Expos new home appears set...

[nyisles16]

just heard on WFAN on my way home from work just now - that MLB is set to announce the relocation of the Expos to Washington DC

[mlblover33]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

09/23/2004 9:01 PM ET
No decision yet on Expos
By Barry M. Bloom and Mike Bauman / MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- After a joint meeting of Major League Baseball's relocation committee and executive council on Thursday, no decision was reached on relocating the Montreal Expos for next season.
A decision is still possible by the end of the season said Bob DuPuy, MLB's president, chief operating officer and a member of the relocation committee.

"The matter now frankly, is in the hands of the Commissioner, the executive council and the clubs," DuPuy said after the nearly two-hour meeting in the Milwaukee offices of Commissioner Bud Selig.

In Montreal on Thursday night, Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the MLB Players Association, met with the Expos players before their game against the Mets. Orza called the meeting "very cursory and preliminary" and touched on what Orza said was MLB's obligation to bargain the effects of relocation with the players. He also said that it was his impression that the team would move to the Washington area.

"I believe that location will be somewhere in the District of Columbia area, whether it be Northern Virginia or the District of Columbia," Orza said. "I would like to see, if they do decide to move (the Expos) to the D.C. area, that the transfer would create an independent entity operating the Expos not in 2006, but starting in 2005."

By most published accounts, Washington, D.C., is the leading candidate with Northern Virginia perhaps second because of the dwindling political support in the state to fund a stadium for the team. The other contenders -- Norfolk, Va., Portland, Ore., Monterrey, Mexico, and Las Vegas -- have yet to be eliminated, DuPuy said.

"All of the candidates were reviewed," DuPuy said. "The relocation committee made no recommendation and no vote was asked for by the commissioner with regard to the relocation of the Expos. We're going to continue to work on the various proposals and we'll see how far we get and how rapidly we get there.

"We're going to continue to work on the process and work as diligently as we can. We're talking now about a very short window of opportunity to continue to negotiate. Can it be done in a matter of days? Days sound like one or two. As I've said all along, this needs to get done by the end of the season, and we're still trying to push for the end of the season."

The relocation committee appears to have narrowed its focus on the District in recent weeks. Members of the committee met for 7 1/2 hours late last month with District officials to discuss all facets of their proposal. They followed that up and with another 11-hour session buttoning down details last week.

In much shorter meetings during the same time period with the Northern Virginia contingent, the relocation committee was told there was significant political opposition in the state government to issuing the particular bonds it would take to build a ballpark near Dulles Airport. In any event, state revenue for the project would disappear when that legislation sunsets at the end of the year.

In the District, time is also of the essence.

If Washington is awarded the team, the D.C. City Council must fund the new ballpark by the end of the year. Three ballpark-supporting council members lost their seats in the recent D.C. Democratic primary and will be replaced by anti-ballpark voting members on Jan. 1.

Peter Angelos, the managing general partner of the Baltimore Orioles and a staunch opponent to the Expos moving into the Washington area, vetted his views at Thursday's meeting, DuPuy said. Angelos is a member of the nine-man executive council.

"Peter Angelos has made his views known with regard to the effect that he believes a team in the D.C. area will have on the Baltimore Orioles and he articulated those views," DuPuy said.

If the Expos move to the District, they are expected to be renamed and will play for the next three seasons at RFK Stadium while a $400 million ballpark is being built at a location along the Anacostia River waterfront near M and South Capitol Streets, which is now the preferred site among the four proposed in D.C. last year.

RFK Stadium hasn't had baseball regularly since the Senators moved to Texas after the 1971 season. The Expos expanded into the National League in 1969 along with the San Diego Padres and have played in Montreal ever since. They would be the first MLB team to relocate since the Senators.

DuPuy said he was acutely aware that the days toward making a decision were dwindling on the committee's self-imposed target date for the end of the season. The relocation committee has been hard at work trying to find a new home for the team during the past two seasons. The Expos have been owned and operated by MLB since Feb. 15, 2002.

"I think we're all running out of time and we realize that," he said. "So I'd like to think that everybody is on the same wave length with regard to the time schedule."

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. MLB reporter Bill Ladson contributed. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[mlblover33]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

09/23/2004 9:01 PM ET
No decision yet on Expos
By Barry M. Bloom and Mike Bauman / MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- After a joint meeting of Major League Baseball's relocation committee and executive council on Thursday, no decision was reached on relocating the Montreal Expos for next season.
A decision is still possible by the end of the season said Bob DuPuy, MLB's president, chief operating officer and a member of the relocation committee.

"The matter now frankly, is in the hands of the Commissioner, the executive council and the clubs," DuPuy said after the nearly two-hour meeting in the Milwaukee offices of Commissioner Bud Selig.

In Montreal on Thursday night, Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the MLB Players Association, met with the Expos players before their game against the Mets. Orza called the meeting "very cursory and preliminary" and touched on what Orza said was MLB's obligation to bargain the effects of relocation with the players. He also said that it was his impression that the team would move to the Washington area.

