BOSTON (AP) -- The Massachusetts attorney general agreed
Wednesday to go along with the sale of the Boston Red Sox to
Florida Marlins owner John Henry in exchange for $30 million more
for charity.
Attorney General Thomas Reilly had been investigating the sale
since the team agreed to a bid from Henry, for $660 million, which
was $90 million less than the highest bid. The Yawkey Foundation, a
charitable trust, is the 53 percent owner of the team, and Reilly
said he was concerned the charities would get shortchanged.
The deal was announced only hours after talks had broken down at
one point and Reilly had sent baseball a letter urging the bidding
process for the Red Sox to continue. It also came as baseball
owners began meeting in Phoenix to vote on the team's sale.
Under the agreement, the group of prospective owners led by
Henry will create a new charitable organization expected to donate
at least $20 million over 10 years to youth, educational and other
organizations.
Another $10 million will be contributed to the Yawkey trust by
the Red Sox' limited partners.
Henry's group includes former San Diego owner Tom Werner, former
Padres and Orioles president Larry Lucchino and former Senate
Majority Leader George Mitchell -- all friends of baseball
commissioner Bud Selig.
With the agreement, current Red Sox CEO John Harrington will share
control of the Yawkey trust with an expanded board that will total
nine trustees.
"We will bring in professional management to manage it,"
Reilly said. "I'm proud today that this sale can go forward."
Harrington said that by reaching the agreement, he would be able
to "maximize the proceeds to the Yawkey Foundation and to conclude
the sale process so that the Henry-Werner group can be in place by
Opening Day."
"I look forward to continuing to carry on Mrs. Yawkey's legacy
in my role as trustee and executive director of her foundation for
many years to come," Harrington said.
Henry said the agreement to establish a New Boston Red Sox
Foundation would continue the Yawkey's long history of community
involvement.
"We look forward to forging strong ties within the Boston area
and throughout the New England community via this foundation for
many years to come," Henry said in a statement.
The agreement was announced shortly after Reilly had sent a
letter to Selig, saying the bidding should be reopened and urging
owners not to approve the sale to Henry's group. He had said in the
letter that his review of the sales process required further
investigation.
"I have a responsibility not only to assure that the charities
of the Commonwealth receive as much as possible from the sale of
the Red Sox, but also to guarantee that the foundation is prepared
to meet its obviously enhanced obligations," Reilly wrote to
Selig.
At a subsequent news conference, Reilly said he had "run out of
patience. It was important to us to get it done."
Harrington eventually gave Reilly what he was seeking.
New York lawyer Miles Prentice and cable TV billionaire Charles
Dolan have each submitted higher offers than Henry, but the Red Sox
said Henry has the best chance of being approved by the owners at
their meeting, which began Wednesday, in Phoenix.
Prentice and Dolan had no immediate comment.
Thomas A. Yawkey bought the Red Sox in 1933 and controlled the
team until his death in 1976. His wife, Jean R. Yawkey, died in
1992 and put the majority share of the team in a trust that has
been controlled by Harrington.
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