Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter have reportedly teamed up in a bid to buy the Miami Marlins.

The former Florida governor will combine resources with the longtime New York Yankees captain in an effort to purchase the team from owner Jeffrey Loria, the Miami Herald reported on Wednesday citing sources familiar with the negotiations.

Bush and Jeter, who were previously in the market for the National League club, have strong competition from New York financier and Quogue Capital manager Wayne Rothbaum.

Loria, a former New York art dealer who purchased the Marlins for $158.5m in 2002, had a handshake agreement to sell the team for $1.6bn to the family of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and White House adviser to president Donald Trump.

That deal was scuttled after Loria’s name emerged as a candidate for the US ambassadorship to France, lest both parties be susceptible to accusations of quid pro quo.

Both Bush and Jeter have residences in Florida. Bush, whose bid for the GOP’s presidential nomination came up short in last year’s promaries, lives in Coral Gables, while Jeter, a 14-time All-Star who retired from baseball three years ago after spending the entirety of his career with the Yankees, has a house in Tampa.

Former US president George W Bush, Jeb’s elder brother, owned a controlling share of the American League’s Texas Rangers from 1989 through 1998, serving as the team’s managing general partner for five years.

