So the seal has been lifted from the lawsuit brought by the Madoff victim’s trustee against the Skill Sets and everything they own and I’ll tell you the truth, there is so much rhetoric coming from both sides that if a settlement isn’t reached this could drag on for years. My main concern is how does this affect the NY Mets and the operation of the baseball organization from the minor leagues to the big league to the ability of Sandy Alderson to sign players he believes are worthy of a contract. I feel bad for the innocent folks who were duped by this filthy scumbag Madoff but the biggest investment I make is a $5 Mega-Millions Quick Pick so all this financial shit is lost on me.

But I started thinking about the Skill Sets role in this I saw a pattern of fiscal stupidity with Madoff and the money the team has spent on the Mets. For years Freddy Skill Set was called Freddy Coupons for being a tight wad but in reality he was a big spender. The Mets payroll has always been top 3 in all of baseball. The Skill Sets big problem is they never knew how to spend wisely just as they didn’t invest their money (and other people’s money) correctly.  Think about it, the Mets would over spend on free agents like Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran but they’d never go overboard to on a draft pick. They paid top dollar for performances that players achieved with other teams but not on players who could bring the best of their talents to the Mets.Then went cheap.

The Skill Sets are loyal to a fault and that loyalty has cost them personally and professionally. Bernie Madoff made Freddy and Uncle Saul swoon when he quoted profits of their investment to them, you can picture Freddy and Saul with their puppy dog eyes looking at Madoff and telling him “ooooh Bernie you’re so dreamy”, meanwhile he was fucking them out of all their cash. To make matters worse the Skill Sets turned all their friends, investors and employees on to the Magic of Madoff  which in a way makes me feel some sympathy, as they are now looked upon and as bunch of bumbling idiots by some for not knowing what went on or a bunch of lying thieves to others. Either way it’s not good to be a Wilpon or a Katz today. Now if the court case proves the Sill Sets were a bunch of conniving louts, then I’ll be out with the flame thrower to fry their lying ass, but for now I’ll rail about their incompetence.

The Skill Sets have handled the Mets just like their investments, thinking they were doing the right thing and have it come back and bite them in the ass.  With the exception of Frank Cashen and Sandy Alderson (his resume speaks for itself) the hiring of men to run the baseball operations had been awful.  Not just that, but they always had a tough time of firing guys when it was the appropriate time. Steve Philips was banging secretaries like he was a porn star and when one of them took exception to his advances she cried sexual harassment. What did the Skill Sets do? They fired him for about a day and then brought him back. Omar Minaya the last two seasons was not only incompetent but paranoid as we saw in his presser for the Tony Bernazard termination when he attacked Adam Rubin. Minaya should have been fired on the spot but of course he wasn’t. When Sandy Alderson was hired he tried his best to be diplomatic when asked about Minaya and if he had a position in the org, obviously Alderson wants no part of Omar hanging around and you’d think Minaya would have brains enough to take his $1mil and move on but Freddy Skill Sets loves Omar and wants him around in any some capacity maybe as a playmate for Jeffey.  Even when they do fire people they can’t even do that right as we saw with the Willie Randolph fiasco.  Then when you add in all the bad contracts, the awful job of designing and running Citi Field and the inability to keep Jeffey out of the baseball business is it any wonder Bernie Madoff took them for a bunch of saps?  

Things are starting to look a bit clearer and as Mets fans we may end up the winners in this whole mess.  Bud Selig being up close and personal with the Skill Sets saw the S.S. Skill Sets was ready to hit an iceberg. With the Hollywood Bums also at rock bottom (who knew the McCourt divorce would look like a case on The People’s Court compared the Skill Sets v. Madoff Trustees?) The Used Car Salesman could not let both his flagship NL teams sink. The Mets were a team that spent more money and received less return than any team in baseball. What Selig saw was an organization that was in dire need for structure, for a leader, a man that could not be challenged and who embraced challenge, Sandy Alderson was the only man who could fix this mess.

The whole interview process for a new GM was a facade; it wasn’t up to the Skill Sets to hire Alderson it was up to Alderson if he wanted the assignment. I’m sure the first thing Alderson told Freddy and Uncle Saul was “The kid’s got to go” meaning Jeffey, and I’m sure without that, Alderson doesn’t take the job. That my fellow Mets fans could be the best thing to happen to the Mets since General Eckert void Tom Seaver’s contract with the Atlanta Braves and in a special draft pull the Mets name out of a hat.  

If I could give the Skill Sets a little advice, it’s time to lay low fella’s. You’ve put word out on the street that the team is up for partial sale so sit back in your palatial estate (while you still have them) and work out a plan of your finances. The one good thing you have going on in your life right now is Sandy Alderson is running your baseball team. Leave him and his lieutenants handle the baseball operations   while you huddle with your lawyers. Stay away from going to St. Lonesome. Stay away from opening day. In fact just stay the fuck away from the Mets altogether!!!!!

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