Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday met with Miami Marlins President David Samson and Yankees Legend Derek Jeter to get a status report on the difficult sale of the team, sources said.
Jeter confirmed at the meeting he did not have the money to buy the Marlins for its $1.3 billion asking price, according to a source.
The news was first reported Thursday by the Miami Herald.
Suitors interested in buying the Marlins for considerably less are trying to arrange meetings with Jeter, two sources said.
The bidding teams who months ago expressed a willingness to pay $1.3 billion for the struggling baseball team — one led by Jeter and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and the other by former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s son Tagg — have fallen well short of raising the roughly $1 billion in cash needed to complete the deal and get it approved by MLB, sources said.
Bush has withdrawn from the process.
As the sale process has progressed, the financial prospects for the Marlins have gotten worse. Marlins attendance has fallen by about 5 percent compared with 2016, and they are losing on the field. Marlins losses next year are now projected to reach about $70 million compared with $40 million this season, two sources said.
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, unable to attract a bid at his already reduced $1.3 billion asking price, is likely facing a tough choice — cut the price a second time or take his money-losing team off the block.
Article Appeared @http://nypost.com/2017/06/23/jeter-admits-he-doesnt-have-enough-money-to-buy-the-marlins/