Steve Cohen, billionaire hedge fund manager and minority owner of the Mets, is among a group of at least five bids to purchase the Mets, according to a new report.
Per Scott Soshnick of Sportico, Cohen, Devils and 76ers owner Josh Harris (along with business partner David Blitzer), and former big-leaguer Alex Rodriguez all submitted "first-round bids" to purchase the team, meeting the reported deadline of July 9 set by Allen & Company, the investment bank overseeing the sale.
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@CGasparino
BREAKING: After weeks of negotiations, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen has told Wilpons he would pay $2 billion for @Mets & would pay $2 billion for @SNYtv. Other bids for the team so far are lower meaning he is (as reported by @FoxBusiness) the lead bid. Timing unclear
Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
· 9h
BREAKING: After weeks of negotiations, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen has told Wilpons he would pay $2 billion for @Mets & would pay $2 billion for @SNYtv. Other bids for the team so far are lower meaning he is (as reported by @FoxBusiness) the lead bid. Timing unclear
Or development rights in the Willet's point area being included.
Michael Mayer
@mikemayerMMO
·
2m
From the New York Post, "Mets COO Jeff Wilpon would prefer to sell the team to J-Rod if their offer is close to the best bid at the end of the auction, several sources said."
Now that said i could see Arod being more willing to keep the wilpons around in some regard. Where as i think Cohen would show them the door as fast as humanly possible.
Just sell both the team and SNY to Cohen. Take your 4 Billion dollars and just leave mets fans alone. Go be rich and invest in other shit.
Picture the scenario:
Cohen buys Mets, Mets fans rejoice at finally having an owner with deep pockets, not like with the Wilpons.
Cohen starts spending, Mets fans rejoice and articles are written saying Mets finally spending like big market team they are, not like with the Wilpons.
Mets win a World Series. Cohen is immortalized as savior of Mets, saving them from the Wilpons.
That is a nightmare for them at every step of the road.
No doubt, they would prefer to sell to someone who would be as cash strapped as them.
If nothing other than out of sheer pettiness.
Art Shamsky
@ArtShamsky
· 4m
Steve Cohen is just what the #Mets need — a huge fan of the team to begin with and has the funds to put a winning team together. A perfect combo #LGM
there's another report out there that the MLB owners won't approve any sale that values the Mets below $2bn. This seems highly believable and obvious to me and if I were an MLB owner I'd probably do the same. And again, supposedly the A-Rod group offer values them at $2.125bn.
Now for the reading between the lines - the comment that Jeff would prefer to sell to A-Rod. Let's parse that a little bit. No matter how much they've reacquainted themselves there is no way Cohen is getting the team unless he is top bid. Full stop. That much is obvious. The Wilpons would prefer to sell to someone else. So this leak that Jeff would prefer to sell to A-Rod is both fitting with their MO for flashy news that wins the backpages and the likely reality that there's a better relationship there than with Cohen. And it serves to make sure Cohen knows he's only winning this battle one way - $$$$ (which I'm sure he's fully aware of in the first place).
All of which again calls into question the logic/accuracy of the report of Cohen potentially offering a lower valuation of the team, unless the offer on SNY is the piece that's too attractive to pass up. Either way at this point I think all signs still point to Cohen being the mostly likely buyer because he's interested and has the most money. I'm surprised he put in any formal round 1 bid and that would signal to me that he wants to get something done and is not looking to play games.
Rodriguez and Lopez envision their ownership of the team as re-imagining the Mets brand and Citi Field as an entertainment venue. Sources now say that the pair has been researching how to redevelop the ballpark and the area around it to make Willets Point a place where families could spend a day before, during and after a ballgame.
In terms of Citi Field itself, the early plans include adding some seats closer to the field. J-Rod would reportedly also want to create a field-level box area for celebrity Mets fans like Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Matthew Broderick in the mold of the Knicks’ “Celebrity Row.”
“With their connections, Willets could become a Wrigleyville in Queens,” one person with knowledge of J-Rod’s thinking said.
Ballpark Digest - ( New Window )
A-Rod is literally the perfect type of personality to sell Fred/Jeff. He is the BVW of potential buyers.
I think there is a precedent for MLB getting involved.
Michael Mayer
@mikemayerMMO
·
2h
From the New York Post, "Mets COO Jeff Wilpon would prefer to sell the team to J-Rod if their offer is close to the best bid at the end of the auction, several sources said."
Just when I couldn’t dislike this guy any more. Just please sell to Cohen and go away.
He later walked that back saying he'd walk away from talks if he didn't like what the Wilpons were saying.
Are you saying that Fred sees financial RE upside beyond this transaction, which could tempt him into taking a lesser $ offer today but on the belief there would be a bigger gain in the future? Buying that monorail is very on brand for the Wilpons actually - they are always smarter than doing the obvious.
Also 1 point of clarification (not for you just in general) but the $2.6b number people throw out was the valuation in the original deal Cohen offered, not the amount he was offering which was 80% of that. So his previous agreement was reported to be just under 2.1bn. That's why it would seem to make more sense now that his current offer of 2bn is down from that but not dramatically so. If his current offer is $500m lower overall and $100m lower than the A-Rod group he isn't getting the team.
Nice that it got "leaked" (I wonder from who...) so that Fred Wilpon's other kids not named Jeff, and Saul Katz's family will be drooling. Massive pressure on Fred not to fuck this up.
He’s a family guy
@AnthonyDiComo
·
3m
Robinson Canó was not at Citi Field the past two days, Brodie Van Wagenen confirmed, but he won't comment further on why.
"There's a variety of reasons why players are here or not here on a given day, and we're going to protect those players' rights," Van Wagenen said.
I'd love to see Gimenez win the 2B job, or even just get his feet wet splitting time with Lowrie and his bionic leg.
Cano and/or Cespedes were wild cards who could have had a big impact in a shortened season, but their contributions to MLB are mostly in the past not the future, and possibly not even present.
@CGasparino
·
2h
Some additional info on
@Mets
bidding derby (thread) 1-Steve Cohen's interest in the team is well defined, but there is no auction just yet on
@SNYtv
. When there is, his eyeball $2 billion valuation should drop dramatically. Network makes money, but has tons of debt, which will
Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
·
2h
cut its price significantly. 2-Lots of reporting about 7 bidders, but no one can figure out who they are outside of Cohen/
@AROD
-
@JLo
-Viola-Repoli/Harris Blitzer Sports. 3-Interesting trash talking in the bidding group w people repping Steve Cohen telling other bidders how much
Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
·
2h
money the Mets are losing, in an effort, to push down competing bids, I am told. Leaks from Mets side that Jeff Wilpon prefers to sell to
@AROD
to push bids higher. More as I get it.
I'm not expert but this seems good.
Jon Heyman
@JonHeyman
·
3m
MLB updated numbers: 83 positive tests out of 11K tests done (71 players, 12 staff). 0.7 percent positive.
Makes sense. I believe he and his wife are adopting a baby.
Important to keep in mind as we all collectively say "other countries are playing we should too", the answer is we can so long as our protocols work as well as their's do.
Statement on results of COVID-19 tests 6 Jul 2020 - ( New Window )