Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter are ready to tell Jeffery Loria “please sell.”
The former Republican presidential candidate and former Yankees shortstop have reportedly joined forces in purchasing the Miami Marlins.
The former Florida governor and retired New York Yankees star once were rivals for the Major League Baseball franchise but now have teamed up to try and buy the team, the sources said. They are competing against a New York financier named Wayne Rothbaum, manager of Quogue Capital, a source close to the situation said. It is not known if other would-be suitors of the Marlins remain in the hunt.
It might seem like an odd pairing at first, but the two have plenty in common. Both lost their mojo long before they quit their profession of choice, and both are rich and also bored enough to dive into sports ownership. Now they’re hoping to own the Marlins together.
If Jeb! gets his hands on the Marlins he will be the second Bush brother to own a Major League team, not a bad consolation prize to falling short of becoming the third Bush to hold the highest office in the land.
In fact, George W. Bush’s ownership of the Texas Rangers actually played a part in getting the Marlins to where they are and putting Loria in a position to sell. Bush was influential in the Rangers building a publicly-financed stadium in Arlington, which at the time was one of the most favorable deals a pro sports team harangued an American city into in modern history. That has since been passed by dozens of deals, including the park in which the Marlins currently play in Miami.
While the city figures out how to pay off the debt it took on to build that neon-green monstrosity, Loria is cashing out. Jeb and Jeets appear to be moving in. And on and on we go.
