It appears that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Yankees legend Derek Jeter were caught looking and have struck out in their effort to buy the Miami Marlins, The Post has confirmed.
This is quite a turn from May 2, when Bush told The Post he was confident he would soon be the Marlins’ owner.
“Either someone [a Bush money man] dropped out or they were talking positive to get others interested,” a sports banker speculated.
Bush and Jeter did not come close to raising the money to fund the more than $1 billion in equity needed to buy the team for $1.3 billion, sources said.
It was the governor’s job to raise the money, and Jeter was there to attract investors, sources said.
“I’m not surprised,” a source close to the situation said, adding that the funds were just not there.
Jeter may try to put a group together without Bush.
The Associated Press first reported on the Bush/Jeter group dropping out.
Another former Yankee may have entered the fray, a source close to the situation said.
Former Yankees pitcher and current YES Network commentator Al Leiter has joined the Tagg Romney-led bidding team that is the only other group still pursuing the Marlins, a source said.
Leiter started game 7 for the Marlins when they won the 1997 World Series and currently provides commentary for some of the Marlins broadcasts and MLB Network.
The Romney group, which also includes former pitchers Tom Glavine and Dave Stewart, is still trying to find the money needed to buy the team but as of a week ago was roughly $400 million short, the source said.
That bid, too, feels like it is failing, a sports banker said.
Tagg Romney likely does not need Jeter, who does not bring much money in to co-invest, sources speculated.
For Jeter, this has to be a tough loss, a source who knows him said. Jeter’s hero is basketball great Michael Jordan, who in 2006 bought a minority stake in the NBA’s then-Charlotte Bobcats and became head of basketball operations.
“[Jeter] really thought people would write giant checks because he was there [and then he would run baseball operations],” a source said.
However, the NBA allowed the Bobcats to carry a lot of debt to facilitate Jordan’s ownership, and Major League Baseball, even though it wants Jeter as an owner, is not allowing the Marlins to be heavily leveraged. MLB is requiring bidders to pay for most of the team in cash, sources said.
The Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011 filed for bankruptcy, and the Texas Rangers filed in 2010, making MLB cautious about team debt levels.
Marlins owner and New York art dealer Jeffrey Loria now likely needs to lower his asking price to attract new suitors and to keep Romney in the hunt, sources said.
If Loria drops his asking price, Hostess honcho Dean Metropoulos would be interested, sources said. There have been recent rumors that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross could jump in at a lower asking price.
However, a Ross spokesman said that is not the case.