NEW YORK -- New York Mets co-owner Nelson Doubleday said Tuesday he planned to file a lawsuit over the appraisal of the team and that the sale of his share to co-owner Fred Wilpon won't be finalized until it's resolved.

Doubleday is contesting the method Bob Starkey used when he valued the team at a reported $391 million -- considerably less than Doubleday hoped to get when he exercised an agreement in October that required him to sell his shares to Wilpon at a price set by an independent appraiser.

''If it wasn't reached correctly, if he didn't use the proper method to get from one and one to two, then you have a lawsuit,'' Doubleday said.

In a statement, Wilpon said Doubleday knew the appraiser's decision would be final when he started this process. Doubleday agreed to sell his half of the team to Wilpon for half of the figure determined by Starkey.

''What he is now trying to do is overturn a fair and comprehensive process that he had previously agreed to and actively participated in because he presumably does not like the conclusions that were drawn by the appraiser he approved,'' Wilpon said.

Wilpon is supposed to make his first payment to Doubleday in mid-August.

''I'm sorry it's dragged on. It's dragged on for over a year,'' Doubleday said.

Doubleday & Co. bought the Mets in 1980 for $21.1 million, with the company owning 95 percent of the team and Wilpon owning 5 percent. When Doubleday & Co. was sold to Bertelsmann AG in 1986, the publisher sold its shares of the team for $80.75 million to Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, who became 50-50 owners.

Relations between the pair grew strained in the past decade.