Derek Jeter’s reported plan to slash Marlins’ payroll is cruel | SI.com

It’s a lot easier to say it when it’s not your money.

It would be a colossal mistake and deeply wrong on the part of Jeter and Sherman to come to Miami and immediately tear things down. To give up right from the get go would be to admit openly that professional baseball isn’t worth the effort in Miami, and if the new ownership group can’t commit to doing what’s right for the franchise and its fans, then they shouldn’t be allowed to purchase the team. Manfred and MLB may desperately want Jeter back in the fold, and they likely want to sell fans on the idea of a new day coming in Miami. But should Jeter buy the team, it looks like it’ll be the same old story for both players and fans.

Derek Jeter will bring old-school baseball style to the owner’s box | New York Post

Mystique and Aura are coming to Miami to rid the game of all your soulless numbers.

Jeter believes in scouting, talent, heart and soul, and he will look to fill the Marlins roster with the same kind of winning player he was during his 20-year championship career with the Yankees. In doing so he will slow down the rush to analytics that is now being portrayed the answer to all of baseball’s questions.

Consider this comment Jeter made to me at his locker several years before he retired.

“Everything is about numbers today, this game is more than numbers, buddy,’’ Jeter said. He went on to point out the value of scouting, the value of allowing a player to think for himself and not becoming a numbers robot.

Loria agrees to sell Miami Marlins to Sherman and Jeter, source says

Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has agreed to sell the franchise for $1.2 billion to a group led by New York businessman Bruce Sherman and former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter, and Major League Baseball is expected to receive the written agreement on Friday, according to a New York based MLB source.

Sherman, a wealthy venture capitalist who has a home in New York and is building a home in South Florida, will be the “control person,” similar to a managing general partner.

But Jeter, the former New York Yankees star shortstop, will run the business and baseball sides of the organization, the source said.

AP source: Jeter doesn’t have money needed to buy Marlins

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Derek Jeter told Major League Baseball on Thursday he doesn’t yet have the necessary money to buy the Miami Marlins and is still seeking help from other investors, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

The person described the status of the Marlins’ sale talks to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team isn’t discussing the negotiations publicly.

The person said Jeter, a 14-time All-Star shortstop, met with MLB and Marlins officials in New York and provided an update on his efforts to raise the needed money. The person said multiple other groups remain in the mix to purchase the team.

Jeter’s group bid about $1.3 billion to buy the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria. A similar bid was submitted by a group led by Massachusetts businessman Tagg Romney, son of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

New owner enters Marlins sale picture

While people involved with sale talks involving the Marlins continue to suggest that one of the two leading groups – the Derek Jeter group and the Tagg Romney-Tom Glavine group – are “most likely” to win the team through negotiation, sources suggest that at least one other viable prospect owner has entered the picture.

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred this week suggested there could be a sale in place by the end of next month (and Marlins current higherups share that optimism, according to sources), but neither of the two leading teams seems ready to come to the table with the $1.3-billion asking price. (People close to the Marlins: current regime also continue to insist they expect to get close to that asking price, though it’s possible there could be accommodations made considering some of the financial commitments, including player contracts)....

Some who’ve seen the books call it a “mess.” (But fairly, those books do appear to bear out Marlins’ claims over the years that owner Jeffrey Loria has been writing a check many years, despite stories suggesting he is pocketing oodles of cash.)

Mess or not, the Marlins still are expected to get $1 billion plus no matter how it’s calculated, though perhaps some of the $1.3-billion asking price could be offset by accommodations for the team’s outstanding commitments.

The third viable owner is not known at this time.

World Fame 100 Top Ranking Athletes

The Top 100 Most Famous Athletes in the World - before you read the list, take a guess and comment on where you think the first baseball player is ranked.

Cokes to the winner ..

Focus on Jeter should inspire memories of Garciaparra’s peak

“it’s as if Jeter stands alone as the shortstop talent for a generation.

It’s too bad, considering that Garciaparra was every bit the player Jeter was. And in his prime, he was better.

There’s no question that Jeter brings the superior career to a debate between the two. Injuries derailed what Garciaparra could become from a legacy standpoint, and cost him the Hall of Fame”

Shortstops with most seasons of 6+ WAR, debuting 1969+:

How Derek Jeter turned a simple number into an invincible brand | New York Post

Happy Derek Jeter Day!

Jeter-Bush Have Cash-Raising Woes for Marlins Bid, Giving Romney Leg Up

Doug Hanks @doug_hanks
Untold story behind this: Bush people really don’t like the Romney people. Blame them for bad press.

But what might look good in theory is proving to be a difficult sale with potential investors, as many have declined an invitation to become silent partners of the Jeter-Bush team. Both Jeter and Bush are wealthy, but they are far from billionaires, and are planning to invest just $50 million combined, while raising money from outside investors, people with direct knowledge of the bidding process say.

