The Marlins are “moving forward” in negotiations with the would-be ownership group headlined by Derek Jeter and Jeb Bush, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (links to Twitter). The organization is said to be “optimistic” that a deal will be reached to transfer control from current owner Jeffrey Loria to Bush, who’d be the new control person, and the four other members of the group. It’s said to be an “agreement in principle” that sets a $1.3B purchase price.
This report follows some conflicting signals sent throughout the day. Earlier, a report suggested that the Jeter/Bush group was the only possible bidder left due to a lack of interest. But even that group was said not to have submitted a firm offer, with financing still in the works. Marlins president David Samson flatly rejected this report, saying it was strewn with errors but declining to specify or correct them.
Later, Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg reported that the Jeter/Bush group had “won the auction” for the organization — which presents quite a different picture of the entire process. In addition to framing it as an “auction” for the first time, this report says that there were multiple other bidding groups, including one headed by businessman Wayne Rothbaum and another led by Tagg Romney (which included Hall-of-Fame hurler Tom Glavine). When asked to respond, Samson stated that he would not offer any comment, as Tim Healey of the Sun-Sentinel tweets.
Notably, none of the reports suggest that any paperwork has been signed. It’s important to bear in mind, too, that even in the event that a preliminary agreement is struck, it would still be subject to a lengthy finalization process — between the parties and also involving authorization from Major League Baseball.
a1544
Jeter will make the Marlins great again
Joe Kerr
He can start by removing that awful looking thing in left center.
baseballisdead
maybe he could if it didn’t belong to Stanton
bastros88
or just move out of that ballpark, it hurts my eyes
trulyyoung1992
They already have a VERY good, young lineup. Yelich, Realmuto, Stanton, Ozuna and Dee Gordon are all very nice pieces, throw in a .300 hitter in Prado and the first baseman who has some pop and that’s a top 5 lineup in the NL. They need to put money (and a lot of it) into pitching because they have none (and none to develop).
Pjzza
Perfect summary of this team. It would have been cool to see them invest in Edwin instead of Volquez and try to acquire a ypung pitcher instead.
bravesfan1998
They don’t have any good pitchers
bravesfan1998
Except Koehler
billysbballz
Make Marlins great again!
Nice slogan post above.
koz16
I don’t care what Forbes says, $1.3B for the Marlins organization is an overpay. The only way you pay that is if you’re planning to move the team to a better attendance market. And that stadium – it looks like the Green Giant threw up in it.
ReverieDays
Had to pander to the market that lives there, even though they still don’t come to games.
johncena2016
Jeb! and Jeets, what a combo lmfao.
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
How can you turn $91 million into almost $1.2 billion? Buy some bonds from Miami-Dade County.
Some of the Money to buy the Marlins should go back to Miami Dade and the taxpayers within that County!!!!
Loria should not pocket all of it.
halos101
congrats marlins fans, it’s over
thegreatcerealfamine
Do you care to elaborate?
halos101
having to deal with loria is over is what i meant.
thegreatcerealfamine
Right on!! Jete should at least show stability.
24TheKid
That’s not a douche bag comment at all, it was just a comment that didn’t need to be made due to how obvious it was.
atlbraves2010
Do you honestly believe that his death devalued that franchise by an amount in the billions? come on now, be realistic
Spyglass1
Such a great market for baseball. Hope they can turn things around down there.
StillMadAboutGame6
How excited are marlins fans right now?
reflect
I’m sure all 10 of them are thrilled.
bravesfan1998
Lol
baseballisdead
yes we are
elgmac
I’m # 11 how about that
garchu
One of the greatest athletes working with one of the worst anythings. Not sure how that could get worse. Chipper Jones going into business with Rick Santorum?
Roasted DNA
Anything to remove the crook we know as Jeff Loria. Bud Selig should be embarrassed for the scheme they perpetrated against Montreal. Just modern day greed destroying what was a very good franchise.
tealmarlin
Make the Marlins wear Pinstripes, and change that ugly logo, the Florida Marlin logo was good. change the F for an M and thats it.
GarryHarris
If Loria is in the picture, he will wrest control back.