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The Mets may have found a minority investor

CORRECTION Mets Sale Baseball

** CORRECTS JEFF WILPON’S TITLE TO COO, NOT CEO ** FILE- In this Oct. 29, 2010, file photo, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, left, and COO Jeff Wilpon, listen to a question from the media during a baseball news conference in New York. The Mets are exploring a partial sale of the team as they face a lawsuit from a trustee trying to reclaim money for victims of the Bernard Madoff swindle. The owners, Fred Wilpon and son Jeff, say they are looking into the sale to “address the air of uncertainty created by this lawsuit.” (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek, File)

The last time we heard that the Mets were close to landing their sought-after minority investor -- Steve Cohen -- the deal went sideways. So it was try, try again and, according to the New York Post, they’re getting close once again:

Team ownership has chosen a preferred bidder -- the group led by former commodities trader Ray Bartoszek and investor Anthony Lanza -- and have been in advanced talks since last week on the proposed deal to sell up to a 49 percent stake in the money-losing team for $200 million, sources told The Post.

As always, there are still details to nail down. One, which could be an issue, is that apparently Bartoszek and Lanza want a piece of SNY. Which seems reasonable given that it makes tons of money and the Mets, at the moment anyway, not so much. You want equity, Fred, you gotta give up something of value, right?

According to the post, Wilpon wants this deal to close by June 30th. I’m assuming that date is important for fiscal year purposes, but given Wilpon, that could just be the release date of the next in-depth interview he gave and he wants to get out in front of things.