Alex Rodriguez is reportedly upset over what he sees as an unfair bidding process in the sale of the Mets.
A-Rod and pop superstar fiancee Jennifer Lopez led a group of investors that fell just $50M short of the $2.35B bid put forth by incoming owner Steven Cohen.
Rodriguez apparently thinks the minor gap in offers was no coincidence, the New York Post reported.
The Mets asked for a peek at A-Rod's offer several days prior to the deadline for submission, the story said. The former Yankees superstar and three-time MVP complied -- and now suspects the Mets passed along the figure to the deep-pocketed Cohen, to ensure that he would beat it.
“They took the bids and showed them to Cohen,” a source told the Post.
"It was fixed," a separate source said.
Such a move is unusual but not illegal, a lawyer who deals in sports transactions told the newspaper.
The maneuverings might have cost the Mets' current ownership group money in the end, the Post story said, because they apparently never went back to A-Rod's camp to see if they would up their offer.
The story doesn't give a reason as to why the Mets' owners would seemingly prefer to sell to Cohen rather than Rodriguez.
The offer the Mets ultimately accepted from Cohen was less than what he had offered earlier in the year, when negotiations were said to have fallen through.
MLB must still approve Cohen as an owner, though there has been no indication so far that is in doubt. The hedge fund titan's former firm was busted for insider trading in 2013, however.