Mariners Owner Denies Rumored Japanese Bid

Reports that a leading Japanese conglomerate plans to buy a share of the Seattle Mariners baseball team are “absolutely, totally preposterous,” says the team’s controlling partner, Jeff Smulyan.

“We have no interest in selling this baseball team,” Smulyan said from his Seattle home this morning. “We just bought it.”

“I’ve been dealing with newspapers and reporters for a long time, and I’ve never seen one that made as little sense as this.”

The International Herald Tribune, quoting sources in Tokyo and Washington, said today that U.S. State Department officials and major league club owners have met to discuss the proposed purchase of the Mariners. The report said that although reports of the talks were denied by Smulyan and by officials of a leading Japanese business conglomerate, they were confirmed by sources.

The Seibu railway and real estate group’s interest in the Mariners reportedly surfaced last week when the group of owners nominated a representative from the Baltimore Orioles to discuss the issue with the State Department.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler confirmed that a department official met with Seibu’s chairman, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, but the subject was other business, and the Mariners were not discussed.