Stuart Sternberg (Getty Images)
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — On the day that Jeff Wilpon said his family is not going to sell controlling interest in the Mets, Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, a Brooklyn native and Mets season-ticket holder who has been rumored to have interest in buying the Amazin’s, said he has no plans to.
“I have no intention of purchasing or looking at purchasing the Mets,” Sternberg said yesterday at the first day of Rays’ camp.
“It’s the Wilpons’ team and I can’t envision it,” he said. “The Wilpons have been great to me. They’ve been welcoming. They’ve been nothing but kind and help advance what we are trying to do. They are big fans of ours.”
You can be sure that Sternberg is not going to get in the Wilpons’ way.
If things turn worse for the Mets owners, however, and they are forced to sell as result of the Madoff Mess, don’t count out Sternberg and his group, all New Yorkers.
Remember, John Henry and Tom Werner once were small-market owners before joining forces to take over the Red Sox.
Anything is possible. One thing is certain: Sternberg has proved to be a successful and dedicated owner.
“I’m a season-ticket holder of the Rays, too,” Sternberg said with a smile. Originally, Sternberg looked at a minority ownership of the Mets, and that sparked interest to purchase the Rays.
“It’s turned out to be a rewarding experience as far as what we’ve been able to accomplish here,” Sternberg said.
The Rays have won two of the last three AL East championships and made it to the 2008 World Series. The Rays are trying to find a way to win this year by signing veteran free agents Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. Ramirez wandered into Rays’ camp yesterday and couldn’t find the clubhouse, just the latest example of Manny being Manny.
Imagine the surprise of one Rays fan standing in the team store, looking to buy a souvenir, when he turned around only to see Ramirez, who was asking directions to the clubhouse.
Bringing in a couple of Idiots like Ramirez and Damon is something the Rays have to do to try to survive.
“It’s good to have characters,” Sternberg said.
More than half the team is gone, including superstar Carl Crawford, as the Rays were forced to cut payroll. They simply can’t live like the Yankees and Red Sox.
“We’re not counting ourselves out,” Sternberg added. “We have our guys in position to succeed. We shop in a different store. We don’t shop in a store where they give you fancy shopping bags as you walk out the store.”
The bottom line is that Sternberg’s Rays have come up winners. He said he is here for the long haul.
“To get in there and to play in the sandbox and actually do well at it is very rewarding,” Sternberg said of MLB ownership. “And it wasn’t done with checkbook diplomacy.”
The Mets could learn something from Sternberg’s Rays.