New Marlin Owner Bullish on Baseball

Major league baseball owners on Wednesday approved the sale of the Florida Marlins to Boca Raton commodities trader John Henry, who is investing $150 million in an industry with economic problems so severe that Commissioner Bud Selig has appointed a committee to help find a solution.

“The attraction,” Henry said of his decision to invest, “is that things are so bad [economically] that something has to be done, and I’m very bullish on baseball and convinced the current leadership can bring about change.”

Selig will chair a task force that includes 13 club executives, including Tony Tavares and Sandy Litvack of the Angels, and four outsiders: former Senator George Mitchell, former Federal Reserve System chairman Paul A. Volcker, Yale President Richard C. Levin and columnist George Will.

“We’re in the midst of a remarkable renaissance that we need to keep going, [but] within that context we can’t ignore the economic realities. The disparity problem [in revenue and payroll] is there.”

Selig said the players union will be apprised of the committee’s progress and invited to meetings. Most owners believe any changes must include a salary cap, which the union would oppose. Selig said he doesn’t believe the industry “can take another work stoppage. We have to find other ways to make changes.”

Henry, 49, faces the same South Florida stadium problems that influenced Wayne Huizenga to purge his World Series champions of 1997 and sell the team. The new owner said that without a domed stadium the Marlins, faced with debt servicing at Pro Player Stadium, can’t be rebuilt.

“I’m confident we’ll be successful,” he said of the stadium pursuit, adding that if he can’t get government support “the Marlins will build it as a last resort.”