BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Rigas Reaches Deal to Buy Pirates
John J. Rigas, a cable TV executive backed by nearly $18 million in city-supplied cash and lease enhancements, reached a preliminary agreement to buy the money-losing Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rigas, a 70-year-old lifelong baseball fan who began his business career running a mom-and-pop restaurant, will pay $25.15 million in cash and assume $60 million in debt for the 108-year-old franchise.
He also will assume the team’s projected $13-million 1995 season debt, plus a $20-million city-backed loan to the team in 1985.
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Catcher Ivan Rodriguez avoided an arbitration showdown with the Texas Rangers by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $2,575,000, nearly five times his $520,000 salary last season. Rodriguez had sought $2.95 million and the Rangers had offered $2.2 million.
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