Cropp Proposes ‘Compromise’ on D.C. Stadium – The Post
Council Chair Linda Cropp (D) wants to be the hero to everybody again with the ballpark. This comes a day after it was reported: Jack Evans (D, Ward-2) was tired and giving up on the ballpark (The Wash. Times), but Mayor Tony Williams thought an approved lease (AP/WTOP) was on the way. Cropp has a ten-point plan to get the lease approved with the main point being a cost cap for the District where the owner would pick up the rest. It sounds all well and good, but will MLB play along? Everything I have seen up to this point says this will get nothing more than an angry letter from Bob DuPuy and a continuation of arbitration proceedings.
Council plans to meet lawyer – The Wash. Times
A lawyer “specializing in high-level stadium negotiations” was brought in by David Catania (I, at-large) to help on the lease. Louis S. Cohen of Chicago’s DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary was involved in ballpark construction in Cincinnati and Milwaukee and with the Northern Virginia bid for the Expos. Color me skeptical of anything with a Catania endorsement.
Sammy to the nation’s capital? – ESPN Deportes
Tip of the Nats cap to Banks of the Anacostia for finding this scary rumor that Jim Bowden is looking at bringing in Sammy Sosa. No good could come of that move.
More from The Post: Nationals Reprise Role of Sosa Suitor
Nats, Byrd avoid arbitration – The Wash. Times
OF Marlon Byrd, the guy the Nats got for Inning-Endy Chavez, has avoided arbitration. He had a pretty good return to MLB after being demoted to AAA last year. Also, the minor league coaching staffs have been announced.
This week’s USA Today Sports Weekly is reporting that the Lerner and Smulyan groups are the finalists for the Nationals.