Bradley Beal, #3, Washington Wizards, (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The Washington Wizards star called out MLB for allowing one of their teams to be sold to “a billionaire with a long track record of shady dealings.”
The New York Mets are one of the richest franchises in all of sports. As of this year, the baseball club located in Flushing, Queens has an estimated value of 2.4 billion US dollars. But Fred Wilpon believes it’s time to move on.
It’s no secret that the team majority owner has been wanting to sell them for years. Wilpon, a Brooklyn native and real estate developer, is 83 years old and in his 40th year of front office management for the ball club.
This year, the bidding war for the franchise has ramped up, especially in the past few months. The most notable bidder has been former MLB superstar Alex Rodriguez and his fiancee, pop singer Jennifer Lopez. The recently engaged couple leads a group of celebrity investors determined to buy the Mets. One of these investors is Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal.
Considering Beal’s involvement in this bidding war, it makes sense why he called out another potential buyer: hedge fund manager and Long Island native, Steve Cohen. Friday morning, Beal tweeted out a link to a New York Daily News opinion piece detailing Cohen’s “questionable past.”
“We finally have a society paying attention to race, discrimination and injustice,” Beal wrote in his Tweet. “And now that there’s a chance to sell the Mets to bidders of color, MLB wants to give instead to Steve Cohen — a billionaire with a long track record of shady dealings?”
The article, written by New York State Senator Jessica Ramos, mentioned accusations against Cohen’s company, SAC Capital Advisors, such as insider trading, fraud and reports of workplace harassment.
So far, the Twitter reactions have been mixed. Some people pointed out how Cohen is exactly the type of owner the Mets need due to his wealth and willingness to spend money. Others are concerned he will be similar to Wilpon and not cash any substantial contracts.
Either way, this is a situation worth monitoring to see if it ultimately helps or hurts Rodriguez’s team in their bid to purchase the Mets.