Ventura, State Lawyers Will Be Formidable Foes

Attention, Bud Selig: Here comes your biggest, baddest opponent.

As the baseball commissioner struggles to persuade fans that the elimination of two major league teams is a reasonable response to the sport’s economic mess, Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura intends to launch a national media campaign to oppose the contraction plan, widely believed to target the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos.

While Selig can be articulate and passionate, he sometimes appears uncomfortable on television. Ventura flourishes in the spotlight and commands national attention, thanks largely to his pro wrestling persona as “The Body.”

“We’ll do anything we can to stop baseball from contracting,” Ventura said.

Ventura adds a charismatic presence to the gathering legal and political opposition to contraction, a plan that appears increasingly problematic for implementation before next season. Selig insists that contraction is not a negotiating ploy, but it might well become one if owners truly wish to reach a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union this winter.

A high-ranking baseball source said Friday that owners will try to rally support for the reform by releasing financial summaries showing that only five teams made money last season and the other 25 lost a total of $511 million.

Selig might soon testify to that effect before Congress, which has scheduled hearings in the first week of December on a bill that would revoke baseball’s antitrust exemption with regard to the folding or moving of franchises. During that same week, an arbitrator could hear the union grievance that owners violated the existing labor agreement by unilaterally deciding to eliminate teams.

Owners have not identified the teams intended for elimination, and the Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Oakland Athletics also are under consideration.

But John Henry, the owner of the Marlins, reiterated to his staff Friday that the team would play in Miami next season. Although Henry would like to sell the Marlins to Montreal owner Jeffrey Loria and then buy the Angels from the Walt Disney Co., there is increasing concern that Loria and Henry will be unable to reach a deal and Disney will be stuck with the Angels.

Disney’s deal with Henry depends on Loria’s deal with Henry, and a source indicated Friday the Disney discussions have not progressed since owners met 10 days ago in Chicago.

While Twin owner Carl Pohlad wants to sell, Loria wants to remain in baseball. If Loria cannot reach a buyout agreement for the Expos and then a sales agreement with Henry, Loria could stick with the Expos, hoping to move the team. Such a decision, coupled with Friday’s court order that forces the Twins to play in the Metrodome next season, could leave owners unable to eliminate the two teams atop the contraction hit list.

And, in case owners shift their focus to the Florida teams, that state’s attorney general last week demanded numerous documents related to contraction for the possibility of filing suit should the Marlins or Devil Rays be targeted.

Roger Magnuson, lawyer for the Twins and major league owners, indicated he would respond to Friday’s temporary injunction by asking for an expedited trial before state appellate courts. If the trial is not put on the legal fast track, proceedings could take so long that spring training could begin before a trial could end. That could make the case moot, since the Twins have one year left on their lease.

In his decision, Hennepin County District Court Judge Harry Crump wrote of the “substantial likelihood” that the Metrodome lawyers would win at trial.