Former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has faced several obstacles in his bid to buy the New York Mets. It turns out that one of them is Derek Jeter, his former teammate for more than a decade in the Bronx.
Remember, it was three years ago that Jeter bought the Miami Marlins, after which he continued to tear the club down and cut salary levels in an attempt to get the owner group’s debt under control. That’s exactly what Major League Baseball hopes to prevent with the Mets, according to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.
MLB is not “too fond of another Jeter / Marlins, where they had to scrape their last nickel to pay for the purchase,” said one source close to MLB. “Especially for a big market club that already has such a big business loss.”
Introducing Yankees Inside: To get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to instantly post text messages with beat writers
One saving grace for Rodriguez may be the fact that he and his fiancée Jennifer Lopez ‘plan to invest hundreds of millions of dollars,’ as opposed to Jeter who, as CEO, put very little of his own money into buying the Marlins.
But from a strictly bottom-line perspective, Kaplan reports billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen is the favorite to buy the Mets.
“It’s a total circus and I’m assuming this is the Cohen to lose,” said one financier. “I would not pay more than $ 1.4 billion for it. … Cohen, who rumored to Forbes in February that it’s worth $ 14 billion, is clearly a safer call … And he’s proven twice, so far, that he’s ready to bid top dollar.
Charles Gasparino of Fox Business Network Cohen reported putting the most cash on the table in the first round of bidding: $ 2 billion for the club and another $ 2 billion for SNY. Cohen agreed in December to buy the Mets for $ 2.6 billion, but the deal collapsed in February when he ran for direct control of the team while the Wilpon family wanted to stay at the club for another five years.
By jumping back into the bid, Cohen put his deep pockets into the driver’s seat, according to Kaplan.
Marc Ganis, a sports consultant who advises MLB teams, including the New York Yankees, compared the Cohen-Rodriguez pair to a ‘poor selection’. “I do not think baseball would reject Steve Cohen or Alex Rodriguez,” he said. … A source close to Rodriguez said his group had a lot of capital, but added, “If Cohen wants that, this is him.”
Also in the mix are New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer. The pair have been on a bit of a spending spree, adding a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers to their portfolio earlier this year. But Kaplan reports Harris and Blitzer run third in this three-team race.
They are seen as unlikely to plunge into a bidding war, although one source said they have been trying to raise extra capital in recent weeks, adding funds Arctos Partners to its group last month.
Sportico reported last week “bidders who are vying for the Major League Baseball franchise have until August 31 to submit their best and final offers to the team.”
Get Yankees Text Messages: Cut through the clutter of social media and text during games with beat writers and columnists. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now.
Thank you for trusting us to deliver the journalism you can trust. Please note support NJ.com May a voluntary subscription.
Mike Rosenstein may have been reached at [email protected]. Tell us your coronavirus story or send us a tip over here.
