Vote on Dodger Sale Delayed By Owners

Acting Commissioner Bud Selig’s decision to cancel the joint session of next week’s baseball owners’ meetings has further delayed a vote on the proposed sale of the Dodgers to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. as well as the search for a new commissioner.

There was no official announcement from the major league baseball office in New York, but Dodger owner Peter O’Malley was informed by National League President Leonard Coleman on Tuesday that the full ownership group--with representatives from every team--will not convene in Phoenix.

However, the nine-member ruling executive council will meet, as will the ownership committee, and there’s a strong possibility the latter will make a recommendation on O’Malley’s proposed $311-million sale of the Dodgers.

That would be the final hurdle before sending the Dodger sale to a vote of full ownership, which O’Malley said could be done by phone, before the next owners’ meeting March 17-19 at St. Petersburg, Fla.

“I don’t really view this as a setback,” O’Malley said.

A high-ranking baseball official said the ownership committee “will have a long conversation about the Dodger sale . . . and I don’t expect it to fall through.”

Baseball officials have said in recent weeks that the sport’s lawyers have not completed their review of the deal, and baseball spokesman Rich Levin said the sale “may not be ready to be brought to full ownership.”

The delay apparently won’t jeopardize the sale, but it could complicate negotiations with catcher Mike Piazza and right fielder Raul Mondesi, who are seeking multiyear contract extensions but don’t expect talks to heat up until after the purchase of the team.

Piazza had issued a Feb. 15 deadline for a deal, so even if the purchase is completed in the next month or so, the Dodgers would have to scramble to secure Piazza if the all-star catcher sticks to his deadline.

O’Malley didn’t seem too concerned. “I don’t see this having any impact on player negotiations,” he said. The owner was more disappointed that the search for a commissioner has been slowed.

Colorado Rocky owner Jerry McMorris, head of the search committee, and Selig have been interviewing candidates, and McMorris hoped to have a final selection voted on next week.

Many owners prefer to bring in a new commissioner, someone with no connections to the sport’s labor strife of recent years, but sources say a group of small-market owners continues to lobby on Selig’s behalf, hoping to persuade the Milwaukee Brewer owner, in his sixth year as interim commissioner, to remain.

Selig repeatedly has said he doesn’t want the job, but he has refused to rule out accepting a draft. There also has been speculation that Selig actually wants to be commissioner but hasn’t been able to garner enough support to be approved. Some in baseball have even called it a phantom search, predicting Selig will continue in office.

“Neither Bud nor I would be working as hard as we have been if this was [a sham],” McMorris said. “I have better things to do with my time.”

Selig and McMorris are believed to be the only ones to have dealt with those under consideration.

“It’s been narrowed,” McMorris said. “I know we have a couple more personal interviews we have to get done. We’ve been going through a round of them having private time with Bud and with me.”

McMorris said at some point he will ask the candidates for permission to reveal their names to the entire council, which has nine voting members. He said Tuesday he thinks a final decision can be made at the March meeting.

“Maybe I was a little too optimistic,” McMorris said. “I hate to keep sliding backward, but the fact is I have. We’re definitely getting much closer to a decision being made. Bud and I will spend some time alone next week in Phoenix.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.