Frank Franklin Ii/Associated Press
Steven A. Cohen, a minority investor with the Mets, is negotiating with the Wilpon family to purchase a controlling stake in the team, according to two people close to the negotiations.
A completed deal was not imminent and still subject to approval by Major League Baseball owners, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Under the agreement being negotiated, Cohen would purchase 80 percent of the team, according to one of the people. In an announcement Wednesday about the negotiations, Cohen and the Mets said that Fred Wilpon, the current controlling owner of the Mets, and his son Jeff, the chief operating officer, would remain in their positions for the next five years.