FISH OR CUT BAIT

MLB wants Marlins owner to wrap up sale

The Miami Marlins’ drawnout stint on the auction block has become a major-league embarrassment for Major League Baseball.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has become exasperated with Miami Marlins owner Jeff Loria’s sluggish effort to sell the team — and would like to see it wrapped up in the next two weeks, sources told The Post.

“Manfred would like this sale done by the All-Star Game,” the league’s annual exhibition match that’s slated for July 11, a source close to the situation said.

That’s because this year’s All-Star Game will be played at Marlins Stadium, and MLB brass doesn’t want relentless headlines about the Marlins sale process to obscure coverage of the game, insiders said.

Rumors swirled over the weekend that Manfred gave the Marlins an ultimatum as he met in New York last week with club president David Samson, along with Derek Jeter, whose hopes to take control of the team appear to be fizzling fast.

A source close to the situation, however, emphasized that Manfred “is not pressuring the Marlins and cannot force a sale,” although the source added that, “of course, he wants them to sell the team.”

Manfred told The Post nearly two months ago on May 3 he wanted the sale done in “days and not months.”

Since then, however, erstwhile front-runners Jeter and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have fallen behind the shadow of lesser-known but deeper-pocketed bidders.

Now, there is a better-than- 90 percent chance that if the Marlins are sold, they’ll be acquired by Miami billionaire Jorge Mas, a baseball source told The Post.

Mas, whose fortune is estimated at more than $2 billion, has taken interest in speaking to Jeter about working together, sources told The Post. Still, Mas would clearly be the controlling owner.

“He doesn’t need Jeter,” the baseball source said.

Mas has been lying in wait for weeks, waiting for the owner of the Marlins to cut his asking price from $1.3 billion to around $1 billion. Working with investment bankers, he has recently told the Marlins he is ready to buy the team, sources said.

Still, “Mas has not made a bid yet,” the source said.

For Jeter, the Miami billionaire’s entry into the bidding marks yet another setback after he and Bush failed to raise the cash for a Marlins bid.

Jeter and another bidding team, led by Mitt Romney’s son Tagg, still appear well short of raising the cash they need, sources said. Reports Friday said Bush had joined Tagg Romney in his efforts.

Mas, on the other hand, does not need any financial help. “He’s got the money all by himself,” the baseball source said.

MLB declined to comment. Mas couldn’t immediately be reached.