Fans were elated on December 4, 2019 when reports came out that billionaire Steve Cohen was in talks to buy a majority of the Mets franchise. Mets fans have grown sick of the penny-pinching, meddling, and generally incompetent duo of Fred and Jeff Wilpon.
Cohen was expected to buy 80% of the franchise for $2.6 billion with a five-year plan that allowed the Wilpons to stay in the organization.
The Wilpons selling their majority stake is what many Mets fans have been hoping for since the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme that crippled Mets ownership financially.
Cohen was finally the guy that was going to bring the franchise back to the days of having a top payroll befitting of the large market they play in. But it was more than that. Fans were sick of the micromanaging from Jeff. It’s a long history of malpractice for Jeff, from telling stars to play through injuries to butting his head into minor league roster transactions.
Well Mets fans, I’m sad to report that meddling Jeff has struck again.
Rumors of the Mets sale to Cohen potentially dying started on Tuesday. Then Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred weighed in and said on Thursday that he didn’t expect the deal to happen. Any deal.
The New York Post is now reporting that the deal was derailed by none other than Jeff Wilpon.
It’s noted that late in the talks that Jeff wanted to maintain total operational control throughout the five-year transition period and also have a senior role after Cohen took over the reins of power.
“He is the owner and the de facto general manager. He does not want to give that up, even if everyone around him does.”
As usual, us fans are getting the short end of the stick. We have a right to be angry and upset.
That glimmer of hope we all had of finally getting a new owner who actually loved the team and had the financial wherewithal to build a winner, was suddenly thwarted.
