We will never know the full extent of their exposure to Madoff, but they were hurt very badly. Prior to Madoff, they were very big spenders. After Madoff, they came dangerously close to losing the franchise. Selig probably would have forced their sale if he wasn't wading through the debacle of the Dodgers at the same time. It would not have been good for the game to force the sale of two teams in the 2 biggest markets. The Mets twice had to borrow money from MLB to meet payroll. I think they borrowed a total of $50 million. They were in distress. They still don't have any capital. I read that they will not dig out of their debt for 20-30 years. Fred Wilpon will be taking a dirt nap long before that.