Miami Marlins: Jeb Bush drops out of ownership hunt
By David Hill
Just a few weeks ago, it looked as though the ownership group fronted by Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter were about to assume control of the Miami Marlins. Yesterday, Jeb! dropped out of the ownership hunt.
For some time, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that the Miami Marlins would be sold to the group fronted by former presidential candidate Jeb Bush and Yankees legend Derek Jeter. There was even a rumor a few weeks ago that the sale had been consummated, although that proved to be false. Even though another ownership group, one headlined by Tagg Romney and former Braves pitcher Tom Glavine, had entered the picture, the expectation was that the Marlins were the Bush/Jeter group’s to lose.
That has since changed. Yesterday, it was reported that Jeb! has dropped out of the hunt for the Marlins. Meanwhile, Jeter is still attempting to acquire the franchise, and is looking to line up other investors to help in his pursuit.
Nonetheless, this certainly has to be considered a tremendous blow to Jeter’s chances. As the Marlins ownership situation may be resolved in short order, replacing Bush as one of the top principles of the group will be a daunting task.
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For Bush, his reason for dropping out of the chase came down to not being able to be a controlling partner. He simply had not put enough of his own money into the group to have a majority interest, and was apparently not willing to increase his financial stake.
This is second high profile race that Jeb! has dropped out of in the past year. He had dropped out of the Republican Presidential race after several disappointing finishes and his “Please clap” disaster. However, in this case, as the Bush/Jeter group appeared to be the frontrunners, this decision is quite the surprise.
Meanwhile, the Romney/Glavine/Dave Stewart group appears to be the prohibitive favorites. While Jeter is scrambling to find additional funding to make up for the loss of Bush, the Romney/Glavine/Stewart group appears far more stable.
There may be concerns as to how viable baseball is in Miami, but the same concerns regarding viability have to be attached to the Jeter group now. Jeb Bush dropping out of th ehunt may have changed the tide in the quest to own the Miami Marlins.