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Steve Cohen Reportedly Ending Negotiations To Buy Mets

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New York billionaire Steve Cohen “has decided to walk away” from his bid to buy an 80 percent share of the Mets from the Wilpon family, Thornton McEnery of the New York Post reports. Rumors of the deal falling through surfaced earlier today on Barstool Radio (Twitter link), and McEnery now reports that Cohen is “deeply unhappy” with the Wilpons’ attempt to make late changes to their agreement.

The Mets have yet to comment directly on the matter, although ownership did release the following statement in response to today’s rumors:

The parties are subject to confidentiality obligations, including a mutual non-disclosure agreement, and therefore cannot comment.

It was reported back in early December that Cohen, already a minority owner, was in talks with Fred Wilpon about a five-year sale plan that would see Cohen assume an 80 percent share of the team beginning with the 2025 season. The proposed arrangement would’ve seen Fred Wilpon remain the Mets’ control person and CEO for the next five years, with his son, Jeff Wilpon, staying on board as the COO for that same period of time. Although that’s a ways into the future, the very notion of a sale brought about hope for a Mets fan base that has long been infuriated with one of the game’s most widely criticized ownership groups. Now, it seems as though the status quo will be maintained indefinitely.

There’s no formal word yet that the deal has been laid to rest, but Joe Pantorno of amNewYork Metro writes that an official announcement could come later this week. If the deal does indeed crash and burn, it’ll be just the latest step in yet another drama-filled Mets offseason.

The Mets fired manager Mickey Callaway after the season ended and dragged out the interview/hiring process longer than nearly any other club, ultimately hiring Carlos Beltran to replace him. However, when Beltran was named in commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, the Mets took their time deliberating before eventually announcing a “mutual” decision to part ways with Beltran before he even managed a game. Quality control coach Luis Rojas was then named Beltran’s replacement. Beyond the sale that wasn’t to be and the hiring of two managers in a single offseason, the Mets also restructured the final year of Yoenis Cespedes’ $110MM contract after he was injured in what was reported to be an incident involving a wild boar on his ranch.

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Comments

  1. No please don’t. Please save the Mets from the wilpons! The Mets need you!!!!

    10

    • I am NOT a Mets fan but I really do feel sorry for those of you who are. For a while there I thought you had a prayer. Not now.

      4

      • I’m a Yankees fan and don’t get the Mets hatred. I feel bad for them now. With a new owner they had a shot at turning the organization around.
        And I would not be laughing at the Braves. They have young talent and a deep farm. They will be strong again.

        • Don’t feel bad. They’ll be playing baseball when yankees aren’t this year

    • As a Pirates fan, I have no sympathy for a team with 2 top line SPs and traded for hundreds of millions of dollars of Cano and Diaz last offseason.

  6. Only the Wilpon Family could screw this up. This is one of the main reasons why this franchise has been and will continue to be the laughingstock of major-league baseball and all of sports.

    3

      • Orioles not so anymore. Glad to be an O’s fan right now. The on field product at the major league level will be awful again, but the old man hasn’t been heard from in a year, the minor leagues are stockpiling actual prospects once again, there is investment in Latin America for the first time in decades, and the front office led by Elias has a good plan and they are sticking with it.

        3

        • A Braves fan is saying not really lol… y’all haven’t done anything in forever

        • Besides making the playoffs last year and having multiple MVP candidates…

          1

        • One true MVP candidate and he wasn’t even top 3…. you guys haven’t done anything for the longest time.. it was great having you guys win the division and lose right away. Lol. It won’t be as easy this year.

        • I’m not a Braves fan (though I don’t get why that matters) – not really.

        • Metsfan22 – After reading most of your comments, you appear to be a bragging, delusional jerk who thinks no one else’s opinion is in the same stratosphere as yours. Keep talking smack and disrespecting other people’s opinions…it suits you. I pull for the Mets and you embarrass me for doing that. The Mets may be good this year…then again, they may suck.

          1

      • The Marlins have only been around for 27 years and have as many WS titles at the Mets. The Pirates and Orioles have more.

        4

        • Would you like to bet which team does better for the next 10 years???? Don’t tell marlins have a top 10 farm. They will always mess it up.. marlins are a joke about to have back to back 100 loss seasons and you’re comparing them to the Mets??? You’re showing your knowledge..

        • Mets have had 13 losing seasons since 1990. That’s a 17 seasons over 30 years of having a .500 record or better. That’s ehhh for a New York franchise. Marlins have 6 winning seasons out of 27, had probably the worst owner in baseball history in Loria and still won 2 titles. Marlins are trash. So are the mets. Mets do have promise this year though. I will give it to Sandy for his drafts. They’d be cooked if he hadn’t drafted half this squad.