That doesn’t mean the Jeter-Bush bid is dead. In fact, many people on Wall Street speculate that the duo’s investment banker, Gregory Fleming — a former senior executive at Morgan Stanley (MS) and Merrill Lynch (BAC) — may now be looking to raise money from his vast network of contacts in China and Latin America, many of whom would be willing to put up significant sums of cash as silent investors, while allowing Jeter and Bush to run the team.

Derek Jeter: Thank You, New York

Jeter is going to send the whole city a fruit basket.

New York, I want to tell you a story — about a kid who grew up in the Midwest, in a town called Kalamazoo. Quiet, unsure and at times a little intimidated. A homebody at heart. About a kid with a dream who moved to a big city — to the big city. A kid who was just trying to keep up with everyone else.

A lot was asked of that kid. And I always respected the challenge to prove myself each and every day. The lights were always bright. The pace was always fast. The stakes were always high, and the expectations higher. And in those difficult moments — those moments that feel unique to New York — you always showed me a sign.

All I had to do was look: It was a little girl’s tip of her cap, or a shout from across the street, or a rallying chant from the upper decks of Yankee Stadium that made its way down to the field. Or the support from teammates who taught me about the spirit of this city: That we’re all in this together, and we have to look out for one another.

New York, I’ll never forget how you looked out for me.

Fox Business: Latest On Jeb & Jeter Marlins Bid

Still some hurdles to clear:

Making the cash raise easier for the duo is that they have the support of just about every owner in baseball who will see the value of their team soar if they are successful, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Indeed, if the $1.34 billion deal is completed, baseball’s most valuable franchise, the New York Yankees, would be valued at around $5 billion, a 56 percent increase from its estimated value of about $3.2 billion, these same people say.
.  .  .
Jeter and Bush are expected to invest no more than $200 million combined, which means they will have to raise between $800 million and $900 million in cash to complete the purchase under the guidelines of major league commissioner Rob Manfred, who won’t approve a deal with a high level of debt.

The task will be a difficult one if Jeter and Bush want to remain as the principal owners of the team—and not give up operating control to other investors—given how much money they will need to raise, baseball executives tell FOX Business.

“How many people are willing simply to write a $100 million check and not have a say in running the team?” said one senior baseball executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We all want them to succeed because Jeb and Jeter would be great for baseball, but it won’t be easy.”

You’d think it’d be an honor just to be asked to write a $100M check to Derek Jeter.

Marlins expecting to finalize $1.3B deal to sell team to Jeb Bush, Derek Jeter group

Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria reached an agreement in principle to sell the team to a group led by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and including former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter, pending Major League Baseball approval and other details to be worked out in the drawing up and execution of a contract, according to an MLB source.

According to the source, Bush’s group has agreed to pay $1.3 billion for the team.

A source said the Marlins and Bush group are very optimistic a deal will be finalized, but the process could take months to conclude.

Bush plans to be the Marlins’ “control person,” the individual who would have ultimate control over franchise decisions, according to the source.

Jeter, the former All-Star player who lives in Tampa, plans to take an active role with the franchise.

Bush’s group includes at least five investors, and it’s unclear which of those investors has the most money invested in the bid.

WashEx: Jeb Bush looks to Derek Jeter to help buy Miami Marlins

What a team: Jeter couldn’t go to his left; Jeb! couldn’t go right. Sad!

Once rivals in their pursuit to purchase the Miami Marlins, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is teaming up with retired New York Yankees star shortstop Derek Jeter to bid for the baseball team.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has been entertaining offers for the team, which moved to Miami in 2012 and changed its name from the Florida Marlins to the Miami Marlins. With Jeter and Bush, New York financier and manager of Quogue Capital, Wayne Rothbaum, have expressed interest in buying the team, according to the Miami Herald.

Bush, who ran an unsuccessful campaign to become the 2016 Republican presidential nominee, lives southwest of Miami in Coral Gables. Meanwhile, Jeter purchased a house in Tampa in 2014.

Derek Jeter, Jeb Bush Among Billion-Dollar Marlins Bidders

How much is an outfield bar and associated businesses worth?

At least three possible bidders have emerged to purchase the Miami Marlins baseball team including one representing the country’s most prominent political family, and one representing a future Hall of Famer, the FOX Business Network has learned.

Former New York Yankees star shortstop Derek Jeter has expressed interest in bidding for the team, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. He is being represented in talks with Marlins president David Samson by veteran Wall Street executive and former Morgan Stanley (MS) brokerage chief Gregory Fleming, who now runs his own investment banking boutique, the people say.

Another major contender is a group headed by former Florida Governor and one-time GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who is teaming up with Citigroup (C) to finance a possible official bid, these people add.