Mets’ deal to sell team to Steve Cohen officially dead, but team will still be sold

Negotations between the Wilpons and Steve Cohen over the sale of the majority stake in the Mets are officially dead, as confirmed by a statement released by Sterling Partners, the Wilpons’ entity that currently owns the vast majority of the team. The statement also makes it clear that the team will still be sold. Cohen also released a statement in which he said he gave it his best shot.

There were reports yesterday that the deal fell apart because the Wilpons attempted to make late changes to the framework of their agreement with Cohen, with the current owners wanting to maintain control of the team for a longer period of time than the five years that were originally agreed upon. And MLB commissioner Rob Manfred gave his own take on the situation, one that insisted that the Wilpons hadn’t done anything wrong, pointing the blame at Cohen for the failed sale.