(
)
The owners of the cash-starved New York Mets think they have a handful of “legitimate” candidates who are seriously interested in buying part of the ballclub, The Post has learned.
Out of 30 or so groups who expressed an interest in obtaining a minority stake in the Mets, the team has given more than a dozen names to Major League Baseball for vetting, which must preapprove their qualifications before the club opens the formal bidding process.
But the Mets believe just a few of the contenders are strong enough to be a potential buyer, sources said.
The heavy hitters include groups comprised of New York financiers, an informed source said yesterday.
One group includes David Heller, the co-head of Goldman Sachs’ securities unit, as well as other former and current Goldman partners.
Sources said that group has met at least twice with Steve Greenberg, the managing director of Allen & Co., who has been hired by the Mets to find a buyer.
Another group includes Steve Starker, co-founder of the global-trading firm BTIG, Ken Dichter, the co-founder of Marquis Jet, and other New York investment professionals, sources said.
A third group, which includes ex-Met skipper Bobby Valentine, is being led by Anthony Scaramucci, the general manager of asset manager SkyBridge Capital, sources said.
The Mets are desperately seeking a buyer for a minority interest in the team — possibly up to 49 percent — to raise much-needed cash. Team owners, including majority owner Fred Wilpon and his brother-in-law Saul Katz, are reeling from costs, and potential costs, stemming from invest ments they had in Ber nard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
In addition to the candidates whose bona fides are currently being checked by MLB, the current majority owner of the Tampa Bay Rays is strongly considering taking a crack at buying the Mets — but not just a small piece, sources said.
Rays owner Stuart Sternberg — a Brooklyn native, St. John’s grad, and current Mets season-ticket holder –last night told The Post, “The Wilpons have been great owners, and I have no interest in buying the Mets.”
But sources said that if the Wilpon family is forced to sell its majority stake — against its current wishes — Sternberg would be interested, and is a logical choice to buy the team given his strong existing ties to both baseball and Wall Street.
Sternberg’s candidacy would be helped by having baseball Commissioner Bud Selig as a strong ally. But he would have to sell the Rays as a prerequisite to purchasing the Mets.
Additional reporting by Joel Sherman, Dan Martin and Mark DeCambre