Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter have reportedly joined forces in their attempt to buy the Miami Marlins. That signals that one of two things is going on with the bidding process.
The potential sale of the Miami Marlins has been mostly kept under wraps. The news of a Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter joint bid gives fans an insight, however.
Obviously both Bush and Jeter, who originally submitted bids individually to buy the Marlins, felt that their chances were improved by combining their efforts. The question is why. The two most likely answers reveal how the bidding process could be going.
First possibility: Another bidder appears to have gained the upper hand
While it’s unknown how many other bidders remain in the fray, or who they are, Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald reports that the strongest competition for the Bush-Jeter bid is New York financier Wayne Rothbaum.
Rothbaum is the founder of Quogue Capital and on the board of directors of Lion Biotechnologies. His assets are impressive, but he lacks the connections to the game and celebrity power that the Bush-Jeter team have. It’s not possible right now to confirm that Rothbaum is still in contention, but he is the only other individual connected to the potential sale.
Whether it’s Rothbaum or an unknown party, it’s possible that some individual or group could have caught the fancy of current owner Jeffrey Loria. Bush and Jeter may have gotten wind of the fact that their individual bids were losing their sparkle. Thus, they have teamed up to put themselves back in contention.
There’s another possibility, however. It’s just as likely, if not more plausible.
Second possibility: Loria’s interest in selling the team may have cooled
The second possibility is that Loria’s desire to sell the team to anyone could be on the decline. Loria may not like any of the offers that he has gotten, or changed his mind on wanting to hold on to the Marlins. The team has appreciated in value greatly during his time as the owner.
Thanks largely to the addition of Marlins Park into the team portfolio before the 2012 season, the team is now worth nearly six times as much as the price that Loria paid for it in 2002. Revenue from the team’s soon-to-expire broadcast contract and other league sources should continue to build. Loria may have decided that he would rather hold on to the asset.
It’s also possible that Loria simply doesn’t like any of the offers he has gotten to this point. The Bush-Jeter team may have formed to enable both bidders to approach Loria from a different angle, if that’s the case.
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All of this is speculation, but the fact that Bush and Jeter have joined forces points to these two scenarios being possible. Whether or not this joint bid will be enough to convince Loria to sell the team to them remains to be seen, but what’s certain is that both men seem serious about becoming the Marlins’ new owners.