Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez are reportedly actively exploring a bid for the New York Mets

Retired Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and fiancée Jennifer Lopez have retained JPMorgan Chase to explore a bid on the New York Mets, Variety reports. The Mets, based in Queens, are owned by the Wilpon family, which was negotiating a sale to hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen late last year. That deal, which valued the Mets at $2.6 billion, fell through after Cohen tried to change the terms, Variety says, noting that A-Rod and J-Lo have a combined net worth of about $700 million.

Would Mets fans be happy if their team was owned by a former Yankee and a woman from the Bronx? As long as the Mets win, fans probably won't care. Former teammate Derek Jeter owns a stake in the Miami Marlins, for example, and his involvement in the team gives "the Marlins cachet and a former player universally respected in baseball," the Miami Herald wrote in 2017. A-Rod would also bring that, while J-Lo could add some glamour. Jeter announced Monday that he is foregoing his annual $5 million salary as Marlins CEO during the coronavirus pandemic.

When the Wilpons bought control of the MLB franchise in 2002, it was worth $391 million, Variety says, and along with the higher price tag, the new Mets owner will inherit annual losses of at least $50 million and a 2020 season that may not happen.

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