Jeter, Bush Said to Consider Adding Rothbaum to Marlins Bid

(Bloomberg) -- As Derek Jeter and Jeb Bush look to finance their purchase of the Miami Marlins, they have turned to a one-time rival: Quogue Capital founder Wayne Rothbaum, one of the losing bidders for the Major League Baseball franchise.

The investor is in advanced talks to join the Jeter-Bush bid, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. The size of Rothbaum's investment isn't clear, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Representatives for Rothbaum and for the Jeter-Bush group declined to comment.

Final bids for the Marlins came in between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, according to a person familiar with the sale. The Marlins' current owner, New York art dealer Jeffrey Loria, bought the team in 2002 for $158 million. Forbes says the franchise is valued at $940 million.

Any change of ownership requires approval from the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week that while no official sale had been completed, he expected the team to have an announcement ready in a matter of days or weeks.

--With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum