Yankees: Alex Rodriguez’s Bid to Buy Mets ‘Very Real’ as Ownership Group Grows

Former New York Yankees MVP Alex Rodriguez could very well own the Mets soon.

It almost seemed like a joke when reports started surfacing about Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez working to purchase the New York Mets from the Wilpon family. After all the hoopla, their bid finally died down and fans slowly realized the pipe dream was no longer a reality.

However, don’t tell that to A-Rod and J-Lo. The power couple has reportedly built up their ownership group to make a more convincing run at buying the Yankees’ cross-town rivals and Darren Rovell of the Action Network says the bid is “very real.”

Rodriguez and Lopez have recruited billionaire AND lifelong Mets fan/Queens native Mike Repole, who joined their group as a general partner.

Repole, who graduated from St. John’s University, co-founded and sold Glaceau (famous for Vitaminwater) to Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion. He’s also the co-founder of BODYARMOR SuperDrink. His net worth is estimated at $1 billion, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com.

It’s no secret Rodriguez and Lopez need financial help here. The Mets are estimated to be worth $2.4 billion and hedge fund manager Steve Cohen nearly purchased the franchise for $2.6 billion earlier this year. While A-Rod and J-Lo command power in many ways, their combined net worth of $750 million won’t get a deal done.

The addition of Repole is considerable from that perspective, which could expedite the process. However, there are a couple of problems that need to be sorted out.

The first is, will the Wilpons even sell right now with the 2020 MLB season as uncertain as it is? Even if there are games in 2020, they’re expected to play without fans. How much will the franchise’s value decrease in wake of a 60-game, fan-less, and potentially playoff-less season?

Secondly, will Major League Baseball approve A-Rod as an owner? He was suspended for the entire 2014 season for using performance-enhancing drugs after admitting such use back in 2007. He wasn’t exactly an upstanding player during his time in the bigs.

We’re honestly not sure, but wouldn’t MLB prefer Rodriguez as an owner than the eternally-hated Wilpons?