BOSTON -- A group led by a New York businessman who owns minor league baseball and hockey teams in Texas has emerged as a sixth bidder for the Boston Red Sox.

Miles Prentice has been cleared by Major League Baseball to review the team's confidential financial records, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

A source close to Prentice confirmed to The Associated Press that he has put together an ownership group and is a qualified bidder.

Red Sox spokeswoman Jodi Matthews refused comment.

Prentice, a corporate lawyer who grew up in Montpelier, Vt., has made unsuccessful bids for an ownership stake in three other major league teams: the Anaheim Angels, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and, most recently, the Kansas City Royals.

The bid by Prentice's group to own the Royals failed in 1999 partly because the group had more than 40 partners, and other major league baseball owners were concerned there were too many people involved to effectively manage the team.

But Prentice, 58, has learned from his previous bids, the source said, adding that the group being assembled to bid for the Red Sox is smaller and will have deeper pockets.

Other bidders for the team include a group of local businessmen led by Boston Concessions owner Joseph O'Donnell and mall developer Stephen Karp; billionaire Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan; Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs; a group led by television executive Tom Werner and former Maine skiing mogul Les Otten; and current Sox limited partner Aramark Corp., the concessionaire at Fenway Park.

John Harrington, the team's chief executive, offered the Yawkey Trust's 53 percent controlling interest in the team last fall.