Washington Expos

[ChrisCary]

I'm just wondering, does Selig make this up as he goes along?



http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0117/1313057.html



Selig: D.C. the 'prime candidate' for a relocated team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press


PHOENIX -- Major League Baseball could move a team as early as 2003, with commissioner Bud Selig saying that Washington had the best chance of landing one.


A day after owners approved the record $660 million sale of the Boston Red Sox, setting in motion planned sales of the Florida Marlins and Montreal Expos, Selig said Thursday this was just the beginning of major shifts, a process likely to extend into 2003.


Selig said he believes "relocation is coming in the near future" but his staff said no move will take place for this season. Washington, without a team since the expansion Senators became the Texas Rangers after the 1971 season, has been the most aggressive area pursuing a franchise.


"Given the demographics of the area and the number of people who want it, I would say it's the prime candidate," Selig said after the two-day meeting ended.


With baseball's contraction plan stalled, Montreal appears to be the most likely candidate for a 2003 move.


John Henry heads the group buying the Red Sox and plans to sell the Marlins for $158 million to Jeffrey Loria, the current Expos owner. Loria intends to sell his team to the commissioner's office for $120 million.


The commissioner's office intends to operate the Expos for one season at most, according to Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief legal officer.


"I'd be shocked if it was for more than one year," DuPuy said.


Baseball's original plan was to eliminate two teams before the start of this season -- most likely Montreal and Minnesota -- but that plan has been blocked by an injunction in Minnesota.


An option remains to eliminate two teams in 2003, including the Expos, and move another franchise. Anaheim, Oakland and Tampa Bay have been mentioned as possibilities by owners.


Players' association head Donald Fehr addressed owners -- the first time since the union was formed in 1966 that management extended an invitation to a meeting of all teams. Fehr was pleased and, including questions, spoke to owners for nearly two hours.


Fehr said players have not considered striking this season and it was positive that owners say they do not intend to lock out players when spring training starts. He did not detail his remarks to owners but gave a general assessment of the offseason turmoil.


"We have had since the end of the World Series a number of developments which have necessitated an extended period of press coverage that hasn't been all that happy for baseball," Fehr said.


After lengthy negotiations between the Red Sox and the Massachusetts attorney general that ended just hours before the meeting's start Wednesday, owners approved the Boston deal 29-0, with the New York Yankees abstaining.


"What I'd really like to do is address the fans of the Boston Red Sox and say to them that we are bringing to Boston what I would call sort of a dream team of baseball people," Henry said. "Baseball runs in our veins, just like it does in yours."


Selig hopes the Red Sox sale closes by the end of February and that the other deals can be approved before spring training starts in mid-February. With baseball's contraction plan stalled, the commissioner's office appears likely to operate the Expos this season.


"We haven't made a final decision yet, but certainly that is one of the things under consideration. Absolutely," Selig said.


The price of the Expos means Twins owner Carl Pohlad is likely to ask for more than $120 million from Donald Watkins, the Alabama businessman who wants to buy the Twins to save the team from extinction.


Henry's deal for the Red Sox, who own Fenway Park and 80 percent of the New England Sports Network, more than doubles the previous record price for a baseball franchise -- the $323 million paid by Larry Dolan for the Cleveland Indians in 2000. Henry's group also will assume $40 million in debt.


Boston's deal has been filled with controversy. The team's current owners spurned a $755 million offer from New York lawyer Miles Prentice and a $750 million bid from Cablevision Systems Corp. chairman Charles Dolan -- Larry Dolan's brother.


The Jean R. Yawkey Foundation, which owns a 53 percent controlling interest in the Red Sox, will receive $410 million from the Henry group, which includes a number of baseball insiders who are friends of Selig: former San Diego owner Tom Werner, former Padres and Baltimore Orioles president Larry Lucchino and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.


"I'm not concerned about the way John Harrington handled the sale, or his people, or the way Major League Baseball handled the sale," Selig said.


Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly, saying he wanted to make sure charities benefitting from the Yawkey Trust get the most money they can, negotiated a deal Wednesday that calls for Henry's group to create a $20 million charity. It would fund youth, educational and other organizations, and the Yawkey trust would receive $10 million from the team's current limited partners.


