Major League Baseball's relocation committee will meet today in Scottsdale, Ariz., and plan to reduce potential new bidders for the Montreal Expos before setting a timetable that baseball's president said could lead to a recommendation being made to Commissioner Bug Selig by April 30.
"I would rather get this done sooner rather than later," Robert DuPuy, baseball's president and chief operating officer, said before heading to Scottsdale for the two-day, quarterly owners' meeting. "This [permanently relocating the Montreal Expos for 2005] is one of our major tasks this year."
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Baseball's other 29 teams are going into their third season of owning the franchise.
Also on the meeting agenda is the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, although no vote will be taken, DuPuy said. The full ownership committee and the executive council will hear reports on the proposed $430 million sale by News Corp. of the team, Dodger Stadium and surrounding property to Boston developer Frank McCourt.
Logistics prevent a vote in Scottsdale, DuPuy said. Nevertheless, owners will discuss the sale -- in which News Corp. reportedly will loan McCourt $205 million of the purchase price -- during Thursday's closing general session.
A few days after they return home, the owners will receive full reports on the proposed sale, and baseball officials expect a telephone vote before the month ends, DuPuy said.
As for the Expos' relocation, five jurisdictions have shown interest in joining incumbent bidders Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore. None of the three completed stadium financing packages last summer and the committee recommended delaying a permanent move until 2005.
In Scottsdale, the first order of business will be to choose finalists among the five newcomers: Monterrey, Mexico; Hampton Roads, Va.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Antonio; and Las Vegas.
Members of the relocation committee visited only Monterrey and Hampton Roads in the past two weeks; officials for each area have said they could finance 100 percent of a new ballpark, according to sources affiliated with those bids.
One or more members of the committee visited Las Vegas within the past 60 days, a baseball official said. The committee did not visit San Juan, where the Expos will play 22 home games for a second straight season since baseball officials are familiar with the city, and did not visit San Antonio, the official said.
If additional finalists are selected, DuPuy said the next order of business would be setting a timetable for negotiations. As one of nine members of the relocation committee, DuPuy said his preference is to home in on negotiations with finalists during February, March and April, and that could lead to a recommendation to Selig before May 1.
-- Mark Asher
