At the time, Mets owner Fred Wilpon had invested heavily with Bernie Madoff and was reaping annual gains of up to 15%. Turns out Madoff made off with $65 billion from nearly 5,000 investors and was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
From a baseball standpoint, the move was shrewd because the cash saved was used to sign Mike Hampton, Derek Bell and Todd Zeile, who helped the Mets to the National League pennant in 2000.
Roster-building considerations also prompted the Dodgers and Ohtani to agree to defer all but $2 million of his annual salary until after his 10-year, $700-million deal is completed.
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