"Fred Wilpon, the embattled Mets owner, smiled broadly yesterday as he shook hands with other executives on his way out of Major League Baseball's quarterly owners meetings. He said he understood why many fans hope he'll sell the team, but he remained adamant about his desire to maintain majority control.

The Mets expect to complete the sale of at least five minority stakes in the team within the next month, according to a person familiar with the matter. That will provide an infusion of at least $100 million, more than half of which will be used to pay off a $25 million debt to MLB and a $40 million bridge loan to Bank of America. The Mets still hope to sell an additional five to seven stakes after that, the person said, with the goal of raising roughly $200 million."