Selig Considers Tavares for Montreal Opening

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig moved closer Thursday to hiring Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as manager of the Montreal Expos and former Angel boss Tony Tavares as team president.

Selig has been talking with baseball officials about putting together a management staff for the Expos, a high-ranking baseball official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The Expos are being sold to the other 29 clubs as part of baseball’s unusual ownership shifts.

While the baseball official said Selig had moved closer to hiring Robinson and Tavares, the commissioner said speculation was premature.

“I’ve made no decision yet,” Selig said. “I’m going to work my way through it over the weekend.”

Tavares said Selig spoke to him briefly a few days after his resignation as Angel president.

“It was a passing comment saying, ‘If contraction does not go through, I may want to talk to you about the Montreal situation,’” Tavares said. “[But] I have not had substantiative discussions with anyone.”

Tavares didn’t deny that the position would be something he would be interested in.

“While I wouldn’t rule it out, I would not rule it in,” Tavares said.

Robinson has spent the last two years as vice president of on-field operations in the commissioner’s office.

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Gary Klein