MLB boss says price no bar to team deal

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred remains confident the Miami Marlins will be sold in the near future and said in an interview broadcast Thursday that price isn’t a major obstacle to that end.

Speaking on “Bloomberg Markets” with Scarlett Fu, Manfred said the three groups known to be bidding to purchase the team from Jeffrey Loria remain in the sweepstakes.

“I think price is actually fairly well set among the three groups,” Manfred said. “It’s just making sure that the financial structuring and the governance documents all comply with our rules. And then of course, the Marlins have to decide which group they’d prefer to go forward with.”

That conflicts with reports earlier this week that none of the three groups had agreed to Loria’s asking price of $1.2 billion and questions regarding whether Miami businessman Jorge Mas will remain in the bidding.

A source close to Mas confirmed to the Sun Sentinel Monday that Mas might consider dropping out of the negotiations if something isn’t decided soon. A second source suggested that the Marlins expect Mas to drop out.

Manfred reiterated that groups headed by Mas, Derek Jeter and Tagg Romney remain in contention for the team.

“The Romney group is really Jeb Bush and an investor from Florida as well,” Manfred said, alluding to Wayne Rothbaum, head of Quogue Capital, a biotech investment fund.

Rothbaum is from New York and also has an address in Delray Beach.

Manfred wouldn’t commit to having a deal ready to be voted on when the owners meet in August, but said, “I am confident that a deal is going to get done for the Marlins. We have three groups. We’re in that sort of tedious phase of the process, due diligence, making sure the financial structuring is all done.

“And I think the Marlins will be in a position fairly soon to make a decision on which bidder we’re going to take forward in the process.”

Loria is believed to favor Jeter’s group due to his admiration for the former New York Yankees shortstop.

Asked about the possibility of Loria electing not to sell the team, Manfred said, “I think that the club is going to sell.”

It has been speculated that part of the difficulty in completing a sale is that the Marlins do not have a bank brokering the deal.

“The normal course is for a club to hire a banker when it’s up for sale,” Manfred said. “I think the real problem with this process is it became public before it was ready to be public.”