Alex Rodriguez and his also extremely famous fiancé, Jennifer Lopez, reportedly have interest in buying the New York Mets, according to a report from Variety. If such a thing were to actually happen, which would be a ways off in even the quickest scenario, such a development would be especially interesting considering Derek Jeter's Marlins also take up a spot in the NL East.
Could they one day be battling it out for first third place? I don't know, but it sure is a fascinating prospect.
Those "familiar with the matter" say that Rodriguez and Lopez have "retained JPMorgan Chase" for the purpose of raising capital to help finance a possible bid. Adding veracity to the rumor, Variety names a specific Managing Director (Eric Menell) in their report. Menell is the co-head of North American media investment banking for that company.
This past December the Mets owners were set to sell as much as 80 percent of the club to hedge fund manager Steven Cohen, but those negotiations fell apart.
That deal had the organization valued at $2.6 billion. This is relevant because A-Rod and J-Lo have a combined net worth of $700 million. And though most celebrity net worth sites are fucking stupid and completely off and pointless, one can probably safely assume that the pair come well short of having $2.6 billion to spend on a baseball team by themselves.
That means that, like Jeter before them, they'd have to partner with (an)other deep-pocketed individual(s) to make a bid that would have a chance of winning. At the moment, Jeter runs business and baseball operations, though he only owns about four percent of the Marlins.
When he hit free agency for the first time in the 2000-01 offseason, A-Rod considered signing with the Mets (the White Sox too, not that it matters anymore). Instead he put his signature on a 10-year/$252 million deal, which dwarfed any contract a player had signed up until that point, to play with the Texas Rangers. After three years on that squad he was traded to the Yankees, which is whom he played for until his career wrapped up in 2016.
Variety adds that preconditions regarding control of the team wouldn't be a factor in the next sale, which was not the case when Cohen's purchase almost went through. The current owners (the beleaguered Wilpons) bought the team in 2002. Variety adds that whoever ends up owning the Mets next will "assume annual losses of at least $50 million."
Consider that something to keep in mind.