Reilly has expressed concern that Selig and Harrington, the chief executive officer of the Red Sox, led Boston's limited partners to agree to a deal with Henry's group.


"We are deeply disappointed by today's events," Charles Dolan said in a statement. "We agree with the previous statement of the attorney general of Massachusetts that the bidding process for the Boston Red Sox was fatally flawed."


Loria is expected to bring much of his top staff to the Marlins, including executive vice president David Samson, interim general manager Larry Beinfest and manager Jeff Torborg. Florida has been without a GM and manager since the end of the season. Samson said it was too early to discuss the staff issues.

[Xanadu Dragon]

Bud:

"Contraction! Contraction! Contraction!"

Bud after getting his ass kicked for ten weeks:

"Con.........relocation! Relocation! Relocation!"

[5ToolPlayer]

This has all the markings of running things up the flagpole to see who salutes. Although I suppose a remote possibility is Fehr made some reference to concessions if no contraction happened.
How is Selig going to get Angelos to agree to this? Doesn't he claim to have territorial rights to DC?

[BuzzBuzzard]

How many times does baseball have to fail in DC before they realize it won't work?

[Skip]

Thanks Buzz. I know times change and all, but I've wondered too why DC is considered the "prime" place for relocation when it hasnt worked before. I'm willing to be educated, but I sure dont see it right now.

[gyb13]

Originally posted by Skip
Thanks Buzz. I know times change and all, but I've wondered too why DC is considered the "prime" place for relocation when it hasnt worked before. I'm willing to be educated, but I sure dont see it right now.

Because I just moved here!

[Skip]

Oh, .... so long as we're being rational and all....

[Skip]

But gyb, how can you remain Brasil's greatest baseball buff if you are not in Brasil??

[gyb13]

Originally posted by Skip
But gyb, how can you remain Brasil's greatest baseball buff if you are not in Brasil??

picky, picky...
I wish they'd get moved this year, so that I wouldn't have to go all the way to Camden to watch my 1st game. But from what I hear, it won't be a bad place to see one.

[sweaver]

Why DC? Because it is the biggest metropolitan area without a team. Like just about anywhere else, DC could draw with a winner.

I assume a new stadium would be built in suburban Virginia, Fairfax County, where the people with the bucks live.

[Duque]

Camden is a great ballpark. You'll enjoy it.

The D.C. demographics have changed since 1971 - the Northern Va. area has really boomed. I think, if they're going to relocate a team, it should be on that side of the Potomac.

If it's an NL team - I don't think Angelos will object (as much).

[Xanadu Dragon]

Angelos will throw a fecal fit, NL team or not. Just watch.

Not sure if it's true; but, for some reason, I have the impression that BB in DC failed in the past because most of the people there who would go to a game are the people who are used to getting into places for free (pols, press, lobby folk, etc.). Anyone else ever hear something like that?

I think Angelos is going to throw a royal fit as well. Can he hold up the deal??

If moving them was a legitimate option why wasn't that pursued first?? It seems Selig really DOES make this up as he goes along. I am convinced he could screw up just about anything.

[LeGrandOrange]

Could Washington ownership get the rights back to "Senators" or is that nickname retired?
Peter Angelos is a cry baby if he has issues with it. For one thing, Baltimore isn't even that close to Washington. It's in the metropolitan area, but it's no different from Los Angeles/Anaheim, San Francisco/Oakland, or the New York and Chicago things. Washington's the 5th largest consolidated metropolitan area, so they should probably get a 2-team city.
I think he's just got issues because he realizes that the transplanted Expos would be the better team. (Slam!)
Regardless, anything to avoid contraction would work. I'm already prepare to deal with no Montreal club, so while it would hurt, it won't be a major pain.
If only Bud Selig knew what he was doing. No wonder he's only #14 and declining in powerful personalities.
Bud Bundy makes a better commissioner right now.

[SmedIndy]

Angelos is an idiot, and the other owners should just shovel him some of the cash they were going to give Pohlad.

Northern Virginia is exactly the type of place that would allow a team to thrive. I have friends and family living around there, and it's just too complicated to get the Baltimore to see a game from Alexandria or Reston or Centreville.