Despite Steve Cohen’s recent re-emergence in the race to buy the New York Mets, MLB owners are skeptical of the hedge-fund billionaire.
Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino put out a report that changes the landscape of the New York Mets sale. The most noteworthy piece of information was on Steve Cohen.
a few years back. The Cohen people worry that owners will fear that he will use his bank account to bid up player salaries. Remember, the @MLB is a club and the owners will likely have a say on the new @Mets owner. 3-The real wild card in the bidding could be another "mystery"
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 13, 2020
According to Gasparino, the other owners in MLB don’t want Cohen to purchase the team because they’re scared of his wealth. They don’t want Cohen, who would be by far the richest owner in MLB, to come in and change the landscape of the league by overpaying players.
MLB owners have worked very hard to lower salaries in the past few years. They don’t want Cohen to come in and spend his seemingly endless amount of money and cause the price of contracts to go up across the league.
Along those same lines, Gasparino reports that sports owners Joshua Harris and David Blitzer are feeling good about their spot in the race.
That said, a person close to them said "They're feeling pretty good" about their chances of winning and walking away with the team. More as I get it
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 13, 2020
Harris and Blitzer have been described as vultures for their thriftiness. They’ve made a career of purchasing distressed assets for less than their real value. They did it with the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils. Now they have their eyes set on the Mets.
They seemed to be a distant second place when Cohen re-emerged in the bidding. Their bid was reportedly not near the Wilpons’ $2 billion ask, but no actual value has been put on their bid yet.
It’s possible they’ve upped their offer and are capable of competing with Cohen’s opening offer. If the other 29 MLB owners want Harris and Blitzer instead of Cohen, that could cause problems for the fan-favorite.
At the end of the day, the other owners are the ones who will approve the sale. They have a large say in who will be the next owner of the Mets. If they reject Cohen, it doesn’t matter how much he bids.
