A source familiar with the situation has said that the Mets have hired CRG Partners — the turnaround consultants that handled the Rangers’ bankruptcy sale — and that a team sale with or without bankruptcy is on the table. The Mets have confirmed the hiring, stating that they have “engaged CRG Partners to provide services in connection with financial reporting and budgeting processes.”

Hiring turnaround consultants doesn’t necessarily mean that the team is specifically preparing for bankruptcy and a sale — consultants like these are brought in to figure out how a struggling business can become profitable — but it further underscores the Mets’ moribund financial situation. Also, a turnaround company typically gets only a modest fee if it comes in and merely makes recommendations; it has a considerable economic incentive to push for a huge sale when a sizable commission is in the offing.

– Eno Sarris, AmazinAvenue.com.

So there’s that. The Mets confirmed their association with CRG about an hour after Eno published the story, lest you think all my skepticism regarding anonymous sources should fly out the window when the source speaks through someone whose work I clearly appreciate and link all the time — Sarris’ frequent and shameless blasting of Ruben Tejada notwithstanding.

By 6 a.m. this morning, I saw people suggesting the story was being overhyped and/or overblown, but I’d urge anyone thinking as much to read Eno’s original report. I think it’s being subjected to some undue criticism precisely because he took care to qualify everything and make sure he distinguished the facts from his speculation.

I’ll add only that the news shouldn’t really be all that surprising: It’s not exactly a secret that the Mets and their owners are in some pretty serious financial straits, so it makes a hell of a lot of sense for them to be engaging consultants experienced in those matters.