          1

        • Yes the past the Mets weren’t the best.. but I’m talking about present and recent years. Like 5 years max. And future. Mets are a better of one those 3 catergories than most team.. yet the LOL Mets phrase somehow still exist.

        • I’d take the Marlins of the last 20 years vs the Mets of the last 20. 2 rings > 0 rings.

        • This guy talks about the Mets like they are the Dodgers, lol.

          Most people are picking them for 3rd or 4th in the division.

          Outside of a little run in 15 and 16 the team has been a disaster for a long time.

          They have no depth and a depleted system that won’t help with trade upgrades or fill in as injuries hit.

          And now they can’t even say, but cohens money is coming.

          The wilpons were never selling, they pulled this same trick years ago, can’t believe you idiots fell for it again

          1

        • Mets have a 120 loss season. What’s your point ? Also, Marlins actually beat the Yankees in the WS when they play them…

        • Going by that logic he’d take the Marlins over the Dodgers the last 20 years as well.

      • As a fellow Mets fan, all I can say is that your desperate attempts to defend this often-underachieving and embarrassing organization are sad. In a way, you two are a match made in heaven: incompetence and delusion.

        To be clear, I think the Mets are overly hated on as an organization when there are, indeed, worse organizations out there in sports, but you take that feeling to the opposite extreme in attempting to wash away decades of mismanagement and meddling.on the part of the Wilpons.

        Or maybe you’re just okay with merely not being the worst. Makes you wonder why you’re a sports fan in the first place.

        3

        • No I agree before 2015

          But lately this organization is far better than most. That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s not that hard

      • Until the fans stop going to the games, buying merchandise., etc… the Wilpon Family has no reason to do a darned thing. They will continue to rake in the cash and screw over it’s fans. Sure glad I am not a Mets fan!!!

      • Marlins got something with Jeter cleaning house. It’s taking time but they are better for it.

  9. It’s bc the wilpons are old people stuck with 10 yr old minds. Nevertheless shouldn’t stop Mets from competing this year

    1

  12. Mets news like this always reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry ends up talking Mets baseball with a large naked man on the subway. After all the bemoaning and complaining they do, it ends with them both agreeing that “you gotta like their chances.”

    • Lol heck yeah. Same dude who played Mr Carosi on Saved By The Bell when the gang all somehow worked at the same beach resort and Zach macked it to teenage Leah Remini

      4

  13. Gotta love the Mets & the Jets. They continue to provide years and years of entertainment to the public…the Knicks are right there with them too!

    Or would think these NYC-based teams would have the best & brightest ownership and leadership given their financial resources and market size. Such an embarrassment for NYC and the entire state as well!

    1

    • This is so wrong tho.

      Mets will end a 5 year period where that make World Series once and playoffs twice(2020) and will be in a position to continue for years with their talent..

      The fact that you compared them to the jets and knicks shows your knowledge.

      • Exactly. It’s overblown nonsense. Mets actually have a decent track record in recent years.

        • yes the majority believes the Mets will make the WS in 2020 … oh wait no .. I, as a Braves fan, actually expect them to be good … but WS ..
          no

          1

        • I’m not saying I expect them there but they have the same chance to make as Braves. You guys probably have a better regular season team but if Mets get in they have a better chance..

        • Just bc your favorite doesn’t mean you’ll win division… I’m not saying Mets are favorite to win the division.. but the 100% could that’s how tight the NL east is

      • The joke is they could have been a helluva lot better with competent owners, but instead are mediocre with an occasional first round exit

        And an OFer who wrestles pigs instead of playing baseball. Among the other 15 laughable headlines in the last 5 years

        Now thats… the joke

    • This is so wrong tho.

      Mets will end a 5 year period where that make World Series once and playoffs twice(2020) and will be in a position to continue for years with their talent..

      The fact that you compared them to the jets and knicks shows your knowledge.

      • And what happens if we stretch that 5-year period out a bit further, hmm? Perhaps 20 years or so?

    • The Knicks and Jets are on their own separate tier of awfulness. The Wilpons suck, but this organization isn’t nearly the mess that they are. The Mets are merely mediocre versus disastrous.

      2

  14. Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Napoleonic Wars–era Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films, radio and television programmes, and C. Northcote Parkinson elaborated a definitive biography.

    1

    • Hey it could be worse.. we could be owned by a corporation that never spends a lot of money.

