Joe Tsai (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images)
The Brooklyn Nets owner wants no part in buying the New York Mets.
For the past week, New York Mets fans have been following the bidding war for the organization with bated breath. That’s understandable, since they’ve been waiting for years for the Wilpon family to sell the team. One of the bidding groups for the NL East team is lead by former MLB star Alex Rodriguez and celebrity Jennifer Lopez, who have brought in quite the lineup of athletes to provide funding for the purchase.
One of said athletes is Denver Nuggets center Mason Plumlee, who wrote in his blog on Saturday that Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai had joined the group to buy the Mets. Hours after the blog post, Tsai came forward to announce he has no interest in joining the “J-Rod” group.
Plumlee’s post has since been deleted.
Tsai focused on his basketball team
While Tsai did say that he grew up a Mets fan, he wants to set his focus on the Nets organization. We can’t say we blame Tsai for pivoting.
Last year, Tsai gave the green light for the Nets front office to sign Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to massive deals with the goal of turning the franchise into a NBA Championship contender. That plan won’t happen until the start of the 2020-21 season, as Durant was ruled out for this campaign after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the 2019 NBA Finals and Irving missed the majority of the season with a right shoulder injury.
With Tsai out, J-Rod’s group still consists of Plumlee, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal and Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher. Even with those athletes, Rodriguez still trails the presumed favorite Steve Cohen and the Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (owners of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils).
While Tsai’s $12.2 billion worth would’ve helped, he’s just not interested in transitioning to baseball.