Governor to Selig: Another Year Needed to Develop Plan for Twins

Minnesota’s government needs at least one more year to put together a stadium plan for the Twins, Gov. Arne Carlson wrote Thursday in a letter to acting commissioner Bud Selig.

The governor’s letter came a day after the House sponsor of a stadium proposal withdrew his bill because it didn’t have nearly enough support to pass.

“I strongly encourage major league baseball to delay any action on the Minnesota Twins to allow the state of Minnesota more time to work out a long-term solution to keep baseball in our state,” Carlson wrote.

Although Carlson believes there is widespread support for baseball, he said it may take a year or more to find a solution. That contrasts to comments the governor made in November about the demise of major league baseball in Minnesota.

Twins’ owner Carl Pohlad has been negotiating to sell the team to North Carolina businessman Don Beaver, who would apply to move the franchise after this season.

But several major league owners are concerned about relocating the franchise in a market that won’t have a major league ballpark for at least two years.

Pohlad has not yet signed a definitive agreement with Beaver’s group, and owners say they won’t make any decisions until after May 5, when voters in the Greensboro-Winston-Salem area decide on a sales tax increase to fund a ballpark.

Selig said he hadn’t received the letter yet and wouldn’t comment. He has said in the past he has concerns about keeping the Twins in Minnesota without a new ballpark.

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Two days after winning a salary arbitration case against Jorge Fabregas, the Arizona Diamondbacks surprised the catcher by giving him a two-year, $2.9-million contract.

An arbitration panel decided Tuesday that Fabregas would get $875,000 rather than his request for $1.5 million. Diamondbacks’ owner Jerry Colangelo then agreed to a contract that will pay him $1.05 million in 1998 and $1.85 million in 1999.

“I heard he was a great owner. This proves it to me. This is something that just doesn’t happen in baseball,” Fabregas said. “What he did is incredible. I was surprised and shocked. Everybody in this organization now knows what kind of man he is, if they didn’t know already.”

Fabregas, 28, hit .258 for the Angels and the Chicago White Sox last season with seven homers and 51 runs batted in. He made $275,000.

“The arbitration system is ludicrous,” Colangelo said. “It’s one of the worst things that’s ever happened to baseball. The sooner it can go, the better. What it does is divide--management, ownership, player agent.”

Meanwhile, Joey Hamilton was awarded $3.25 million by arbitrator Reginald Alleyne rather than San Diego’s offer of $2,375,000. The 27-year-old right-hander was 12-7 with a 4.25 ERA last season, when he earned $675,000.

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A lawsuit filed by a minor league baseball umpire who claimed he was fired because he is white has been dismissed because he waited too long to file suit.

Craig J. Compton should have filed suit against two minor leagues and the National League within six months rather than waiting 18 months to challenge his dismissal, a federal judge in Philadelphia has ruled.

Compton had worked in the minor leagues as an umpire for 10 years, but he was relieved of his triple-A duties Oct. 27, 1994.

The league said it was because Compton wouldn’t have advanced to the major leagues. Compton sued in June 1996, claiming the minor and major leagues had conspired against him because he is white.