NEW YORK -- Frank Robinson could become manager or general
manager of the Montreal Expos as part of the musical chairs of
owners that teams are likely to set in motion this week.
Teams probably will vote Wednesday to approve the proposed $660
million sale of the Boston Red Sox to a group headed by current
Florida Marlins owner John Henry, a high-ranking baseball official
said Monday on the condition of anonymity.
At the same time, owners are likely to approve a $150 million
sale of the Marlins from Henry to Jeffrey Loria, the current owner
of the Expos, the official said.
Loria wants to take current Expos manager Jeff Torborg and his
staff with him to Florida, the official said, and the office of
commissioner Bud Selig would run the Expos.
Robinson, hired by Cleveland in 1975 as baseball's first black
manager, is baseball's vice president in charge of discipline. He
could be asked to serve as Montreal's manager or GM, the official
said.
"That would be attractive. I would be willing to listen. No one
has approached me yet," said Robinson, a Hall of Famer and
two-time MVP. "I never turn a deaf ear to anything in baseball."
In other contraction and labor related news Monday:
Selig issued an unprecedented invitation to players'
association head Donald Fehr to address the owners' meeting on
Thursday.
Donald Watkins, who wants to buy the Minnesota Twins, called
team president Jerry Bell to start the process of obtaining the
Twins' financial records and to set up a meeting with team owner
Carl Pohlad.
Charles Dolan, who wants to buy the Red Sox, increased his
offer to $750 million, $90 million more than the bid the team
accepted from Henry's group.
Management lawyer Rob Manfred testified on the 10th day of the
hearing on the grievance by the players' association to block
contraction. The hearing recessed until Jan. 24 and with Manfred's
testimony incomplete, it is increasingly unlikely arbitrator Shyam
Das will make a decision until late in spring training.
Selig's plan to eliminate two teams, a move approved by owners
on Nov. 6, is at the center of the vast changes he contemplates.
While he hasn't identified teams, Montreal and Minnesota are the
likely targets.
An injunction issued by a Minnesota judge forces the Twins to
honor their lease at the Metrodome this season, an order the team
and Selig have appealed.
But most baseball officials now assume no teams will be
eliminated this year, which means the Expos will have no owner
operating the team if Loria assumes control of the Marlins and
Henry takes over the Red Sox.
That is one aspect of the Expos' GM job that appeals to
Robinson.
"No owner looking over your should telling you what to do," he
said.
However, it would place all of the team's trades under scrutiny,
because the person appointed by the commissioner's office to run
the Expos could be in a position to make deals that affect the
pennant race.
Selig, whose family has controlled the Milwaukee Brewers since
1970, has been baseball commissioner since 1998. Last week, he was
accused of a potential conflict of interest when The Star Tribune
of Minneapolis revealed he arranged for a three-month loan to the
Brewers in 1995 from a company controlled by Pohlad.
Watkins and Twins president Jerry Bell talked about a procedure
and a schedule for his pursuit of the team.
"It was a very positive discussion," said Watkins, who met
with the head of baseball's ownership committee last week. "They
were expecting my call."
Bell did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Watkins hopes to negotiate a deal and have major league approval
within 6-to-8 months. Watkins said a change of ownership would save
the team from contraction.
That could case Selig to select Oakland or Tampa Bay as the
possible second team in a contraction plan for 2003, or could cause
him to allow a move by the Expos to Washington, D.C., a concept
opposed by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who thinks it
would infringe on his market.
Dolan, meanwhile, made a $50 million increase in his offer for
the Red Sox.
The Red Sox turned down a $700 million offer from Dolan on
Sunday, saying the team would stick with the bid it accepted from
Henry in mid-December. According to documents signed by all
bidders, offers can be made until the sale is finalized.
Dolan, the chairman of Cablevision Systems Corp., said his new
offer included $490 million for the Jean R. Yawkey Trust, which
owns a 53 percent controlling interest in the team, and $260
million for the limited partners.
Henry's offer would pay $409.2 million to the trust and the rest
to the limited partners, according to Samuel Tamposi, one of the
limited partners.
Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly has been reviewing
whether Selig's office improperly influenced the Red Sox into
accepting the bid from the Henry group, which includes former San Diego
Padres owner Tom Werner, former Padres and Baltimore president
Larry Lucchino and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell,
all friends of Selig.
The purchase price includes Fenway Park and a controlling 80
percent interest in the New England Sports Network.
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