"I believe that location will be somewhere in the District of Columbia area, whether it be Northern Virginia or the District of Columbia," Orza said. "I would like to see, if they do decide to move (the Expos) to the D.C. area, that the transfer would create an independent entity operating the Expos not in 2006, but starting in 2005."

By most published accounts, Washington, D.C., is the leading candidate with Northern Virginia perhaps second because of the dwindling political support in the state to fund a stadium for the team. The other contenders -- Norfolk, Va., Portland, Ore., Monterrey, Mexico, and Las Vegas -- have yet to be eliminated, DuPuy said.

"All of the candidates were reviewed," DuPuy said. "The relocation committee made no recommendation and no vote was asked for by the commissioner with regard to the relocation of the Expos. We're going to continue to work on the various proposals and we'll see how far we get and how rapidly we get there.

"We're going to continue to work on the process and work as diligently as we can. We're talking now about a very short window of opportunity to continue to negotiate. Can it be done in a matter of days? Days sound like one or two. As I've said all along, this needs to get done by the end of the season, and we're still trying to push for the end of the season."

The relocation committee appears to have narrowed its focus on the District in recent weeks. Members of the committee met for 7 1/2 hours late last month with District officials to discuss all facets of their proposal. They followed that up and with another 11-hour session buttoning down details last week.

In much shorter meetings during the same time period with the Northern Virginia contingent, the relocation committee was told there was significant political opposition in the state government to issuing the particular bonds it would take to build a ballpark near Dulles Airport. In any event, state revenue for the project would disappear when that legislation sunsets at the end of the year.

In the District, time is also of the essence.

If Washington is awarded the team, the D.C. City Council must fund the new ballpark by the end of the year. Three ballpark-supporting council members lost their seats in the recent D.C. Democratic primary and will be replaced by anti-ballpark voting members on Jan. 1.

Peter Angelos, the managing general partner of the Baltimore Orioles and a staunch opponent to the Expos moving into the Washington area, vetted his views at Thursday's meeting, DuPuy said. Angelos is a member of the nine-man executive council.

"Peter Angelos has made his views known with regard to the effect that he believes a team in the D.C. area will have on the Baltimore Orioles and he articulated those views," DuPuy said.

If the Expos move to the District, they are expected to be renamed and will play for the next three seasons at RFK Stadium while a $400 million ballpark is being built at a location along the Anacostia River waterfront near M and South Capitol Streets, which is now the preferred site among the four proposed in D.C. last year.

RFK Stadium hasn't had baseball regularly since the Senators moved to Texas after the 1971 season. The Expos expanded into the National League in 1969 along with the San Diego Padres and have played in Montreal ever since. They would be the first MLB team to relocate since the Senators.

DuPuy said he was acutely aware that the days toward making a decision were dwindling on the committee's self-imposed target date for the end of the season. The relocation committee has been hard at work trying to find a new home for the team during the past two seasons. The Expos have been owned and operated by MLB since Feb. 15, 2002.

"I think we're all running out of time and we realize that," he said. "So I'd like to think that everybody is on the same wave length with regard to the time schedule."

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. MLB reporter Bill Ladson contributed. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[nyisles16]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

this was apparently said by Ed Randall...

[nyisles16]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

this was apparently said by Ed Randall...

[Tha Dynasty]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

i dont want to be a prick or anything but can we not pot the whole article. Instead can you just post the key points of the article and link it?

[Tha Dynasty]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

i dont want to be a prick or anything but can we not pot the whole article. Instead can you just post the key points of the article and link it?

[SPTO]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

It's a fait accompli.

The only stumbling block to the 'Spos going to DC is the pending lawsuit by the former partners that owned the club when Loria bought the team. I've heard that Selig is setting up some form of compensation for them tho.

Let's hope they're not named Senators as the two previous Senators left DC.

[SPTO]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

It's a fait accompli.

The only stumbling block to the 'Spos going to DC is the pending lawsuit by the former partners that owned the club when Loria bought the team. I've heard that Selig is setting up some form of compensation for them tho.

Let's hope they're not named Senators as the two previous Senators left DC.

[cooldude]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

This is a sad day in Baseball

[cooldude]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

This is a sad day in Baseball

[stAte]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

It's a fait accompli.

The only stumbling block to the 'Spos going to DC is the pending lawsuit by the former partners that owned the club when Loria bought the team. I've heard that Selig is setting up some form of compensation for them tho.

Let's hope they're not named Senators as the two previous Senators left DC.

Along with Peter Angelos as another stumbling block...

[stAte]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

It's a fait accompli.

The only stumbling block to the 'Spos going to DC is the pending lawsuit by the former partners that owned the club when Loria bought the team. I've heard that Selig is setting up some form of compensation for them tho.

Let's hope they're not named Senators as the two previous Senators left DC.

Along with Peter Angelos as another stumbling block...

[mlblover33]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

the biggest block howver is GETTING THE VOTE DONE BEFORE DECEMBER 31ST when NON BALL PARK supporters get into local office...

[mlblover33]

Re: Expos new home appears set...

the biggest block howver is GETTING THE VOTE DONE BEFORE DECEMBER 31ST when NON BALL PARK supporters get into local office...