Photo: Steve Marcus

The sale of the New York Mets has been a wild ride, but one that is nearing its finish line as we are less than two weeks away from the final bids being submitted at month’s end.

All reports paint this auction to be a two-man race between hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen and former player Alex Rodriguez, but no one can agree on who the favorite really is between the two.

Due to his immense wealth, Cohen has been tabbed as the front-runner in an article by the Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan, yet that does not mean he is necessarily a slam dunk choice in the eyes of Major League Baseball.

One of Kaplan’s sources suggests that the sale of the Mets is not unlike a “bad election choice”, where there is a lot of contention on who is the best candidate, with both parties drawing ire because of their questionable pasts.

Cohen is a shrewd investor, who has made a fortune with his various hedge-funds with the latest being Point72 Asset Management. While he has been very successful in his field, there are moral question to consider with Cohen, as his former fund SAC Capital plead guilty to insider trading back in 2013 and were forced to pay a record $1.8 billion fine.

According to Kaplan’s sources, MLB owners have compared Cohen to Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, who is known for his reputation of bending the rules for personal gain. Some owners are concerned with the methods Cohen may take to win, which may include investing far more into team payroll than anyone has in the past.

The other top suitor for the Mets comes with his own baggage, as Rodriguez had a tumultuous end to his playing career. Between his various steroid suspensions and his staunch denial of guilt in those cases, Rodriguez has fought against the vary club he so wishes to join now. There has been a level of forgiveness in allowing Rodriguez into the game as a broadcaster, but taking over a franchise as the owner is a different level entirely.

Even with the A-Rod’s past with baseball, a bigger concern in his buying of the team is whether he has enough money to keep the Mets afloat. Derek Jeter’s purchase of the Marlins is not considered a ringing endorsement in this instance either, as Jeter was forced to slash payroll after winning a bidding war to land his franchise. MLB would be hesitant to let a similar scenario play out again, particularly in a market like New York.

This is why all roads lead back to Steve Cohen, whose wealth is welcomed now more than ever. The league has taken a big hit financially due to the pandemic and is expected to swallow losses for the next few years before things get back to normal.

The Mets have large debt payments for Citi Field coming next year, which is likely a reason the Wilpons are selling in the first place. Since the team was reported to have annual losses pre-COVID, it is hard to imagine what the future losses for the franchise will be for the new owners. Especially when the team’s only cash cow, SNY, is not being included in the sale.

One source from Kaplan’s report in the Athletic said the following:

“Baseball is in a position today where the No. 2 team in the largest market is going to get sold. It’s losing, depending on who you talk to, $30 (million), $50 million a year (in a normal year). It doesn’t include its broadcaster, interest in its broadcast for at least another eight or 10 years. And you’re in a post COVID world with tremendous financial uncertainty. These are the kinds of situations where you go with the guy with the biggest checkbook.”

Cohen is a longtime Mets fan, who has shown himself to be very motivated to land this team at all costs. The Wilpons may not like the man after the original sale of the team fell apart, but they are not in the position to turn down their highest bidder.