Author: Mets Owners Will Eventually Sell Team to Cover Madoff Losses

The Mets are in baseball's biggest market, own a cable sports network and play in a spanking new stadium. But other than a backloaded three-year, $37 million deal with Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets have hardly spent any money over the past 10 months.

I -- and even people within the organization -- have long suspected the Wilpon family that owns the Mets lost more money than they have let on to convicted Ponzi-scheming con man Bernie Madoff. That would explain the cutting corners, such as not taking a full contingent to the winter meetings, the lack of depth that helped cost them their season and the unwillingness to take on contracts midseason to try to patch together a better club.

And now the author of a book on Madoff says the Wilpons will eventually have to sell the Mets to cover their losses.

The Wilpon family, led by Mets owner Fred Wilpon, lost about $700 million because of Madoff, according to Erin Arvedlund, author of "Too Good to Be True," published earlier this month.

Arvedlund said she does not know the terms of the Wilpons' bank loans but said the losses are steep enough that a sale of the baseball team is certain.

"It's qualified by when," she said. "It's possible they would have to sell by next year."

This is a tragedy for the Wilpons. But considering how things have gone since Madoff was exposed, it might not be a bad thing for Mets fans.