Solomon-like Selig: Splits Mets Baby in Two

Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon have reached an agreement in the sale of the Mets after kissing the papal ring of Bud Selig and asking him for guidance. The sale amount which was originally set at $391 million by an "independent" appraiser (handpicked by MLB). The final figures were not disclosed. Believe me, they were more than $200M. Witness Doubleday's comments now:

"While I was not happy with the results of the appraisal, I deeply regret and apologize for the conclusions many drew from the papers that were filed last week by my lawyers. I did not in any way mean to impugn the integrity of the commissioner, who has been a long-time friend and will continue to remain one, or anyone from his office. Nor did I intend the counterclaim to get in the way of the ongoing collective bargaining process. That was not my intent or goal. If it did, I apologize to the commissioner and to Don Fehr if it in any way had a negative effect on bargaining."

"MLB orchestrated a sham process that not only mistreated Doubleday and betrayed his trust; it actively favored Wilpon and engineered a result that served MLB's other and conflicting interests...Unbeknownst to Doubleday, MLB was at the same time engaged in a systematic effort to undervalue baseball franchises as part of its labor-relations strategy. In short, MLB -- in a desperate attempt to reverse decades of losses to MLB's players' association -- determined to manufacture phantom operating losses and depress franchise values."