With Mike Bloomberg and Jerry Seinfeld already on the record saying they’re not interested in buying a piece of the Mets, it was really only a matter of time until Donald Trump’s level of interest became public knowledge. But unlike fellow rich guys Bloomberg and Seinfeld, Trump says he’s interested, sort of. He tells the Times that he’s called Fred Wilpon to set up a meeting to discuss the potential sale of the club (that meeting has yet to happen), though he also tells the paper that he’d only be interested in purchasing a majority stake.
Said Trump, who, yes, is speaking in the third person: “If you look at Trump’s record, he is only interested in things he can control.”
And if a story about a real-estate mogul/reality-television personality expressing interest in buying a baseball team whose owners are being sued by the trustee of the victims of a massive Ponzi scheme isn’t quite weird enough for you, would the reported involvement of a former senator put it over the top? Because the Times also reports that Alfonse D’Amato has encouraged Trump to pursue a stake in the club.
Not to get too ahead of things, but the paper reports that in order to buy the Mets, “Trump would have to sell his small stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts, which has an interest in casinos in Atlantic City.” (As you may have heard, Major League Baseball frowns on gambling.) That said, if Trump is only interested in buying a controlling stake, this could all be moot, as Jeff Wilpon, for what it’s worth, reiterated again today that such a stake isn’t for sale. Said Wilpon, via David Lennon: “We’re not selling controlling interest in the team. It’s not on the table.”