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Samson Says Marlins' Talks With Kushners "Over," But Many Groups Still Interested

Marlins President David Samson on Friday said the discussions the team was having with N.Y.-based venture capitalist Joshua Kushner about buying the club are "over now," according to Tim Healey of the South Florida SUN-SENTINEL. Samson: "There are many groups who are interested. We field offers often. The difference now is those offers are being looked at very seriously." Samson said he has "great respect" for Kushner and "enjoyed the process" of getting to know Kushner's business partner and brother-in-law Joseph Meyer. But Samson said the sales process "didn’t come to a final conclusion." Samson: "And that’s how it goes. That’s not an uncommon thing, that deals don’t happen. That is normal." Asked if Owner Jeffrey Loria is actively trying to sell the club, Samson said, "I don’t know that I’d use the verb ‘active.' The offers that are coming, we’d listen to with greater interest. When you do that, you tend to have the willingness to have a successful transaction be completed.” Samson also confirmed Loria is "under consideration to be the U.S. ambassador to France" in President Trump's administration (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 2/18). In Miami, Clark Spencer noted Loria and his wife on Friday dodged a "large throng of reporters" with questions about a possible sale. Loria: "There’s nothing to talk about. When there’s news, you’ll know it" (MIAMI HERALD, 2/18). In N.Y., Josh Kosman cited sources as saying that Loria "was asking" $1.8B for the Marlins, and Kushner’s offer of around $1.3B was "looking to the outside world like a bargain." But sources said that it "was not." A rival suitor said that the most he would offer would be less than $1B, since the Marlins lose roughly $30M a year, "already have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball and own a new stadium" (NYPOST.com, 2/19). 

WORN OUT HIS WELCOME? A South Florida SUN-SENTINEL editorial stated that Marlins fans have "long tired of Loria's penny-pinching ways, his regular sell-offs of top players and his constant claims that the ball club is oh-so-poor." The editorial: "Coal arrived in our stockings Thursday with the news that the potential buyers ... decided not to pursue the purchase at this time." Still, the takeaway is that Loria is "shopping the Marlins and other potential buyers are reportedly interested" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 2/18). In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde wrote a new Marlins owner would inherit a payroll that was "strategically set up by Loria to grow exponentially after he leaves," so by '18 five players will make $95M. There will be a "bankrupt farm system that will take years and money to rebuild; attendance traditionally bringing up the rear despite a new stadium; and a small, local TV contract that doesn’t run out until" '20. Hyde: "How’s that for a sales pitch?" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 2/18). 

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