According to a report in the Daily News, Mets owner Fred Wilpon has been named chairman of Major League Baseball’s Finance Committee.

Wilpon takes over that post after he and six other members of the MLB’s eight-person Executive Council were replaced.

While the appointment of Wilpon as chair of the Finance Committee was technically made by incoming commissioner Rob Manfred, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York suggested that outgoing commissioner Bud Selig had a hand in Wilpon’s selection.

MetsBlog noted that part of the responsibility of the Finance Committee is to conduct hearings on league investments, potential changes in ownership, stadium revenue issues, and financing issues.

Thoughts:

At first blush, the news that Fred Wilpon has been appointed as the chair of MLB’s Finance Committee seemed like a poorly written joke.

To appoint someone whose team’s finances were severely damaged as a result of unknowingly investing in a Ponzi scheme to head a Finance Committee is questionable at best.

When you then consider that the Mets are hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and have a mid-market payroll while playing in the largest market in the country, naming Wilpon the head of the Finance Committee seems downright absurd.

More important than Wilpon’s appointment as head of the committee is what it potentially signifies.

Whether the choice was made by Bud Selig, Rob Manfred, or a combination of the two, Fred Wilpon getting this new position would seem to indicate that the new commissioner will refuse to put any pressure on how Wilpon is operating the Mets.

Bud Selig has stated whenever asked that he has no problem with the way Wilpon’s Mets are operating. While Rob Manfred has yet to weigh in on the subject, it’s now fair to assume that he’ll be of the same opinion – at least publicly – as Selig.

While the Mets are technically not breaking any rules, their refusal or inability to have a relatively competitive payroll is a major concern, and one that will likely continue to be ignored by those in Major League Baseball who are in a position of power.