      • and which team are you talking about. it better not be Liberty, who threw around loads of money this offseason.

        1

        • Braves did on a lot of one year deals and still has a lower payroll than Mets.. you don’t think Mets would’ve spent If they started with a lower payroll?? We also didn’t go crazy bc we have to spend on some of our players soon.. don’t act like the Braves spend money.

        • Loads of money? I mean it’s all relative and they’ve topped $100m in total spending on free agents, but I wouldn’t call it loads of money. Especially not when they had room for a more substantial addition but played it safe.

          Hamels and Ozuna are essentially replacing the money spent on Donaldson and Keuchel. Will Smith is a substantial bullpen addition and he and Darnaud are really the only additional FA money added over last season.

          Liberty is spending but I think the point is a traditional ownership group may be willing to take more risks.

          1

  23. As the shitshow train goes off the tracks, it crashes into a raging dumpster fire. Fans remain optimistic that the team will compete for a post season berth.

  24. man, as much as being a Phillies fan has made Mets failures fun, i really do feel bad for their fans, especially now

    1

    • You’re not going to feel bad when the season starts lol. I’m not saying Mets will win division but will definitely be closer than Phillies lol

      • What will you do if the Mets don’t finish ahead of Philly? East your hat? Just wondering. Because boastful predictions are cheap and meaningless without some skin in the game.

      • We’ll see. I don’t see how you could say that with absolute confidence.

      • We’ll see. I don’t see how you could say that with absolute confidence.

    • I feel bad for all fans of incompetent ownership, and there are plenty of them.

  25. Every time you think James Dolan is the worst owner in sports…. if Manfred had any guts he’d step in

  26. MLB and boyfred do such a horrific job of allowing teams to be owned by people like the wilpons and the dolans and the steingrabbers . Just a wasteland of human wealth that has nothing to do with intelligence and leadership. Another one bites the dust.

  28. You can’t get rid of dysfunctional bloodlines from lucrative cash cows.

    2

  29. Perhaps he can rid himself of the Mets minority ownership and instead replace John Sherman as a partial owner of the Indians with an agreement to take over full ownership in the future…

    Just an idea…

  30. According to proposals of the deal before it died, is that the Wilpons would have maintained control for five years before it would have transferred to Cohen. They most likely tried to extend that and get more money. Selfish family. They had the chance to make more than the team is actually worth. Should’ve just taken the money and happily walked away.

    1

    • arinyc That part of the deal was always weird to me. If you sell just get out and let the new owner step in. Them wanting to stick around and maintain control for another 5 years doesn’t seem very appealing for any buyer to agree to. I doubt any buyer would have any interest in those clowns staying involved.

      1

  31. Wishfully—— Steven Cohen might make the same offer to the St. Louis Cardinals. Looks like both the Cardinals Owners and Front Office need a total Overhaul. Steve Cohen is the man who could do just that!!!

  32. Live my mets, but these wilpons do whatever for publicity and got people to buy season tickets thinking things where going to change..nope

    1

  34. It was humorous to hear WFAN when this was first announced, as if the Mets would actually do something correctly.

    1

  36. MetsFan22, you are a true Mets fan, I admire your single handed pursuit here on this thread to make the Mets sound like a decent team with good ownership, we all know you are delusional, but we admire your loyalty to your team. Each of us should be as loyal to our teams as you are to yours. Keep fighting the good fight dude!

    2

    • This is really funny….. you’re just a hater..
      We do have horrible owners!
      Nobody is saying we don’t.
      We don’t have the best organization buts it’s far from the worst… marlins and pirates are some I could name more
      And if you don’t think this Mets team could compete you’re just following a stupid narrative. But nice try.. now please don’t write back. I don’t want to lose brain cells

      • You cannot compare the Marlins of all organizations to the Mets, as the latter has vastly more resources and support available to it. It’s like comparing apples to Nazi oranges.

        What makes this organization, and the other crappy NY organizations, so disappointing is that they should be much better than they are due to their inherent advantages, yet they are somehow still terrible (Knicks/Jets) or merely mediocre (Mets, even with the current upswing).

        • Yes I agree with you. But I’m saying rn the Mets aren’t as bad as people think organizational wise bc they are about good for years to come with the young players they have and have made WS recently

  38. Eh, not the end of the world. Good riddance to him.

    …who am I kidding? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

    I always figured this might fall through because Wilpons but come on.

    1

  40. The Mets remind me so much of the New York FOOTBALL Giants of the 70s and early 80s. A supposed “paragon” franchise (because of market size) that was so messed up, it was hard to fathom.

