New York Mets

The Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme has been a terrible tragedy for many in the United States.  For those not familiar with ponzi schemes, it refers to a financial "investment" company, where the person running the scheme pays dividends to those investing their money with the investments that new investors make. 

Now how does this affect the New York Mets?  Well, according to the lawsuit, Mets owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon invested both team money and personal money into the team.

Spring Training is only nine days away and a lot of questions will be answered for the New York Mets in the upcoming months.  The Mets have a lot of new faces coming into spring training this year.  There will also be a lot of roster spots up for grabs. 

This spring training will be very competitive for the Mets. Mets fans can't wait for spring training to begin.  Here are six things to look forward to for the Mets this spring.

Mets fans have wanted Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo off the team for a long time now.  They might get their wish very soon.  With all the negativity swirling around the Mets ownership with the Bernie Madoff situation, the team might be desperate to give the fan base something to be happy about.

Mets owner Fred Wilpon owes lots of people lots of money. According to published reports, his total sports-related investment debt exceeds $1.5 billion dollars. Add to that a $300 million-$1 billion exposure in lawsuits filed against him by the victims of Bernie Madoff, and he finds himself in a significant hole.

Earlier today Jayson Stark of ESPN wrote an article handing out offseason grades for all five of the National League East teams. While Stark is a great baseball journalist I have to disagree with his C- grade for the New York Mets. 

Going into the 2010-2011 offseason, it was clear that the New York Yankees and New York Mets were in need of a pitching boost.

In the Bronx, Andy Pettitte was strongly leaning towards retirement, and Cliff Lee chose to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

In Flushing, Johan Santana continued rehabbing his arm, and John Maine left as a free agent.  Both teams were in desperate need of starting pitching.   However, neither team went for any established starter.

As we've all heard by now, the New York Mets, specifically principal owner Fred Wilpon and his son-in-law, Saul Katz, are being sued by Irving H. Picard, the trustee for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, which stole as much as $65 billion from investors.

According to reports published by the New York Times, the Mets invested as much as $523 million with Madoff, withdrawing $571 million, a net profit of $48 million.

The New York Mets starting rotation is not going to be what anyone had hoped for when last season ended.

With a lot of controversy already going on in the Mets front office, the team's ace starting pitcher (Johan Santana) will not be ready to pitch for a while. That opens up a huge spot in the starting rotation, and any number of guys could make the cut come April 1.

We know who three of the Mets starters will be, but which other two will fill out the rotation, and what other guys could we see starting games for the Mets this season?

Sandy Alderson was named the New York Mets' new general manager early in the offseason.  Alderson has a big challenge ahead of him, as the Mets have bad contracts at many positions, not to mention Omar Minaya's mess.

The Mets have recently been big spenders in the offseason, but due to financial constraints, they couldn't make any big signings this year.  Alderson watched top-notch free agents fly off the market while he was forced to go searching in the bargain bin.

The New York Mets of 2011 could be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.

They probably won’t have their ace, Johan Santana until the All-Star Break, so the question becomes whether Mike Pelfrey, Chris Young, Jon Niese and RA Dickey can keep the team afloat until then.

If they can’t keep the Mets in contention, there could be a firesale in New York with a ton of pieces that would help clubs in the playoff hunt. Among them is shortstop Jose Reyes, who is owed $11 million in the last year of a four-year, $23 million deal.