The treat of a jury trial forced the Wilpons and the Madoff trustee into a settlement:

Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, the owners of the Mets, on Monday settled the lawsuit brought against them by Irving H. Picard, the trustee for the victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, for $162 million. The agreement is binding. Picard had accused Wilpon and Katz of ignoring warnings that Madoff was running a fraud during their many years of investing with him. They had said they were unaware of any “red flags” and had charged that Picard fabricated and distorted evidence against them.

The Mets were going to pay at a minimum $83 million, and as much as $386 million. The settlement came in at a little less than twice the minimum and way under half the maximum. More importantly, for the first time in a while, the Mets owners know where they stand financially, which should make running the club a bit easier.

As part of the settlement, the trustee dropped the willful blindness claim against Wilpon and Katz.

As usual with these settlements, the owners don’t need to admit wrongdoing. So this chapter closes, and the Mets can get back to the business of building a winning franchise.