If Yankees Aren’t Domed, They May Be Condemned

Majority Democrats in the New York state Assembly, complaining that they have been left in the dark about negotiations to keep the Yankees in New York, threatened Wednesday to pass a bill that would allow the state to condemn the team and take it over.

The legislators said they are alarmed by talk that the Yankees might leave New York and by recent estimates of what it might cost to keep them - $1 billion to build a domed, multi-sport stadium in Manhattan or some $770 million to redesign and modernize Yankee Stadium.

“It’s very difficult to have an opinion on this when you really don’t know what’s going on,” Assemblyman Pedro Espada of the Bronx said.

Chiefly, the Democrats said they want to know what team owner George Steinbrenner is asking for in order to keep his team in New York.

Yankees pitcher Kenny Rogers, who was sent to extended spring training in Florida to regain his form,will start Sunday at Minnesota.