Alex Rodriguez is reportedly claiming that the New York Mets sale was “rigged” after billionaire Steve Cohen recently entered exclusive negotiations with the Wilpons to gain control of the franchise.
But Rodriguez has no reason to be whining about how the process went just because he isn’t in negotiations to buy the team anymore.
First off, Steve Cohen simply has deeper pockets than the Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez group had. Cohen is valued at $14.1 billion, according to Time Magazine. It has been rumored that Rodriguez’s group wasn’t very close to Cohen’s offer to buy the team and even if his group was, Cohen has the ability to outbid them.
Secondly, he served one of the longest PED suspensions in Major League Baseball history after repeatedly lying to the press when he was asked if he used steroids. The suspension came with huge reputational damage and he still has to face criticism to this day.
The league’s owners ultimately would’ve had to approve him to be the owner of the New York Mets if he ended up winning the bid, and to have a cheater as one of the owners (and a Yankees legend be the owner of the rival Mets) wouldn’t be a very good look.
I think Rodriguez should just be fortunate he has been able to rebuild his reputation—to a degree—with the announcing jobs he has with ESPN and Fox.
Maybe next time when a major league team is up for sale, he might be luckier to be bidding against someone who isn’t as wealthy as Cohen, but for now, he should just be happy he still has a career in baseball.
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