Miami Marlins: Dave Stewart reportedly joins Romney group; A-Rod declined offer

As the Miami Marlins come closer to being sold, the Romney-led ownership group has continued to recruit experienced MLB players, adding Dave Stewart to their entourage.

The first major name reported to be in the Tagg Romney group was hall of fame Braves pitcher Tom Glavine. Since then, this group of potential owners has been in a bidding war to buy the Miami Marlins with an opposing team led by Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter. Aside from the bidding itself, there has been other news in the past week on this subject.

Former All-Star pitcher, World Series MVP and Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart has joined the Romney-led group. The news broke Thursday evening that Stewart would be a part of the group, courtesy of USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Stewart was originally trying to bid with a group of his own. However as more and more investors joined the Romney contingent, he decided to get in on the action. Should his group win the bid, it is believed that Stewart would be in charge of the baseball operations department.

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Just two days later, it came out that Alex Rodriguez was recruited by the Romney group but declined to join. On Saturday, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that A-Rod had the opportunity to team up with Romney, Galvine & Co. to purchase his hometown team, but turned them down.

Later on that day, Rodriguez explained why didn’t accept the offer (below).

It makes sense that A-Rod might want to take some time before diving into an ownership role. He retired less than a full years ago and has two young daughters. There’s also his still-shaky reputation around the league. As the rules currently state, 75% of MLB owners must approve any team purchase. With all the PED-related drama in his past, there’s no guarantee the league would have let Rodriguez be part owner of the Marlins at this time. Rodriguez earned nearly $400 million over the course of his playing career, so he might be an owner some day. As it stands right now, this is not that time.

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