In Miami, Barry Jackson reported Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria in recent months has “rejected overtures from a half dozen people who expressed interest in buying the Marlins," including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. A source said that Bush “made a ‘large offer’ to buy the team this offseason, but Loria told him he’s not selling.” Another source said that Bush had “put together a group of wealthy investors, with Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo Cisneros among possibilities mentioned.” Cisneros declined to comment (MIAMIHERALD.com, 2/6).
FAILURE TO LAUNCH: SPORTING NEWS’ Anthony Witrado wrote after the Astros traded SS Jed Lowrie to the A’s on Monday, the team’s payroll to begin '13 now "should shrink closer" to $25M than the "originally reported" $30M. Some fans “might be alarmed by the Astros’ decision to trade away major league talent, thus cutting costs.” MLB has only once “gotten involved with a team doing something similar,” which was with the Marlins in ’10. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow “seems to know what he is doing with the franchise and has a plan for this rebuild," so MLB "doesn’t need to get involved" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 2/5).
MEET THE BETS: SportsNet N.Y.’s Jonas Schwartz said of reports the Mets are interested in building a casino next to Citi Field, “Major League Baseball wanting to avoid the perception of a cozy relationship with gambling might not love this if it is true.” The N.Y. Daily News’ Frank Isola said MLB would not have a problem with it because “there’s sports betting that goes on all over the place” and the Mets are “clearly trying to do something with that land" (“Daily News Live,” SportsNet N.Y., 2/5).
ANGEL OF MINE: Angels VP/Marketing & Ticket Sales Robert Alvarado said that the team in its dynamic pricing system “will not set prices for single-game tickets until the day they go on sale.” In L.A., Bill Shaikin noted those prices will be “determined in part by how many seats already have been sold for each game.” Once single-game tickets go on sale Feb. 23, the Angels “plan to constantly adjust prices based on supply and demand.” Alvarado said that the Angels “sold the equivalent of about 24,000 season tickets last season,” and the team “projects a similar number this season” (LATIMES.com, 2/5).
A BRONX TALE: In N.Y., John Crudele writes the Yankees “may think they got rid of StubHub by signing a deal with TicketMaster,” but the ticket reseller recently sent out an e-mail offering “plenty of Yankee tickets.” StubHub has “thousands” of Spring Training tickets, and "thousands of other tickets for regular season games at prices below what the Yankees are asking.” StubHub lists tickets for the April 18 game against the D’Backs for $8, but "those same seats are $20” at the Yankee Stadium box office (N.Y. POST, 2/7).
