The day New York Mets fans have longed for is finally here. At 1:30 p.m. ET, Major League Baseball’s owners will vote whether to approve or deny Steve Cohen’s bid to purchase the Wilpon/Katz group’s franchise. There has been plenty of noise in the last week, but everything is scheduled to go as planned for Cohen.
The full ownership group is scheduled to vote on Steve Cohen’s deal to own the #Mets at 1:30pE on Friday.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 29, 2020
As reported, Cohen is expected to receive the votes needed for approval. It should come in the 27-29 “yes” range, with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf as the only confirmed no. Of course, Reinsdorf has close ties with Alex Rodriguez but will not convince enough owners to vote against Cohen. Reinsdorf cannot even keep the people in his organization happy (hiring Tony LaRussa), so working in collusion with other current owners is a major long shot.
Of course, Mayor Bill de Blasio had to throw his name in the mix to block the sale, but there is nothing he can do. Once Cohen gets approval, he owns the team at the 95% stake he agreed to. de Blasio comes in because the land Citi Field sits on belongs to the city. Since Cohen has no crimes to his name, he likely is hoping the owners vote against Cohen to get A-Rod back in the mix as well.
Stay Calm, Do Not Panic
Mets fans have learned not to take anything for granted and assume nothing. Despite the worries, all key sources say Cohen will get ownership of the team, and de Blasio is all talk. The Mayor cannot afford to get under the skin of any more people in his city. The vote should go as smoothly as planned since MLB desperately needs an owner who can spend plenty of money like Cohen.
As we inch closer to finding out the news on approval, there is nothing to do but check Twitter constantly and watch the hours tick away. Either way, we are in one of the most important days in the history of the New York Mets franchise, and Christmas might be coming early this year.