Steve Cohen clears huge MLB hurdle toward finalizing Mets purchase

Steve Cohen is one significant step closer to becoming the owner of the Mets.

The Post confirmed MLB’s Ownership Committee approved Cohen to be the team’s next owner, with sources saying Cohen received seven of the eight votes on the board. Sportico first reported Cohen’s approval.

Next up will be the eight-owner Executive Committee, followed by the full ownership group, when Cohen will need 23 of 30 votes for his $2.475 billion purchase of the Mets to go through. Since the Mets will vote for Cohen, he’ll really need just 22 of 29.

Cohen met virtually with the Ownership Committee earlier this month and the full ownership group vote could occur as soon as the week following the conclusion of the World Series, with Game 1 Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas.

As The Post’s Ken Davidoff reported Saturday, there is “cautious optimism” that Cohen will secure the necessary votes, although not necessarily unanimity.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf had previously opposed Cohen’s pursuit of the Dodgers and Reinsdorf is friendly with Alex Rodriguez — who attempted to buy the Mets in a group that included fiancée Jennifer Lopez, and business titans Vincent Viola and Mike Repole. That group could revive its bid if the opportunity arises. Another group led by Josh Harris, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, also bid for the Mets.

The chance of the deal falling through is less likely after Tuesday’s vote, as Cohen has cleared a key hurdle in buying the Mets from the Wilpons and Saul Katz. Cohen has already announced if his purchase goes through, he will hire former general manager Sandy Alderson as team president.

That would be the first move of many, with Alderson building a front office and the baseball world waiting to see how Cohen might use his billions — the hedge fund maven is worth an estimated $14 billion — to run the team he grew up rooting for.

He already owns a percentage of the team and should this deal go through, Cohen would then own 95 percent of the Mets, with the Wilpons and Katz keeping five percent.

Free-agent possibilities include catcher J.T. Realmuto and outfielder George Springer, while the organization would also look to invest heavily in analytics and technology, as The Post’s Mike Puma reported last week.

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