May 19, 2004
Expos update
The latest scuttlebutt on the future of the Montreal Expos, with MLB's relocation committee set to meet today:
- Norfolk's Wonder Twins say they've already sold more than 40 luxury suites and more than 1,000 season tickets for a new stadium, and delivered cancelled checks to MLB.
- The Washington Times notes that the new four-year, $30 million contract signed by Expos second baseman Jose Vidro can be voided by the player if the team is not moved by the end of 2005, or if it is eliminated or moved outside the continental United States, which could spell bad news for Bob Nightengale's favorite candidate city.
- As for D.C., the presumed front-runner, city council finance chair Jack Evans reiterated that he'll move ahead with stadium legislation only after MLB tabs his city as the Expos' destination - but concedes that he hasn't yet lined up the votes to approve a stadium plan. "A deal is a deal. They don't have a deal," sports economist Andrew Zimbalist told the Post. "They don't have to put a shovel in the ground, but they have to have legislation and a financial plan in place. . . . There's not going to be any ink on a franchise proposal until then."
Posted by Neil deMause
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