According to the New York Post, Wayne Rothbaum — president, managing director, and founder of Quogue Capital LLC, a private investment firm based in New York — is only interested in purchasing the New York Mets at a substantially discounted rate.

“Rothbaum is still interested in buying the money-losing MLB franchise from the Wilpons, but without the team’s money-making cable network, SNY, included,” Thornton McEnery wrote. “Rothbaum would only pony up at an amazin’ discount.”

Rothbaum had been linked to the prospective purchasing team of former MLB All-Star and current analyst, Alex Rodriguez, and his fiancee, Jennifer Lopez — a prominent actor and entertainer — by Variety on April 21.

According to the report, “Rothbaum has submitted an application to Major League Baseball”, but sources indicated he’d rather “serve as an investor in the team and not the controlling partner.”

The Post reports that without SNY attached to the deal, Rothbaum is hoping to pay as little as $1 billion for the team, currently valued at $2.4 billion with SNY by Forbes.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, who still owns a minority stake in the team, had a deal in place to purchase the team — sans SNY — for $2.6 billion in February but fell through shortly thereafter.

The Wilpons rumored insistence of a five-year transition period after the proposed sale to Cohen has been rumored to be a point of contention — as was Cohen’s reported changing of terms late in the process — though, due to confidentiality agreements, the true source of the deal’s breakdown has not been released.

Following the global outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the Mets — like many other professional sports franchises — have been reported to be in financial distress.

Laura Goldman — a former contributor to ABC News and the Huffington Post — reported last week that, per a current minority owner, Mets ownership is “facing big losses and capital calls which some of the owners can’t pay.”

This could leave the Wilpons in the precarious scenario of having to sell the Mets, instead of simply wanting to sell and finding a buyer through conventional means. That could also leave the door ajar for other potential bidders to enter — or re-enter — the picture.

AM New York reported last week that Cohen is still lurking, and the Post alluded to the same notion on Thursday, quoting a source as saying,” I don’t see how Steve Cohen doesn’t end up with the Mets at this point.”

Keep it locked onto MMO for more news as it becomes available.