The Mets have "reached agreement to sell seven minority shares of the team for $20 million each," according to a source cited by Steven Marcus of NEWSDAY. The source said the seven units are "signed and sealed." The team has said that it "intends to sell 10 units, for a total of $200 million, to pay of existing loans and help with operating expenses" during the season. A source "identified one of the investors as billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen," who has also been identified as a bidder for the Dodgers. A source previously said that he would "divest his share with the Mets if he prevailed in his bid with the Dodgers." Cohen initially was "in the running for a larger portion of the Mets when the team considered selling to a single investor" (NEWSDAY, 2/23). In N.Y., Thompson & O'Keeffe cited a source as saying that Cohen and the other investors "have been vetted" by MLB, which also indicates that Cohen "doesn't have any issues that would prevent him from buying the Dodgers" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/23).
CLOUD OVER THE FRANCHISE: ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian today previewed the Mets' prospects this season and said, "I think the Mets are in big trouble here. ... The only questions with this team are what is going to be the ownership situation and what is the financial situation, and that is still of course way up in the air. That affects everything that they do” (“Mike & Mike in the Morning,” ESPN Radio, 2/23).
