The Mets, pushing to finalize a deal to sell a minority stake in the money-losing team for $200 million, appear willing to give up some control, The Post has learned.
Within the last several days, the team has told some suitors it will give a new investor veto power over a limited number of financial decisions, two sources close to the situation said.
The budgetary items covered by the proposed veto power include overall payroll levels as well as larger player contracts, a source said.
When asked yesterday specifically about these options, Sterling Equities, through a spokesperson, declined comment.
The offer of veto power over certain items is a change from the team’s public proclamations earlier this year. Sterling Equities owners Fred Wilpon; his son, Jeff, and Saul Katz, in a January statement, said that after the sale of the minority stake they would “continue to control and manage the team’s operations.”
That control could be limited. The Wilpons and Katz are now telling suitors “they will treat their new partner as a real partner,” a source said.
The Mets owners throughout the auction have been telling those bidding for up to a 49 percent stake that they are looking for someone with whom to collaborate, a source said.
Under the veto plan proposed, the Mets would form a board of directors and each person on the board would have the right to veto decisions on team payroll. This would prevent the Mets from gutting payroll to boost the bottom line, though the Wilpons and Katz have said that is not their intent.
The veto plan, whether or not it is included in the final deal, can be seen as a sweetener of sorts for the Mets in order to attract a $200 million bid because it offers potential buyers an added sense of financial security.
There are two groups seen as leaders among the suitors. They are hedge-fund titan Steven Cohen, and the team of former Glencore International commodity trader Ray Bartoszek and private investor Anthony Lanza, sources said.
A third bidding group led by Steve Starker and Ken Dichter has dropped back.
“We submitted a competitive [non-binding] bid that we believe contained some creative ownership ideas that will assist the Mets in moving forward and remaining a fixture on the New York sports scene. If the Mets choose another path, as lifelong Mets fans and native New Yorkers, we wish them nothing but the best,” a source close to the Starker group said.
The Mets have told Major League Baseball they expect to have selected a winning bidder by the May 12 owners’ meeting, a source said.
This year the Mets are projected to lose $60 million, though that number could fall if the team improves, as it has this week.