By Chewy Baumel ’13, Sports Editor

The baseball season is in full swing, but many teams are surrounded by continuous controversy and speculation regarding the stability of their owners. Players show up nearly everyday ready to play, as 162 baseball games are played over a six month period. Their job is to work hard and play baseball, but instead, many of these athletes are pestered and questioned by reporters about off-field turbulence. The owners of the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Houston Astros all appear to be under fire for various economic reasons. Now it appears as if the off-field issues are beginning to leak into the quality of the play and success of these teams.

The Wilpon family, well known for their real estate company Sterling Equities, holds a majority ownership of the New York Mets and therefore runs the day-to-day operations of the team’s management. However, the Wilpon family was recently a victim of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, in which the family supposedly lost up to $300 million according to a New York Times report. Recently, the court appointed trustee to return money to victims of Madoff’s scheme, Irving Picard, has decided to sue the Wilpons for more than a billion dollars. Picard alleges that the Wilpons should have been aware of the fraudulent scheme that Madoff was running and that their profits were obtained fraudulently.

The Mets also received a loan of $25 million this past year from the MLB to help pay for the operations of the team during their economic struggle. Now the owners of the Mets are looking to sell up to a 33% share in the team to obtain more funds for the upcoming year. On May 26th, the Mets announced that David Einhorn, a hedge fund manager, had been chosen as the preferred minority owner as he agreed to invest $200 million in the team according to the team’s website. Although the owners claim that the lawsuit has no effect on the team financially, this past off-season the team spent dramatically less money on players than in the past even though the team’s payroll was already the 7^th highest in the MLB. This past offseason of limited spending is a sign and pattern that should be expected in the future until the owners sort out their economic issues, which does not appear imminent. In addition, the team has been sub-par on the field thus far as the Mets currently have a record under .500 and are in 4^th place in the NL East.

On the opposite coast, Frank McCourt, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is struggling to run a famous and historical franchise. After a few months of public mismanagement, MLB commissioner, Bud Selig, has taken over the Dodgers and appointed a trustee to oversee the day-to day operations of the franchise. Selig pulled the plug on McCourt’s control of the team on the basis that McCourt had badly damaged the value and reputation of the team, while only being concerned with his own profits and perks. In response, McCourt has struck back and believes that Selig is unlawfully stripping the Dodgers away from him. This crisis in LA has handcuffed the team for the rest of the year, as the management is restricted from making further player transactions until a new buyer is found. Selig will most likely force McCourt to sell the team. This is not that rare of an occurrence as last year, the MLB had to take control of the bankrupt Texas Rangers, who actually ended up making it to the World Series upon finding a new ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg and the renowned pitcher, Nolan Ryan. However, the Dodgers are struggling as they currently have a record under .500 and are in 3rd place in the NL West.

The last, but least troubled, franchise is the Houston Astros. Drayton McClane, owner since 1992, is in agreement to sell the team to Jim Crane, a Houston freight executive. McClane was a well-respected owner around baseball and will be missed greatly. However, Crane has tried several times in the past to buy a baseball team such as the Rangers last year, and the Astros three years ago. Crane is well-equiped financially for the purchase, but his freight company, Eagle Globe Logistics, had to pay $8.5 million to settle racial and gender discrimination complaints a few years ago according to a New York Times article. The investigating commission had established that the company failed to promote jobs for minority groups such as women and African-Americans. This should not stand in the way of a smooth exchange, but it is just one more issue to add to a long list of controversies surrounding owners. The Astros have struggled the past few years and that may have contributed to Drayton McClane ‘s ultimate  decision to sell the team. Currently, the Astros’ record stands at under .500 and they are in last place in the NL Central.

The uncertainty and issues prevailing in the owner’s box of these three teams could be a strong reason for the recent struggles on the field. All three teams have records under .500, and appear to be distracted by the off-field turbulence that continues to rumble. In addition to being a distraction, economic restraints have made it difficult for these teams to improve and attract more expensive players that teams such as the Yankees and Phillies have the budgets to do so. As a fan and supporter of the MLB, hopefully these minor kinks off the field can be ironed out in the near future to redirect the focus to the play on the field. With summer approaching and a long season still ahead, these teams hope to overcome many obstacles that stand in their way to once again achieve success.