This article is from the 01/31/2003 edition of the Rocky Mountain news

Tracy Ringolsby
Rocky Mountain News
January 31, 2003

The courting has begun between Major League Baseball and suitors for the Montreal Expos.

And a clear message was delivered earlier this week during preliminary meetings of baseball and officials from Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.

Baseball officials are looking at the wealth of potential club owners and their prospects for long-term financial stability.

And baseball is in no hurry. Commissioner Bud Selig is not ruling out the possibility the Expos could remain in Montreal for a third season - 2004 - under an ownership plan in which the 29 other teams would put up about $1 million each to keep the Expos afloat.

Baseball has learned a hard lesson after the haste of its most recent round of expansion.

Major League Baseball has added four teams in the past 10 years, and only one of them, Colorado, is solvent, although the Rockies owners have been criticized for avoiding deficit spending in pursuit of on-field success.

Arizona, which made its debut in 1998, has been a success on the field. The Diamondbacks have made three postseason appearances in their five-year history and won the World Series in 2001. But their success is soaked in red ink. Their attendance dropped sharply each year until 2002, when they enjoyed a bump from their championship season, but they still claimed losses of $90 million, highest in the majors.

Their problems were apparent a year ago when managing general partner Jerry Colangelo needed a cash infusion. He was blocked in making another cash call on his original partners or getting another loan from Major League Baseball, so he took on four new investors who were given half-interest in the team in exchange for $160 million that will be paid over 10 years.

That deal requires the Diamondbacks to halt their practice of deferring player salaries. The new partners saw the obvious problems of carrying $166.6 million in deferred payments on the books, none of which has been funded and all of which will earn interest.

Tampa Bay, the other expansion team that entered the majors the same year as the Diamondbacks, has been an embarrassment on and off the field. The Devil Rays have yet to finish above last place. They failed to enjoy even a first-year honeymoon with their fans, and they have lived the past two years with persistent rumors they would be unable to meet their payroll.

Florida, which entered the majors with the Rockies, also has been an ongoing nightmare despite winning the World Series in 1997. The Marlins' original owner, H. Wayne Huizenga, tired of losing money and upset that South Florida fans didn't seem to care about the team, ordered the biggest salary dump in major league history immediately after Game 7 of the World Series in '97.

That undercut any support the Marlins might have carried over from their on-field success and created an ugly scenario for the owners who followed - John Henry, who a year ago unloaded the franchise so he could buy the Boston Red Sox, and Jeffrey Loria, who found the Marlins attractive only because the deal got him out of owning the Expos.

Baseball has concerns about the three areas making overtures for the Expos.

Portland has put on a strong community showing, but Major League Baseball hasn't forgotten that the Seattle Mariners were on the verge of bankruptcy for two decades before finally gaining support in the late '90s. Given Portland's proximity to Seattle, baseball will be hesitant to make a move that might undercut the Mariners' fan base.

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos has threatened legal action if a team is awarded to Washington, because he believes it would encroach on his fan base. Angelos might be an outcast among club owners, but there is concern whether the market could support two teams. The Giants and A's have struggled since both have been located in the San Francisco Bay area.

There is growing sentiment the Northern Virginia location is far enough away from Baltimore to avoid a conflict between the teams, but there are concerns about the potential ownership group for a franchise there.