It’s not a secret that owner Jeffrey Loria has put his Miami Marlins up for sale. Whether a transfer of ownership actually takes place here remains to be seen. It was reported earlier in the year that Loria had a deal in place to sell the franchise for a cool $1.6 billion.
That seems exceptionally high considering the Marlins are reportedly worth less than $700 million. And now that this specific deal seemingly fell through the cracks, others are lining up to potentially buy the Florida-based MLB team.
We had previously reported that former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter was interested. Now comes this tidbit from Fox News indicating that former Florida Governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush is also interested.
Fox reporting that Jeb Bush, Derek Jeter among those trying to buy Marlins. We reported Jeb Bush's previous attempts to buy team in 2013.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) April 5, 2017
Well, that would be something. According to documents filed during the Republican presidential primaries back in 2015, Bush is worth only $22 million. Needless to say, he would take on a minimal role in any potential ownership group.
In an interesting turn, there had been some mention that Loria had a handshake deal to sell the Marlins to the family of Jared Kushner, who is President Trump’s son-in-law and one of his top advisers. That was pretty much thrown out the window after Loria himself emerged as a candidate for the ambassadorship to France (via The Washington Post).
Political figures being involved in ownerships of sports teams isn’t anything new. Remember, his brother and former President George W. Bush, owned the Texas Rangers from 1989-94. Whether the younger Bush has the ability to do that remains to be seen.
Though, with an net worth of nearly $200 million, it’s definitely something Jeter himself might be able to consider. Maybe he can give Bush a call to work something out. Strange bedfellows, indeed.