or the Bisons' 3rd string third baseman. Yeah, I know. Some people, right?

batmagadanleadoff Dec 17 2011 05:21 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Nobody except Medgal, but then you add the Times and the Post, so he's really not a lone wolf at all. Daily News: Doing their own work, banging on doors at MLB to break their own findings about how concerned MLB is http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... e-1.991269 You don't know about Newsday, but they've done their tabloid-quality own work and called their own sources and found MLB's concern to be less dire than the News did. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ ... -1.3390173 So all the major area dailies have somebody making calls. National media? Adam Rubin is breathless at ESPN, tweeting every minor detail as he gets them. Barron's, of course, had Erin Avelund forecasting the demise of Wilpon's ownership years ago. Don't trust the big boys? Want to hear from the 99%? Amazin' Avenue has an comprehensive look at where the Mets money is and where it has gone, culled from many sources: http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/12/11/ ... s-finances Fangraphs build on that and Megdal and walked through the big question: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.ph ... -the-mets/ This is one of the biggest stories in franchise history, and probably the biggest one outside of the white lines, but some people here would rather dismisss every negative thing written about the Mets owners, while instead writing 45 posts about Mike Nickeas' options or the Bisons' 3rd string third baseman. Yeah, I know. Some people, right? Fangraphs and Amazin' Avenue are working off data unearthed and developed mainly by the NYT, The Post, Forbes and Megdal. They aren't breaking any news. They're opining. Editorializing. NTTAWTT. Not at all. Me, I welcome as many cogent editorials as I can read. But that's why I didn't mention those blogs. I didn't overlook them. Nobody except Medgal, but then you add the Times and the Post, so he's really not a lone wolf at all. I never wrote "nobody but Megdal". And I didn't "just add" the Post and the Times. You make it sound as if I'm playing three card monte with my posts ... sneaking in words when nobody's looking. The three were included together, up front, to suggest that those three are responsible for the lion's share of all of the breaking news stories concerning the Mets finances. I'd add Forbes to those three. I wasn't claiming that they're the only ones writing on the topic. Hundreds and hundreds are reporting this story. But very few are providing new details. I left out Rubin at ESPN. I don't know if he's got his own inside sources, or if he's broken any developing news on this story. If you say he did, I'll defer. But I can't recall one way or the other. Where did I write "nobody but Megdal?" Barron's, of course, had Erin Avelund forecasting the demise of Wilpon's ownership years ago. I know. Didn't I link to her FOXTV appearance, (Yesterday) where Dave Howard challenged her findings and denied that the Mets would ever sell any part of the team?

Edgy MD Dec 17 2011 06:59 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Great. So we agree. A lot of folks have covered the story. Erin looks like Kristen Kelly. Sat next to me in homeroom every year.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 17 2011 09:31 PM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

A little more than a little like Christina Kahrl, too.

Edgy MD Dec 20 2011 11:10 AM Re: Good Cop, Bad Cop;

Where did she sit?