This gives a whole new dimension to the expression?“Yeah, but…”
Mets owner Fred Wilpon recently was named as chairman of Major League Baseball’s finance committee — a decision that raised more than a few eyebrows due to Wilpon being ensnared in?Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
New MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, speaking to the New York Times, defended the selection in explaining Wilpon’s role on the committee.
“I understand the whole Madoff thing, but before and since, Fred Wilpon was an extraordinarily successful businessman,” Manfred said.?“The committee — the finance and compensation committee — really deals with two issues, principally: executive compensation, which he’s more than capable of dealing with, and a central office budget. Obviously, to be a successful businessman, you have to know how to budget.”
Manfred added MLB has two separate investment committees that are not “under the purview” of Wilpon’s committee, as well as an audit committee that investigates “possible fraud or inconsistencies in financial statements.”
“If you really understand which committees do what, I don’t see it as an issue,” Manfred said. “He understands how the budget process in baseball has worked, and he’s more than qualified to fill that role.”