Talks End Between Mets, Steve Cohen Over Ownership Bid

9:06PM: Cohen released a statement to reporters (including Kevin Draper of the New York Times) saying, “I’m very disappointed we couldn’t work out a deal, but as an eight percent holder I’m looking forward to a higher bid for the team.  I want to thank the fans for their support and the respect they showed me and I want to thank Commissioner Manfred and MLB for their support through the process.  I gave it my best shot.”

1:54PM: News broke earlier this week that hedge fund manager Steve Cohen was ending his bid to become the Mets’ majority owner, and those reports were confirmed today by no less a source than Rob Manfred.  The commissioner told reporters (including the New York Times’ Kevin Draper and the Associated Press) today that “there is not going to be a transaction” between Cohen and the Mets’ current majority owners, the families of Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz.  As to whether new negotiations could arise between the two sides, Manfred didn’t sound overly optimistic, saying “my soothsaying isn’t great. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

As per Tuesday’s report from Thornton McEnery of the New York Post, the proposed ownership transfer (which would have seen Cohen fully take over an 80 percent controlling share of the Mets by the 2025 season) fell through due to some proposed changes to the deal made by the Wilpons late in negotiating period.  McEnery went into further detail about these changes today in a new piece for the Post, writing that the role of team COO Jeff Wilpon going forward was under dispute.  The Wilpon family wanted Jeff to remain in his current position “and then maintain a senior role within the organization even after Cohen took over.”

Whether this was actually the key breaking point in talks, however, remains unclear.  An unnamed former Mets employee told McEnery it is hard to believe that Jeff Wilpon’s future role would have still been unsettled this late in the process, and McEnery also wrote that “one source familiar with the talks said that Cohen was trying to change the financial terms of the deal.”

Manfred also strongly spoke out in defense of the current Mets ownership group, saying “based on conversations with the buyer and the seller on an ongoing basis, the assertion that the transaction fell apart because of something the Wilpons did is completely and utterly unfair.”

Cohen is still involved with the Mets, as he purchased eight percent of the club back in 2012.  There have yet to be any reports or even real speculation about whether or not he could look to divest himself of his share of the franchise entirely, or whether he will remain part of the ownership mix.  Likewise, it isn’t known if the Wilpons will continue to pursue a sale of the team, though whatever the future holds, it indeed seems like a Wilpon-to-Cohen deal isn’t happening.  As per McEnery, the Wilpons “are upset and angry with the death of this deal coming out in the press and that they are as ready to kill this deal as Cohen is.”