NEW YORK -- With two weeks left before the start of spring
training, Jeffrey Loria still was negotiating Wednesday on his
purchase of the Marlins, leading to the possibility Florida will
not have a manager until just before camp opens.
Loria, who currently owns the Montreal Expos, does not have a
signed agreement for his contemplated $158 million purchase of the
Marlins from John Henry, two lawyers with knowledge of the talks
said Wednesday on the condition they not be identified.
Henry heads the group buying the Red Sox for $660 million from
the Jean R. Yawkey Trust. After the Boston sale was approved by
major league owners Jan. 16, commissioner Bud Selig said he hoped
Loria's deal for the Marlins would be finalized quickly.
Loria's talks with Henry had narrowed their differences to just
a few, and a deal could be signed later this week, the lawyers
said. Selig still hasn't scheduled another owners' meeting and,
according to baseball's rules, he must give teams 10 days' notice.
That means the earliest Loria's purchase of the Marlins could be
approved is Feb. 11, just three days before spring training camps
start opening in Florida and Arizona.
Once Loria gains approval to buy the Marlins, he is expected to
quickly shift his top executives to his new team, including Expos
manager Jeff Torborg and interim general manager Larry Beinfest.
Loria intends to sell the Montreal franchise back to the other
29 teams for $120 million, and the commissioner's officer would run
the Expos this season. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, currently
Selig's vice president in charge of discipline, is the leading
contender to manage the Expos, several baseball officials have
said.
Owners originally intended to eliminate the Expos and Minnesota
Twins during the offseason, but a Minnesota court issued an
injunction that requires the Twins to fulfill their lease at the
Metrodome this season. The Twins and Selig have asked the Minnesota
Supreme Court to accept an appeal, and the response from the Twins'
landlord, the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, is due
Thursday.
Meanwhile, negotiators for owners and players met for the second
straight day in Scottsdale, Ariz. The sides talked off an on for
about six hours and are to meet again Thursday before recessing.
"We're had two good days of discussions," management lawyer
Rob Manfred said. "I'm not going to get into the substance. It was
time well spent -- the type of things you have to do to get an
agreement."
Five players -- Rich Aurilia, Tony Clark, Damion Easley, Mark
Loretta and Tim Salmon -- attended the bargaining session.
Selig asked players on Jan. 10 to accept a 50 percent luxury tax
on the portions of payrolls above $98 million and to allow clubs to
increase the percentage of locally generated revenue they share,
after a deduction for ballpark expenses, from 20 percent to 50
percent.
The union isn't keen on the plan because it would take away
money from high-revenue teams that otherwise might go to players.
Bargaining for a new contract, which would replace the deal that
expired Nov. 7, has been slowed by contraction. But neither side
has threatened what would be baseball's ninth work stoppage since
1972.