Angels, Mighty Ducks Put Out the For-Sale Sign Again

Now that Disney executives have hired a general manager for their baseball team, they will return their attention to the process of selling the Angels and Mighty Ducks.

The potential sale harmed the Angels’ chances to hire their preferred managerial candidate, Don Baylor. And the sale process will not be a rapid one, Disney sports chief Tony Tavares warned after a press conference Monday to announce the hiring of Bill Stoneman as general manager.

“If you think Burbank has been finicky in this process,” Tavares said, referring to the site of Disney’s corporate headquarters, “what do you expect they will be in entertaining a new owner for this franchise? They’ve got a big investment in this community.”

Disney Chairman Michael Eisner and his right-hand man, senior executive vice president Sanford Litvack, were deeply involved in interviews of the Angels’ general manager candidates. Tavares recommended Stoneman two weeks ago, then waited for Eisner and Litvack to interview four other candidates.

Stoneman insisted his four-year contract include a clause that allows him to leave the Angels without penalty in the event of a sale.

“Everybody at Disney was very up front with respect to what might happen,” Stoneman said. “If a sale happens, my assumption is, it will not be a negative thing. . . . We’re going to want to have a competitive and vibrant and entertaining club no matter who owns the team.”

Tavares said he had offered the Angels’ managerial job to Baylor, who was hired Monday to manage the Chicago Cubs. Tavares said Baylor hesitated to sign with the Angels in part because “he was a bit uncomfortable with the ownership situation here up in the air.”

For four months, Disney negotiated to sell the Angels and Ducks to a group led by Orange County high-tech billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III. On Oct. 1, the day Nicholas declared he would not purchase a majority interest in the teams, Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi resigned. Since then, Disney’s sports priority has been to replace Bavasi.

While Disney has not hired an investment banker to solicit other potential buyers, Tavares said, several have approached the company. He has declined to identify them.

Fox last week sold a minority share of the Dodgers to former Warner Bros. studio chief Robert Daly, who will run the franchise. Disney would be unlikely to surrender operation of its sports teams--or any other part of its corporate empire--to a minority owner like Daly, given Eisner’s hands-on management style. Also, when Nicholas first discussed a minority investment in the Angels and Ducks, he said Disney pushed for a total sale of both teams.