Mas was eventually beat out by a $1.2B bid led by Derek Jeter and Bruce ShermanGETTY IMAGES
Former Marlins President David Samson recently revealed that the former ownership group "planned to sell the team" to Inter Miami Managing Owner Jorge Mas last summer if he had been "able to come up with the agreed-to financing," according to Barry Jackson of the MIAMI HERALD. Samson said that after Mas bid $1.2B for the team last summer, he "informed Mas he would be sold the team if he could reach that figure, even if the other bidding groups bid the same." Samson: "We chose Mas to sell the team to. We thought he was going to get the team at $1.2 billion." Samson said that the Marlins "preferred selling to a local owner if all things were equal because as a local owner, Mas 'would have been what the Marlins never had.'" Samson: "Local ownership would have been better for the team." Jackson notes the Marlins were eventually sold to a group led by Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman for $1.2B, and Samson said, "Mas and Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman had the same bid but Mas wasn't able to finance the bid." Mas via email yesterday said that Samson's comments are "accurate." Samson said that Sherman and Jeter "got the team only because they offered the most money, disputing any thought" that former Owner Jeffrey Loria "wanted Jeter to get the team." Samson: "Jeffrey had absolutely no preference during the process. He left me alone to complete the process and get the best deal possible" (MIAMI HERALD, 12/6).
