Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, had its rating outlook downgraded to negative by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today.

The Mets and SportsNet New York, the regional sports network that is 65% owned by the MLB team, have almost $900 million of debt coming due on the two properties by 2015. In addition, the Mets, who lost $70 million after debt payments in 2011, must pay over $40 million a year in PILOT bond payments from stadium revenue. Attendance at Citi Field fell in 2011 and is likely to fall again in 2012 as the team is cutting payroll and lost its best player, shortstop Jose Reyes, to the Miami Marlins after this past season.

For weeks, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, who control the Mets through their holding company, Sterling Equities, have been trying to sell 10, 4% stakes in the team for $20 million a pop to outside investors. But thus far none have been sold.

We valued the Mets at $747 million in March, 13% lower than the previous year. The ratings outlook cut by S&P is a signal the team’s value is likely to fall further in 2012 due to lower revenue.

New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey will go ahead with his charitable mountain-climbing plans despite the team’s objections, the NY Daily News reported Tuesday.

Citing “multiple sources,” the newspaper said Dickey won’t nix his ascension of Mount Kilimanjaro for charity, scheduled for next week, even though the Mets have sent him a letter late last season advising him that if he was hurt during the climb, his contract could be voided.

Dickey, a knuckleball pitcher who went 8-13 with a 3.28 ERA in 33 games (32 starts) in 2011 for the Mets, is scheduled to receive $4.5 million in 2012 — the second year of his two-year $7.8 million deal with the club.

Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson told The Wall Street Journal the Mets have tried to talk the 37-year-old Dickey out of the climb, which he is undertaking to benefit the Bombay Teen Challenge – a charity that aids victims of sex trafficking in Mumbai, India.

“If we thought it was a good idea, we wouldn’t have sent the letter,” Alderson told the WSJ. “Beyond that, have we tried to dissuade him from going? It seems to me that the letter is enough of an effort to dissuade him, and he intends to go on nonetheless.”

Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa at 19,341 feet above sea level.

The Daily reports that Mets bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello and Colorado Rockies pitcher Kevin Slowey will also be joining R.A. Dickey on the Kilimanjaro climb.

Image: Floppingout

Published: Dec. 27, 2011 at 7:24 PM

NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) — New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey will go ahead with mountain-climbing plans despite the team’s objections, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

Citing “multiple sources,” the newspaper said Dickey won’t cancel plans to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro for charity next week, even though the Mets have warned him they reserve the right to cancel his contract if he is injured.

The knuckleballer is scheduled to receive $4.5 million in 2012 — the second year of his two-year $7.8 million deal with the Mets.

Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson told The Wall Street Journal the Mets have tried to talk the 37-year-old Dickey out of the climb, which he is performing for the Bombay Teen Challenge, a charity that helps victims of sex trafficking.

Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa at 19,341 feet above sea level.

MLB • R.A. Dickey is planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next month for charity, and the New York Mets have sent a letter to the pitcher’s agent warning him that the team can void the final year of his contract if Dickey is hurt on the climb, a Mets spokesman confirmed Tuesday. The Mets sent the letter earlier this year to Dickey’s agent, Bo McKinnis . Dickey, 37, is expected to make $4.25 million in 2012 and has a $5 million team option (against a $300,000 buyout) for 2013.

Dickey organized the climb largely to raise awareness for Bombay Teen Challenge, a charity that aids victims of sex trafficking in India. Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, is the highest mountain in Africa, at 19,336 feet above sea level.

Pitino says career will end in 2017

COLLEGE BASKETBALL • Rick Pitino said Tuesday that he won’t coach past the 2016-2017 season when his current contract ends at Louisville. “When you’re 59, you’re realistic that you don’t have a whole lot of years left,” Pitino said at a news conference before the No. 4 Cardinals play Georgetown on Wednesday. The former Providence and Kentucky coach has guided the Cardinals to a 12-0 record so far this season.

• The top scorer on the men’s basketball team for Rhode Island has been suspended indefinitely. The University of Rhode Island announced Tuesday that senior guard Jamal Wilson was suspended by coach Jim Baron for breaking unspecified team rules. Wilson averaged 17.5 points per game through the first 10 games of the season.

Tottenham tightens hold on third place

SOCCER • Tottenham beat Norwich 2-0 Tuesday to tighten its grip on third place in the Premier League, establishing itself as the likeliest challenger to the two Manchester clubs. Gareth Bale scored twice in the second half, putting the Spurs within seven points of City and United. Tottenham still has a game in hand — at home to Everton next month.

From wire reports

The New York Mets have asked R.A. Dickey not to make his charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. However, Dickey still plans on going, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Though trips up Kilimanjaro almost never result in death or are even that dangerous, the Mets have sent Dickey a letter saying they can void his contract if anything bad happens.

“If we thought it was a good idea, we wouldn’t have sent the letter,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told the Journal. “Beyond that, have we tried to dissuade him from going? It seems to me that the letter is enough of an effort to dissuade him, and he intends to go on nonetheless.”

On Tuesday, a Mets public relations person confirmed that Dickey is still planning to make the trip shortly after the new year, but said that Alderson will not elaborate further on the Mets’ viewpoint. A message has been left for Dickey’s agent.

Dickey, 37, is hoping to raise awareness and money for the Bombay Teen Challenge, which fights human trafficking.

Dickey has one-year left on his $7.8M, two-year contract. He is scheduled to make $4.5 million in 2012.

Andrew Marchand covers MLB for ESPNNewYork.com.

Follow Andrew Marchand on Twitter: @AndrewMarchand

By Jay King

– Newsdesk contributor

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Dec 27, 2011 – The trip seems relatively fun and certainly inspirational. New York Mets knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey plans to scale Mount Kilimanjaro next month, simultaneously fulfilling a life goal and raising money for a charity that fights sex trafficking. But the Mets are not at all thrilled.

The team has sent a letter telling Dickey they will not hesitate to void his contract if the pitcher is injured during the 19,336-feet climb. Dickey is owed $4.75 million during the one year left on his two-year contract.

“If we thought it was a good idea, we wouldn’t have sent the letter,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. “Beyond that, have we tried to dissuade him from going? It seems to me that the letter is enough of an effort to dissuade him, and he intends to go on nonetheless.”

Climbing Kilimanjaro is seen as relatively safe, at least compared to scaling other mountains like Mt. Everest, and was described in the Wall Street Journal as “essentially a long, steep hike, and the majority of people who attempt it do so without incident.”

But there is room for error during the climb, and some people become ill on the trip. One of them, famous tennis player Martina Navratilova, who tried scaling the mountain for charity last December, needed to be taken off the mountain in a stretcher after climbing more than 15,000 feet. She later said she could have died on the mountain.

In two seasons with the Mets, Dickey has already climbed a long way. After learning how to throw a knuckleball to revive his career, Dickey is now an important part of New York’s starting rotation. But this is his biggest knuckleball yet, and the Mets are worried for their reliable starter.

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