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After months of negotiations, meetings, biddings, raising offers, speculations, and nail-biting, Jennifer Lopez , Alex Rodriguez, and their group couldn’t fulfill their dream of becoming the New York Mets owners, allegedly because of Rodriguez’s friendship with Jeff Luhnow, former General Manager of the Houston Astros.
As reported by The New York Times, ARod’s close relationship with Luhnow was a red flag, and allegedly neither the Wilpons nor the Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner Robert Manfred want the disgraced ex-Astros’ GM back. Luhnow was suspended from the MLB after he faced allegations of sign-stealing during the 2017 World Series season. Weeks before the announcement of which group will end up as proprietor of the team, Alex Rodriguez was consulting with Luhnow.
“Alex and I are so disappointed. We worked so hard the past 6 months with the dream of becoming the first minority couple and the first woman owner to buy her father’s favorite Major League Baseball team with her own hard-earned money. We still haven’t given up!! #NYForever,” JLo tweeted before it was announced that Steve Cohen would be the Mets’ primary owner.
The singer, dancer, and executive producer pretends to keep fighting, and during a recent interview with the New York Post, Jennifer Lopez revealed that she isn’t ready to surrender. “It ain’t over until it is over,” Lopez told The Post. “We are New Yorkers, and we are not going to give up. We feel we have the best bid for the sport, the team, and the city.”
According to the Post, the Bronx Diva is counter-bidding and pitching herself as the only person who would control the team. A position that would make her part of the history books for being the first Latina managing a team in the MLB. “I would be the control person,” Lopez said.
“This is a big moment in the history of baseball and the Mets to have the first Latina owner of a Major League Baseball franchise,” said Marc Lore, a senior executive at Walmart and investor of the J.Lo/A-Rod consortium, according to The Post. “It would be a really big win for racial and gender equality in this country and the world.”
“I was impressed by how passionate and mission-oriented both Alex and Jennifer are and the high level of integrity and core values that they displayed throughout this entire process,” Lore added.
Lopez and Rodriguez also revealed that their bid was better than the $2.35 billion Cohen offered. As reported by The Post, the couple guaranteed a World Series win or a $100 million donation to New York charities. “Compete for a World Series championship every year. That is what New York fans deserve,” said Rodriguez.
The power couple will keep pushing for their dream and are willing to put money out of their pocket to “control” the organization. According to Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, they are the “dream team” and have a plan to cover the team‘s areas. While Rodriguez would focus on the baseball part, Lopez would also be taking care of branding and entertainment. Other group members would be overseeing the stadium operations and events, focusing on technology, and giving insight on how to grow the team.