Mayor de Blasio Has Reportedly Told Major League Baseball That "He Will Do Everything He Can To Stop Steve Cohen From Buying The Mets"
NY Post- Bill de Blasio has privately told Major League Baseball that he will do everything he can to stop Steve Cohen from buying the Mets. The Post has learned that Hizzoner called MLB commissioner Rob Manfred earlier this month and told him outright that he opposed the idea of a hedge-fund billionaire buying a local team and would be using his oversight power of the city’s control of the Citi Field lease to prevent the sale from being finalized.
A source inside City Hall confirmed to The Post that de Blasio did call Manfred, but said the mayor’s message to the MLB commish was “very close to what the mayor has been saying publicly.” City Hall has maintained that de Blasio and his team are merely doing “due diligence” on Cohen’s purchase of the Mets, something they are entitled to do thanks to a clause in the Citi Field lease that allows the mayor to weigh in because the ballpark sits on land that is technically a city park.
What the mayor has said publicly and what he has told people inside city government appear to be at odds, and multiple sources have told The Post the mayor has been pushing the city’s lawyers to find a way to halt Cohen’s sale by using a clause buried in the Citi Field lease.
“The ‘due diligence’ line is bulls–t,” a source familiar with City Hall told The Post. “He’s told [Major League] Baseball he doesn’t want Cohen and he’s told his Law Department to find a way to stop it.”
First and foremost, congratulations to Mayor de Blasio for being the first person in forever to get the clown shirt treatment.
RELAX, EVERYBODY. RELAX. Nothing about this sale has been smooth, dating back to last year when Tiki fucking Barber broke news about someone was looking to buy the Mets on a casual Tuesday December night, so why should it start getting easier now? This sale is in the Bottom of the 9th of a 4-0 game with 1 Out and 2 to go. All that's left is the owners vote, which Cohen reportedly already has, and de Blasio not sticking his dumb fucking face in our business, which I covered in this blog:
Mets fans know more than any other fanbase just how much can go wrong with a lead in a game that seems like a wrap. The newest wrinkle seems like just that, a wrinkle. Not a monster chasm. But a wrinkle that has likely been wrinkled to get clicks from Mets fans always waiting for the other shoe to drop, get turned sideways, and shoved straight up our candy asses.
The Post has also obtained new information from a group of well-connected opponents of the Mets’ sale to Cohen, which is expected to be approved by MLB owners on Friday. They argue the Citi Field lease gives Hizzoner — a Red Sox fan — a clear right to block the deal, pointing to a provision in the lease that prevents a transaction with a “prohibited person.” A prohibited person includes not just an individual who was convicted of a felony, but anyone “who controls any person or entity that has been convicted of a felony.”
A source close to the Mets sale told The Post that the team hired two law firms to look into this matter before the deal closed. After close study, both firms concluded the city would have no standing to oppose Cohen’s purchase and felt more than comfortable moving ahead with the sale. “Multiple law firms investigated this already,” the source said.
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeit. Uncle Stevie didn't become our favorite rich uncle by not crossing every T, dotting every I, and lining every pocket that was a little light in order to get a deal done. The real life Bobby Axelrod knows exactly what comes with making a big move, from dealing with the fine print of idiotic clauses to negotiating with bumbling idiot politician looking to wet the beak.
Speaking of bumbling idiots, A-Rod has SHOCKINGLY come back into the picture yet again.
A key player opposing Cohen is State Senator Jessica Ramos, who was also a vocal player in the Amazon fiasco. Sources confirm that Ramos has been in contact with City Hall about the Mets sale. Ramos also penned an op-ed in July endorsing the sale of the Mets to the group led by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez. A source close to the so-called “J-Rod group” told The Post they think de Blasio wants to derail the Cohen deal and also believe he can. They see a glimmer of hope in the mayor’s machinations over Citi Field.
But again, it sounds like it may be too little, too late. Again.
That glimmer, however, seems very dim. “De Blasio can make this ugly and he can even try to stop it,” said one lawyer with knowledge of the situation. “But he has no real standing, and Cohen will sue him. And Cohen will win.”
Joe Pantorno, who has been all over this beat for a bit now, says the same.
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Again, my only fear is that de Blasio is so good at ruining New Yorkers' lives, blowing up a sale that would make millions of New Yorkers happy since that is pretty much his #brand. But if the mayor thought New York City was in bad shape now, he should see what it looks like once millions of savage Mets fans have their billionaire savior ripped from their hands, which I imagine would look like the wildling army gettin ready to siege Gracie Mansion.
I'm not sure where we are gonna get a wooly mammoth this time of human history, but I guarantee noted Mets fan Rico Bosco has a wooly mammoth guy somewhere in the five boroughs
So again, relax. Your old pal Clem says everything is going to be alright. If I am wrong, you can dress me up in glasses and a pipe like the dog outside Citi Field that we are going to one day free from his asshole owner. But I am right because Steve Cohen doesn't lose. He just sometimes takes longer to win because he wants to win more at a lower price.
We gotta believe.