By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
There's going to continue to be a lot of this kind of talk and speculation as long the situations with both teams remain muddled, with the New York Post today reporting that Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg is eyeing buying the Mets .
After reporting that there are about a dozen "legitimate" candidates interested in buying the minority share in the team the financially troubled Wilpons want to sell, the Post says Sternberg is "strongly considering" buying a majority stake - even though the Wilpons aren't planning on selling that.
As Sternberg told the Times and other Tampa Bay media last month , he told the Post he had no interest. There have been some blog posts and other speculative pieces suggesting a complicated plan in which Sternberg would work with MLB to sell the Rays (even back to MLB, making them a prime candidate for contraction) and buy the Mets.
Here is the Post report:
In addition to the candidates whose bona fides are currently being checked by MLB, the current majority owner of the Tampa Bay Rays is strongly considering taking a crack at buying the Mets -- but not just a small piece, sources said.
Rays owner Stuart Sternberg -- a Brooklyn native, St. John's grad, and current Mets season-ticket holder --last night told The Post, "The Wilpons have been great owners, and I have no interest in buying the Mets."
But sources said that if the Wilpon family is forced to sell its majority stake -- against its current wishes -- Sternberg would be interested, and is a logical choice to buy the team given his strong existing ties to both baseball and Wall Street.
Sternberg's candidacy would be helped by having baseball Commissioner Bud Selig as a strong ally. But he would have to sell the Rays as a prerequisite to purchasing the Mets.