The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Cohen deal implodes in Mets fans’ heartbreaker
Fans of the Mets were brimming with optimism just two months ago.
Popular former player Carlos Beltran was settling in as the team’s new manager, bringing a fresh face to the team’s baseball hierarchy. And after years of frustration with franchise ownership, fans had $13.6 billion reasons to be happy — Greenwich resident Steven Cohen, one of the richest people in the country, owner of an estate in the town’s backcountry, was set to become the majority owner.
It was seemingly too good to be true for a beleaguered fan base that’s been pining for a title since 1986. The Mets would be poised to operate and spend like a big-market team. At last.
But as Mr. Met prepares for the start of spring training next week, all that excitement has evaporated.
Beltran resigned last month because of his involvement in the Houston Astros signstealing scandal. Luis Rojas, a former minor league coach and manager, replaced him.
On Thursday, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters that the sale of the franchise to Cohen was not happening. Reports surfaced earlier in the week that the sale was in peril, but Manfred offered definitive word at the owners meetings in Orlando.
“There is not going to be a transaction,” Manfred said. “It’s based on conversations with the buyer and the seller on an ongoing basis.”
So the Mets remain in the hands of 83-year-old Fred Wilpon, the majority owner since 2002 and an ownership presence since 1980. Reports indicate Wilpon wanted to control the team as CEO for the next five years. Wilpon’s son Jeff — also a Greenwich resident — would remain as COO. But, in a reported twist on the original deal, the Wilpons then said Jeff would stay after the five-year window closed.
Cohen balked. End of deal. Cohen, who has an 8 percent stake in the franchise, was reportedly set to purchase an 80 percent share. The Long Island native and lifelong Mets fans has said he dreamed of owning the franchise.
His financial portfolio — Forbes pegs him as the 35th wealthiest person in the country — would place the Mets on a solid ground. Cohen would be the richest owner in sports and seemingly provide a sharp turn for a franchise that has operated like a small-market operation under Wilpon.
The Mets under Cohen might be a player in the Mookie Betts free agent sweepstakes next winter.
The Mets under Wilpon have been plagued by mismanagement. Wilpon’s Sterling Partners was bit hard by
Bernie Madoff ’s Ponzi scheme scandal, leaving the franchise with debt and an ownership with an increase in minority partners. That’s how Cohen purchased a stake in 2012.
Wilpon’s Mets have cycled through managers and general managers. Ownership has shied from marquee free agents, although the Mets still hand Bobby Bonilla $1.19 million a year in deferred payments. The Mets were 12th in Opening Day payroll at the start of the 2019 season, well behind fellow big-market franchises like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs.
It’s no wonder Mets fans are clamoring for an ownership change. When the deal with Cohen became public in early
December, Twitter was buzzing with celebratory tweets from Mets fans.
As the deal seemed to die Thursday, a Mets fan tinkered with Fred Wilpon’s Wikipedia page: “Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is a cheap S O B, baseball executive, and a weasel that backed out of an agreement to sell the New York Mets.”