Deal for Nationals Coming

Baseball owners hope to select new ownership for the Washington Nationals by early September and have the transfer completed by the end of the month, Major League Baseball President and Chief Operating Officer Bob DuPuy said Wednesday, the first day of the owners’ meetings in Pasadena.

Representatives of the Relocation Committee will meet today with two of the eight prospective buyers of the Nationals; groups led by former Seattle Mariner owner Jeff Smulyan and former Atlanta sports executive Stan Kasten have met only once with the committee, and the other six have interviewed twice.

Baseball is in the final stages of negotiating a lease agreement on a new ballpark to be built in Washington and that lease would be assigned to the next owner. The Nationals, run by baseball since 2002, are expected to fetch as much as $450 million through a bidding process.

“We really would like to have the ownership in place by the end of the season,” DuPuy said.

The owners also discussed the World Baseball Classic, Commissioner Bud Selig’s proposal to strengthen the steroid policy, congressional interest in Rafael Palmeiro’s suspension after the Baltimore Oriole slugger tested positive for steroids, and moving the free-agent draft into late June.

Baseball officials are expected to finalize the venues for next year’s WBC within a couple of weeks, DuPuy said. Several Southern California sites, including Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Petco Park in San Diego, have been considered for the semifinal and final rounds.

After meeting for two days in New York this week with representatives from Japanese League owners and players’ union, DuPuy said he was “guardedly optimistic” Japan would field a team for the WBC.

Baseball also is expected to announce a partnership with the Taylor Hooton Foundation, which promotes awareness of the dangers of steroids.