Selig says there's no timetable, front-runner for sale of Nats

Nov. 17, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is done predicting when the Washington Nationals will be sold.
Because lease negotiations with the city are ongoing and three bidders are still yet to interview, Selig said Thursday night he doesn't want to give a time for when a deal will be completed -- although he's sure it will be before next season.
He also emphasized that all eight bidding groups are still in contention.
"There is no front-runner now. Each one I meet with, I really am quite impressed, I must say," Selig said. "I thought maybe meeting with each group would make my choice easier. It's making it more difficult, because there are really are a lot of qualified groups."
In the past, Selig has offered several target dates for when Major League Baseball would pick a new owner. The sport's other 29 teams bought the Montreal Expos for $120 million in 2002, and moved the franchise to Washington before the 2005 season.
At first, it was thought the team might be sold early last season, then sometime over the summer, then shortly after the end of the season.
"We want to move as expeditiously as possible. I'm very sensitive about all these issues," he said. "I'll be happy, because, frankly, it's one less thing for me to worry about."
But he also said a stadium lease deal must be settled first. Talks between baseball and city officials were expected to resume Friday.
"We're going to sign a long-term lease here. This team's going to be here for the next two generations," Selig said.
Baseball is balking at Washington's request for guaranteed rent, believed to be about $6 million a year. Taxpayers are funding most of the $535 million ballpark planned on the Anacostia River, south of the U.S. Capitol, and the rent guarantee is designed to protect the city if games are called off because of a work stoppage, natural disaster or terrorist attack.
District officials also asked baseball for a letter of credit.
"Naturally, if you're buying a team, you'd like to know that you have a lease and that you have a ballpark that you can play in. That is not an unusual request," Selig said. "Hopefully they'll get that done quickly and we can get the ownership done quickly and we can move on."

Source: http://cbs.sportsline.com/