Romney vs. Bush

Bush/Jeter may get publicity, but it will come down to other investors

Not politics — for the Marlins. Dave Hyde,

On one side, Jeb Bush said Tuesday he’s “confident” his syndicate that involves former New York Yankee Derek Jeter will be approved to buy the Miami Marlins.

On the other side, Tagg Romney’s group has put in a bid larger than the $1.3 billion of the Bush/Jeter bid, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, though it is not believed to be significantly larger.

Both sides have known names. Both have a syndicate of investors — Romney’s group is smaller than Bush/Jeter, the source said. And, most important, both apparently have the money to buy the team.

“We have two very strong groups that we believe will have sufficient financial resources to complete the sale and run the team effectively,’’ baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday in a statement to the Sun Sentinel.

This runs against the national current, which again Tuesday gave Bush’s group full run for the simple reason that, well, Bush talked about it in California. He said his group was in place. He said he’s “hoping to learn sooner rather than later” how things stand.

But just because Bush talked publicly and Romney — son of former Massachusetts Governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney — stayed silent doesn’t mean one group is the winner. The short answer of who wins is, quite simply, which group pays more and gets the votes of Major

RICARDO ARDUENGO/AP Jeb Bush says he is confident of his group’s position when it comes to buying the Miami Marlins, but the end result will depend on the investors’ deep pockets.

Dave Hyde