Red Sox bidding at $700 mill

[Fullabull]

-- Responding to a surprising $700 million late bid from Charles Dolan, the Boston Red Sox held telephone discussions Friday with the team's limited partners.

Dolan, the chairman of Cablevision Systems Corp., made the new bid Thursday, three weeks after the Red Sox agreed to a $660 million offer from a group headed by Florida Marlins owner John Henry.

cnnsi.com

[Trots]

Typical Red Sox. Can't even sell the team without controversy.

[Fullabull]

Originally posted by Trots
Typical Red Sox. Can't even sell the team without controversy.

Wait until you see the Dan Duquet fiasco (due any day)

[Dan Lauffer]

Why would baseball sell a team to a group of owners headed by a man who could not run his former franchise?

Dan Lauffer

[Trots]

Dan, that's the $660 million dollar question. As for the Duquette fiasco, I'm painfully aware of his situation. I'm now just as curious about Mike Stanley, the Sox new bench coach. Anyone else think Kerrigan's interim replacement has apparently just been hired?

[Baseball Guru]

Well it seems to be pretty much a done deal:

Sox sale to Henry-Werner group approved

By Jim Street
MLB.com


PHOENIX -- It is one issue down and at least two to go for Major League Baseball owners, who on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the sale of the Boston Red Sox from the Yawkey Trust to a group of investors led by John Henry and Tom Werner.

The sale, which required a three-fourths vote from the American League owners, and a majority of National League owners, was approved 29-0 with one abstention.

At the same time, the pending sale of the Florida Marlins to Montreal Expos owner Jeffrey Loria is imminent. What will become of the Expos once Loria purchases the Marlins also is undecided.

"We felt we ought to just do Boston (Wednesday) and move as quickly as we can on the other two (issues)," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "We are doing things that have never been done before."

Selig insisted that contracting two franchises -- believed to be the Expos and Minnesota Twins -- before the 2002 season "is still a viable option. I understand that time is running out on us."

Spring Training opens in Florida and Arizona in about four weeks. The Red Sox will enter their first camp in nearly 70 years without a Yawkey connection.

Thomas A. Yawkey bought the team from J.A. Robert Quinn in 1933 as a 30th birthday present to himself, and the franchise belonged to family members -- in one manner or another -- until Wednesday.

"We are bringing what I would call a dream team of baseball people to Boston," said Henry, whose anticipated sale of the Florida Marlins to Montreal Expos owner Jeffrey Loria for $158 million didn't occur on Wednesday. "We can't wait to get started. We can't wait for Spring Training."

It is the first time in MLB history that an owner (Henry) has sold one team and immediately purchased another one.

The new Boston ownership group, which includes former Orioles and San Diego Padres president Larry Lucchino and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, received congratulatory telegrams from Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski, the two most legendary players in Red Sox history.

Lucchino would not discuss any possible changes in the Red Sox front office, saying it was a day to celebrate the sale.

"We are pleased that John Henry and Tom Werner have assembled such a terrific group of people to run one of our storied franchises," Selig said. "We are confident they will continue the proud tradition of the Boston Red Sox and make Red Sox Nation proud."

The owners' vote came about three hours after Attorney General Tom Reilly announced an agreement that will bring $30 million more to Massachusetts charities and institute a landmark governance agreement over the Yawkey Foundation.

"This is a good day for the charities of this state," Reilly said. "My goal from the beginning has been to get more money for the charities that stood to benefit from this sale. ... The limited partners and John Henry have stepped up to make charities in this state $30 million richer than they would have been under the original deal."

The Henry-Werner group will pay $700 million for the Red Sox -- which includes the assumption of $40 million of debt -- Fenway Park and 80 percent of the New England Sports Network.

Outgoing Red Sox CEO John Harrington is not attending the two-day meetings.

"Major League Baseball regrets to say farewell to John Harrington, a personal friend and one of the game's finest executives," Selig said. "He has given the game 30 years of exemplary service, and we all wish him the very best."

Next up for the owners is approving Henry's sale of the Marlins to Loria.

"The ownership committee will move quickly and bring the transfer to a vote before club ownership as quickly as possible," Selig said. "We are very pleased to have an experienced Major League owner such as Jeffrey Loria agree to revitalize the Florida franchise and continue to build on the foundation started in 1993.

"We believe that South Florida can be a wonderful Major League market if we get the right facility and the right ownership. The prompt approval of the Loria group will accomplish half of that."

The other half is who will operate the Expos, if the club is not contracted, after Loria buys the Marlins. MLB may purchase the team and assign a caretaker for the 2002 season, if neccessary.

"We haven't made a final decision, but certainly that's one of the considerations," Selig said. "All options are on the table."

Hall of Famer Frank Robinson has been mentioned as a candidate to become either the Expos' manager or general manager if MLB takes control of the National League franchise.

The two-day meetings end Thursday with an unprecedented appearance by Donald Fehr, Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. He accepted an invitation from Selig to speak to the owners Thursday morning.

The owners and union officials recently resumed negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The previous one expired on Nov. 7.

Jim Street covers the Mariners for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Red Sox Owners
1901-02 Charles W. Somers
1903-04 Henry Killilea
1904-11 John I. Taylor
1912-13 James R. McAleer
1913-16 Joseph J. Lannin
1917-23 Harry H. Frazee
1923-33 J.A. Robert Quinn
1933-76 Thomas A. Yawkey
1976-77 Jean R. Yawkey
1978-80 JRY Corporation (Jean R. Yawkey, Haywood C. Sullivan, Edward G. LeRoux, Jr.)
1981-86 Jean R. Yawkey Trust, Haywood C. Sullivan, Edward G. LeRoux, Jr.
1987-93 Jean R. Yawkey Trust, Haywood C. Sullivan
1994-2002 Jean R. Yawkey Trust

[redsoxfan45]

For awhile, this is the group I really didn't want to see win, because of their past failures with the Marlins and Padres, but I'm willing to give them a chance now. I'm just glad the whole thing is finally over.