The Financial Mess Has Ties to A-Rod, Moneyball, the Mets Woes and the '93 Phillies

I have three interesting financial stories with baseball ties:

• I have to say that Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone piece on Goldman Sachs is a must read. Goldman Sachs has fired back saying that the piece is "an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories" which makes it even more fun and probably truthful in the end. So what does Goldman have to do with baseball? Well when Alex Rodriguez wanted to open up a bridge to speak to the Yankees after burning his bridges through a World Series opt-out, he used a few conduits at Goldman Sachs. Why would two higher ups at Goldman be helping A-Rod reach the Yanks? Well CNBC's Darren Rovell hypothesizes:

Reader Jack Delehanty asks: "Do you think this means the company may have offered to subsidize part of the contract? Is such a thing even permitted in MLB?"

Jack, that's a very interesting question. In fact, if you recall, when this all started, the way Boras was going to get his big numbers was by trumping up A-Rod's value to the television network. And Boras himself mentioned that if the Yankees weren't willing to put up the biggest bucks, they could get some help from their partners at Goldman Sachs, who owns 40 percent of the YES Network...I guess if Goldman Sachs did believe A-Rod added value, they could technically chip in

Um....that sounds pretty fishy to me--and borderline unethical. Again, it's just another part in "an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories". Or is it...?

• Before Michael Lewis was the author of Moneyball, he was the author of Liar's Poker and a "Big Swinging Dick" of the financial world. So while Taibbi took on Goldman, Vanity Fair's Lewis went after the insurance giant in the middle of this whole mess: A.I.G.. Lewis' investigation goes after the "Man Who Crashed the World", a villain "whose reign of terror over 400 employees brought the company, the U.S. economy, and the global financial system to their knees." Worth a read. 
• Do you want to know why the Mets can't go out and get a hitter? Maybe because Bernie Madoff cost Fred Wilpon $700 million. That's right $700 million. That was revealed by Larry King in Style. Larry King was introduced to Bernie Madoff by Fred Wilpon. Small world for the rich. How does Wilpon feel now? According to King: “Freddie says he’s not angry,” King says, “he’s betrayed.” You can't be both? The betrayal Bernie Madoff brought upon his friends is really one of the more amazing parts of it for me. He had no regard for anyone but himself.
• Lastly, I was watching HBO the other day when Real Sports came on. And who was the segment about? That famous member of the 1993 Phillies himself, Lenny Dykstra. Dykstra tried to build up an empire, but has driven himself to bankruptcy. His house is being foreclosed. He has no furniture left in the house. The private jet is grounded. The man tried to bite off more than anyone could possibly chew and never slowed down when the economy got rough. RealClearMarkets agrees saying it's another too-good-to-be-true story. Just like Madoff. "These kinds of stories don't occur occasionally or cyclically, but are ever-present. Even as Lenny crashes into bankruptcy and our financial system struggles to recover from the bubble, some people right now are eagerly buying into the next set of implausible stories ("Make millions off foreclosures! Invest in commodities now!"). No amount of new regulation or oversight will protect them, because there's no legislating against gullibility and the apparently overwhelming desire for a quick score." People, if someone tells you they can turn your 100 into 1000, run. Far. It's not worth it. Even if that man earned the nickname "Nails". Toughness doesn't help you when your money is all gone.