Report: Jeter, Jeb Bush forming joint bid to purchase Marlins

The Miami Marlins appear to be drawing interest from two very significant suitors who've decided to form an alliance.

New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter and one-time Governor of Florida Jeb Bush, who were both rumored to be interested in launching their own bids for the Marlins, have reportedly joined forces in an attempt to become co-owners of the club, according to Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald.

Sources told Hanks that the Jeter-Bush group's largest competition is Wayne Rothbaum, a New York-based financial manager.

Jeter, who won five World Series titles and earned well over $265 million in salary during his 20-year career with the Yankees, was said to be looking at launching a bid for the Marlins earlier this month. The 42-year-old has expressed interest in becoming a sports owner on multiple occasions since his retirement.

Bush, who served as Florida's governor for eight years, ran an unsuccessful campaign to win the 2016 Republican presidential primary this past summer.

Current Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria bought the team from John Henry - who now owns the Boston Red Sox - for $158.5 million in February 2002, three years after he first entered baseball by purchasing the now-defunct Montreal Expos.

Loria has apparently been fielding offers for the Marlins since the winter, while a reported "handshake agreement" to sell to a New York-based group for $1.6 billion reportedly fell through in February.