    So Pete Rozelle told the two owners (brothers who didn’t talk to each other) that (a) George Young would make all the decisions and (b) the two brothers could go to the office to pick up the money, that’s it. Young hired Parcells, and the rest is history.

    BUT nobody said Robby Manfred (serf to the owners) is Pete Rozelle…..

        • Take off the Mets homer goggles and you’ll see it.

          If it wasn’t for a Red Sox implosion in Game 6 in 1986, the Mets would be in as long a championship drought as those two franchises as well.

          The Mets are very similar to those other two franchises in so many ways.

          2

        • Those two teams have no shot of winning championship this year. Like or not mets do.

  41. I’m a Philly guy with the obligatory hate for the Mets, but… MLB needs to step in and force this sale immediately. Wilpons have disgraced that franchise long enough.

    2

    • As a Marlins fan that endured many rough years of the snake oil salesman John Henry and then the the anti-King Midas in Jeffery Loria, I also agree that the Wilpons need to be gone. MLB is better when every team has ownership that actually cares about the sport and doesn’t use their franchise solely as a cash cow.

      2

  43. Why even own a team when you’re universally hated by your fan base. Not sure what the draw is to that situation.

    2

    • Misery loves company sometimes…see the Wilpons and see Jeffrey Loria in both Montreal and Miami.

  45. What’s the Deal with New York team ownership??? The Dooan’s are the Worst in the NBA and The Wilpons are the worst in the MLB!!! Can’t get any worst if the McCourts if they bought the Mets!!!

    1

  46. The commissioner needs to take the team from the Wilpons. It’s a disgrace that a team in a prime market like NY is run by such incompetent fools. And I am a Boston fan.

    2

  50. I’d like to once again thank the Mets on behalf of all Marlins, Braves, Phillies, and Nats fans in their continuing efforts to be the laughing stock of the division. When our teams stink, we can always count on the Mets to take away from the attention of that, and give us a good laugh when our teams aren’t doing well.

    Thank you…thank you…thank you to the New York Mets!

    PS: 1986

    Sincerely,

    Marlins fans
    Braves fans
    Phillies fans
    Nats fans

    2

  52. I have it on the BEST authority (Gloomberg News Service) that Cohen is being replaced as a potential buyer of the Mets by a consortium known as HBET Unlimited.

    Not much is known about HBET except that the “H” stands for Hunter and the “E” stands for Eric………

  53. I have to say this. There is something wrong when fan bases have to deal with the McCourts as long as they did; Jeffery Loria through two cities of destruction; and the Wilpons as long as they are doing, but MLB has done everything to keep guys like Mark Cuban out, and even a guy like Gustavo Cisneros and Jorge Mas out as well. Cuban, while a unique personality, has shown that he is a competent sports franchise owner. Loria destroyed hurt baseball in two cities. The McCourts used the Dodgers as their child to hurt each other and couldn’t make payroll. The Wilpons are just a fecal storm. This whole ‘Good Ole Boy Network’ that has dictated MLB ownership has hurt the game more than helped it. They need to let new blood in.

    2

    • Jeter should be on the phone with Steve Cohen this morning offering up a chance to stick it to the Wilpons for the next decade as the new owner of the Marlins.

    • What does the BMF Jorge Masvidal have to do with this? Did he also try to buy a MLB team?

  54. My grandma was selling our bowling alley to a local car dealership that wanted to tear it down and put a new dealership on the property which was prime. When she didn’t like the terms she went to the paper and told them she was pulling out and it would be business as usual. It was all a ploy to get a better deal. She went so low as to write an open letter to her customers saying we’d still be there for them. A week later she got want she wanted and sold to the dealership. Maybe that is what this guy is doing. Looking to pressure them into agreeing to his terms

    • I saw a unicorn and he let me ride him to catch a leprechaun who I used Jedi Harry Potter powers on to make him give me his gold just before we went to find Smeagle to get his “precious”, before we later conquered Thanos to decorate the precious with some Infinity Stones.

      2

  55. But of course the Wilpons screwed this up. Please go away and take Dolan with you so the Knicks can become relevant again too.

  56. The repulsive Wilpons chisel themselves out of a deal, and screw the fans out of an owner that, at the least, probably is not hopelessly incompetent.

    Fxxx this team.

  60. Guys, let’s have a productive discussion to come up with a real potential solution here shall we? If we (mets fans) all just boycott the opening week and not show up to the games, or until WIlpons leave the office. How hard is it? Tired of mets fan crying so much but do nothing about it.

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