The Wilpons are desperate to sell the New York Mets, and the power couple known as J-Rod is reportedly circling the waters again.
The New York Post‘s Thornton McEnery dropped a bomb on Friday night. Not only are Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez back in the running to purchase the New York Mets, but a real bid could be on the way.
The power couple has been linked to the Mets since the Steve Cohen deal fell through. Things seemed to be getting serious when billionaire Wayne Rothbaum got involved, but that relationship soured quickly. With Rothbaum gone, J-Rod’s bid seemed dead.
That’s not the case though. McEnery is reporting that Rodriguez and Lopez have spent their time in quarantine devising a way to buy the embattled franchise.
McEnery writes, “the baseball legend and pop-star actress are putting in ‘hundreds of millions’ of their own money to finally pry the Amazins’ free from the Wilpon family, who have become more eager than ever to unload the franchise thanks to COVID-19 making their precarious financial condition even more dire.”
The Wilpons are even willing to go as far as to include part of SNY in the deal, though they aren’t willing to sell their entire share in the television station.
The major roadblock in the deal is finding a big-money backer. The couple has a combined net worth of around $750 million. An impressive number for sure, but not enough to buy the Mets. Even at the current discounted price, the Wilpons are still looking to top $1 billion. A major departure from their $3 billion ask after the Cohen deal fell through, and the $2.6 billion deal the Wilpons agreed to with Cohen before things fell apart.
Things seem to be coming together on that end as well. McEnery writes, “Three people close to the situation confirm that the bank [Chase] has made real progress for its clients. ‘The money is there,’ one said. ‘A bid is coming.'”
McEnery reports that the two Chase clients that the couple has been talking to the most are Robert and Jonathan Kraft. The owners of the New England Patriots reportedly have no interest in buying a baseball team, but they’ve have taken an interest in J-Rod’s bid and plans for Citi Field.
It’s impossible to know when or even if a bid is coming. However, this is the closest thing to real news about a potential sale since the Cohen news broke. Keep an eye out folks, it may not be long before the Mets have new ownership.
