No Imminent Deal Awaiting Angels

While major league officials continue negotiations to broker a deal in which Florida Marlin owner John Henry would buy the Angels from the Walt Disney Co., Angel President Tony Tavares said Tuesday the company has no agreement with Henry and said the team remains for sale to him or any other interested party.

Major league owners voted Tuesday to eliminate two teams before the start of next season. With the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos the most likely targets for elimination, and with Montreal owner Jeffrey Loria wishing to stay in baseball, Loria could buy the Marlins, with Henry in turn buying the Angels. But with that deal among the many details yet to be resolved before the so-called contraction plan can be implemented, Tavares said Disney has not reached even a handshake agreement with Henry or granted him an exclusive window of opportunity to negotiate a purchase of the Angels.

“We have no deal. There is no deal that is imminent,” Tavares said. “There is no exclusive for anybody. We have not taken the team off the market.”

Henry has met with Disney executives and expressed interest in buying the Angels, and Disney believes he would be a fine owner. But how much money Henry is willing to offer could depend on how much owners pay to buy out Loria.

Forbes magazine estimates the value of the Expos at $92 million, the Marlins at $128 million and the Angels at $198 million. Loria would take his buyout money and pay a premium to Henry, because the South Florida market is larger and potentially more lucrative than that of Montreal. In turn, Henry would pay that money and another premium to Disney, because the Southern California market is larger and potentially more lucrative than that of South Florida.

If contraction collapses over these details--or a significant number of others--major league owners could wait another year.

At that time, the Marlins would be free of lease obligations and, if a new ballpark can’t be secured by then, could consider moving to the Washington area. Former Baltimore Oriole president Larry Lucchino, now working with Henry on options for a new ballpark for the Marlins and formerly employed at the powerful Washington law firm of Williams and Connolly, could join Henry in moving the Marlins to Washington.

And, even if contraction is implemented this year, Loria could instead buy the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, leaving Henry in Florida and Disney without a buyer.

“We are operating the team next season, based on what I know right now,” Tavares said.

“The Walt Disney Company has determined this is no longer a strategic asset for them. They don’t need to own this team. Does that mean they are hellbent on getting out this season? No.”

Tavares said the Angel player payroll would increase somewhat--”not a huge up, but it’s up”--from $43 million on opening day this season but said the team would not be a major player in free agency.

“If you’re talking about a premier free agent, you could make that assumption,” he said. “We’ll be in the marketplace to replace some players and sign some existing players. But it won’t be extensive.”

That could be a problematic strategy for a team that finished 41 games behind the Seattle Mariners and 27 games behind the Oakland Athletics, because contraction could be followed by a realignment plan that would move the last-place Texas Rangers out of the American League West and into the AL Central--and replace them with the World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

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2001 Attendance

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TEAM G TOTAL AVG 1 Seattle 81 3,507,326 43,300 2 San Francisco 81 3,311,958 40,888 3 NY Yankees 80 3,264,907 40,811 4 Cleveland 80 3,175,523 39,694 5 Colorado 81 3,166,821 39,096 6 Baltimore 80 3,094,841 38,685 7 St. Louis 81 3,109,578 38,389 8 Dodgers 81 3,017,143 37,248 9 Houston 81 2,904,277 35,855 10 Chicago Cubs 79 2,779,465 35,183 11 Texas 81 2,831,021 34,950 12 Atlanta 81 2,823,530 34,858 13 Milwaukee 81 2,811,041 34,704 14 Arizona 81 2,736,451 33,783 15 NY Mets 81 2,658,330 32,818 16 Boston 81 2,625,333 32,411 17 Pittsburgh 80 2,464,870 30,810 18 San Diego 80 2,378,128 29,726 19 Oakland 81 2,133,277 26,336 20 Angels 81 2,000,919 24,702 21 Detroit 80 1,921,305 24,016 22 Cincinnati 79 1,879,757 23,794 23 Toronto 81 1,915,438 23,647 24 Philadelphia 78 1,782,054 22,846 25 Minnesota 80 1,782,926 22,286 26 Chicago WS 80 1,766,172 22,077 27 Kansas City 81 1,536,371 18,967 28 Tampa Bay 81 1,298,365 16,029 29 Florida 80 1,261,226 15,765 30 Montreal 81 642,745 7,935

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