Aspiring MLB team owner Alex Rodriguez thinks players should take revenue-sharing deal to save season

A recent episode of ESPN’s Get Up was a particularly egregious session in which Mike Greenberg and Mark Teixeira extolled the owners’ deal and minimized player concerns. As our Andrew Bucholtz put it, “it’s rather funny to see Greenberg and Teixeira, two people who have been quite enriched by agents’ attempts to get what their labor is “worth,” out here arguing that MLB players should just take whatever owners are proposing to them.”

The same can be said of Alex Rodriguez, who, for many, is the posterchild of enriching one’s self in order to get paid their true worth, and who is now trying to get players to agree to this deal out of a sense of duty to baseball fans.

“It is the people’s comfort food and people are starving. And I just don’t want to see this great game, people fighting, billionaires fighting with millionaires. This has nothing to do with the past. This has nothing to do with the strike. This is actually when the owners and players are aligned and we want the same thing. We want to save baseball. We want to play baseball.

“Players want to play. Fans want to watch. And at the end of the day, if you don’t play today, you don’t win tomorrow, because hopefully, we don’t have another situation like this. This is like beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. I just urge the players and owners to think collectively. If there’s $100 in the pie, like the NBA, players take $50, owners take $50. And we give it to the fans. We thank the fans of baseball.”

A-Rod, J-Lo and the Mets Ownership Possibilities

At the end of last year, it looked like the Wilpon family might sell the New York Mets to Steven Cohen for around $2.5 billion. The proposed sale was an unusual one. It did not include SNY, the Mets’ regional sports network, which is owned by the Wilpons; the Wilpons were also set to maintain some degree of control of the team for years after the sale. In what didn’t come as much of a surprise given the deal’s unusual nature, things fell apart and the Mets are once again looking for new owners. Enter Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez.

As reported by Scott Soshnick in Variety, Rodriguez and Lopez have sought help from JPMorgan Chase to raise funds to purchase the team. The piece notes that A-Rod and J-Lo have a combined net worth of around $700 million, which is obviously well short of what is needed to meet a potential purchase price over $2 billion. While that gap might appear insurmountable, an A-Rod/J-Lo owned Mets team isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem. First, consider that any purchase of this type is going to be financed with a considerable amount of debt. As Tom Ley wrote in his analysis of the Cubs’ previous sale — in the Ricketts’ initial plans to purchase the Cubs, there was talk of financing as much as $750 million of a potential $1.15 billion deal, though in the end, they paid $845 million and financed $450 million — teams are bought with significant amounts of financing:

Ted Lerner purchased the Nationals for $450 million in 2006, and the “Debt Primer Presentation” GSP sent to the Ricketts includes the details of that sale as a case study for how a highly leveraged purchase can work. Lerner took on the maximum amount of debt—$360 million—in order to purchase the team. Jim Crane bought the Houston Astros for $615 million in 2011, reportedly by taking on $300 million in debt; the Dodgers ownership group assumed $412 million in debt when they purchased the team in 2012.

Generally, teams are not allowed to carry debt greater than eight times their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). That would present a problem for the Mets, but the rules are slightly different for purchases. Under the current CBA, the provision regarding sales essentially indicates the need for a plan subject to approval by the Commissioner

They could always raise the needed money from the gym owners of Florida…..

Alex Rodriguez Weighs In On Michael Jordan’s Baseball Career

It feels like the entire sports world is watching “The Last Dance,” and the numbers don’t lie. Last Sunday’s docuseries on Michael Jordan and the six-time champion Chicago Bulls became the most-watched ESPN documentary ever, averaging just over 6 million viewers.

The documentary caught the eye of Alex Rodriguez, though he has been watching Jordan closely for the past 30 years.

As a child, Rodriguez was in awe of Jordan. He watched from home in Miami as Jordan dominated, capturing his imagination with each dunk. He found himself living vicariously through His Airness in defeats to the Detroit Pistons and celebrations as the Bulls took their place as NBA champions.

The Sunday Night Baseball analyst is now able to relate to Jordan in a way few others can. Both were constantly in the spotlight during their playing days in and out of games, as well as met with unrelenting criticism until a championship trophy was hoisted. During the course of Rodriguez’s career, he formed a friendship with Jordan, witnessing his legendary competitive streak up close and in person.

I get Miami residents not rooting for their baseball team- but the Heat have won more NBA championships than the Knicks!

Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez Retain JPMorgan to Raise Money for Mets Bid (EXCLUSIVE)

Retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez and his fiancé, recording artist and actor Jennifer Lopez, have retained JPMorgan Chase to raise capital for a possible bid on the New York Mets, people familiar with the matter said.

The superstar couple is working with managing director Eric Menell, the bank’s co-head of North American media investment banking, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the matter is private. Menell didn’t respond to several requests seeking comment.

Representatives for Rodriguez and Lopez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Wilpon family, which owns the Mets, said in December they were in talks to sell up to 80% of the Major League Baseball team to hedge fund titan Steve Cohen in a deal that valued the club at $2.6 billion. Under terms of that proposed deal, the Wilpons would’ve maintained control of the franchise for five years.

Wondering what it would say that A-Rod running the team Marlins-style would be a step up from current conditions…..

J-Lo, A-Rod in Talks to Buy New York Mets

According to Variety’s Scott Soshnick, Rodriguez and his fiance, Jennifer Lopez, have joined forces with JPMorgan Chase “to raise capital for a possible bid on the New York Mets,” the publication wrote on Monday night.

Let’s just pretend like you don’t know who I am.
Believe it if you say that you’re not a fan.

How ex-Yankee Alex Rodriguez reacted to MLB’s Arizona coronavirus plan

Former Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez thinks players would mobilize if they were called back to the game for mid-May amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Well, I think right now, everything is so fluid,” Rodriguez said Tuesday. “We make plans and God laughs right now. So I think there are no bad ideas. I think, to start thinking as a player, preparing for the earliest time possible is the greatest thing we can do. The worst thing for a player would be, ‘Hey, we think it’s August.’ And then the commissioner says, ‘Hey, we’re opening things up.’ And you have to show up May 15 and you’re not quite ready. So, I think it’d be an adjustment, but I think we would follow suit.”

Rodriguez was speaking on ESPN’s “Get Up!’ with Mike Greenberg.

The conversation came up following reports that MLB was considering a plan to restart spring training in mid-May and start the regular season in June.

His proposal to hold the season in otherwise-unused gyms was not one that many people approved of, though Rob Manfred is still thinking about it…..

Time for the gym: JLo and ARod get a private workout sesh in at a Miami fitness club

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez need to start downloading some fitness apps or something.

Despite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issuing a nationwide stay at home order on Wednesday, the fitness conscious couple managed to squeeze in a VIP, private workout at what appears to be their go-to gym Somi in South Miami.

In the paparazzi pic, we didn’t see masks, gloves, no PPE at all as the stars entered.

“This gym is not open,” the sign on the door read, according to Page Six. “Stay home stay safe.”

Wait- you’d want to visit a gym at this time?

Paul Lo Duca rips Alex Rodriguez as ‘one of the fakest people out there’

It’s safe to say Paul Lo Duca is not fond of Alex Rodriguez’s rehabilitated image.

The former New York Mets catcher called A-Rod “one of the fakest people” during an interview Monday on the WFAN Sports Radio.

“People know I’m not a fan, and I’m sorry,” said Lo Duca. “Never will be a fan. I just think he’s one of the fakest people out there. ... The way he gets put on a pedestal now is beyond me.”

Lo Duca, now a horse racing analyst, blasted A-Rod when they were discussing Rodriguez’s live Instagram conversation with Mets slugger Pete Alonso over the weekend.

Mr. Lo Duca either wasn’t asked if Mr. Rodriguez’s status as a centaur changes things, or chose to ignore that question…..

Alex Rodriguez ripped the Astros for not being as remorseful as he was over cheating

In the months since the Astros cheating scandal turned the baseball world upside down, players and fans have been quick to comment about Houston’s cheating, the punishment (or lack thereof) and the team’s apology.

On Tuesday, noted cheater Alex Rodriguez chimed in on the scandal, and he too was disappointed in the Astros’ response.

While calling a Grapefruit League matchup between the Yankees and Red Sox on ESPN, Rodriguez compared his PED use and suspension during his playing career to how the Astros handled their own cheating scandal this offseason.

Rodriguez was hit with a 211-game suspension stemming from the Biogenesis scandal in 2013. This suspension came four years after he admitted to using steroids earlier in his career. On Tuesday, Rodriguez said he deserved that punishment while the Astros seemingly escaped without punishment or remorse.

I’d say this is a bit rich, but I have no idea about what moral codes centaurs have, so…..