Well, it took long enough:
Bethesda developer Theodore N. Lerner and his family were wrapping up final details with Major League Baseball last night on the purchase of the Washington Nationals for $450 million, after a year-long competition during which they won the confidence of Commissioner Bud Selig.
Personally, I'd say the competition was over a long time ago, and Selig had to make it appear fair, but whatever.
The Lerner family apparently earned the confidence of Selig and other top baseball officials by dutifully following their instructions...
Here's the thing. MLB says, "You need to have minority partners," so Lerner went out and got some. Fine. MLB says, "You should add Kasten to your group," so Lerner did. All right. But did MLB give instructions to other groups in order to help them with their bids? Doubt it. Lerner was the favorite from the beginning.
And as usual, the D.C. Council has screwed themselves over with the new ownership group, thus ruining any sort of good working relationship before it has a chance to begin:
Several D.C. Council members publicly denounced [Bud] Selig's possible selection of the Lerners, and others said they hoped Selig would select one of the other bidders...[Vincent] Orange and [Marion] Barry introduced an emergency resolution demanding that Selig select either the Malek-Zients or the Smulyan group.
The Lerners haven't exactly been welcoming either (Ted Lerner is often described as the new Howard Hughes), but still. Why would you openly denounce the guy who looks like he's going to get the team? As my sister would say, "stupid."
6 comments:
This is good news. It seemed a lot like MLB was making the Lerner group jump through hoops that weren't totally necessary, but if this can be over then the concentration can be on the stadium.
The prospective new ownership for United is on the come, and evidently extremely enthusiastic and fan-oriented. He has a bit to learn about soccer, but he's also very willing to learn and thirsty for the knowledge.
(likely) 2 new owners for the 2 teams that need them... steps forward for sports in DC.
It' still hasn't been let out, officially, has it?
The DC city council's condemnation of Lerner's selection is evidence that it is the right decision for DC.
The fact that they even considered Smulyan shows a ghastly lack of historical knowledge. Maybe they should talk to Seattle about what a great job Smulyan did there. Dumbasses.
--Nutmeg
I'm just glad they're done! I don't know why the DC council was against it (I really don't follow it much), but I already think they're stupid, which is one reason I don't live in DC!
Your profile picture is hot, btw! LOL
What Meg said.....
Kasten as team Pres is the best part of this deal for you guys.
He has been the forgotten man in the Braves' run of success, but he's the one who talked Schuerholz to coming to Atlanta.
He is extremely smart and very aggressive.
His major flaw in Atlanta was not having the heart to fire Pete Babcock with the Hawks.
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