As Time Passes, Bretts Get Closer To Royals Deal

You half expect the executors of the Kansas City Royals to ask Bobby Brett what part of “no” he didn’t understand.

They wouldn’t sell him the franchise two years ago. Why should they sell it to him now?

Easy. Now it’s for sale.

Officially. Really. No fingers crossed.

Technically, the sale is an auction, though potential bidders keep dropping like Jeff King’s batting average. One of the two guys with his hand still in the air just happens to own - with a little help from his friends - your Spokane Chiefs, Indians and Shadow.

Of course, the friends in those ventures are brothers George, Ken and John, along with his old high school coach, Cliff Warren. For this venture, Bobby’s looking to forge some new friendships - in the Forbes 400.

So off he goes to Kansas City this week to get started on the paperwork and the partnerships.

“I have a feeling we can structure something and have it make sense for our group and for Kansas City,” said Brett. “And we’ll only do it if it makes sense for us.”

Right. Like anything about baseball makes sense these days.

In its own way, the sale of the Royals rivals in weirdness anything being cooked up in Bud Selig’s kitchen, including realignment. The Royals, by the way, are up to their necks in that, not knowing whether they’ll be in the American or National League next summer.

But then, two years ago Bobby Brett was trying to buy a team that was on strike.

That was when he was told the team wasn’t for sale - even though the club’s founder and owner, Ewing Kauffman, had been dead since 1993.

But in trying to ensure that the Royals would stay in Kansas City after his death, Kauffman put in place a complicated succession plan. He put $50 million in the kitty, named a board to run the club and, while a permanent owner was sought, designated the franchise be transferred to a charitable trust. After eyeballing the particulars for 26 months, the Internal Revenue Service gave its blessing to the charity auction - and only last week did the club’s directors decide to accelerate the process.

But not fast enough for Frank Oddo, a Kansas City businessman. His group dropped out on Thursday. Before that, Royals CEO David Glass - whom Brett had accused two years ago of trying to keep the franchise price down so he could buy it himself - said he wasn’t interested.

That leaves the Bretts vs. Kansas City banker and car dealer Jerry Green, who is reportedly backed by a single unidentified out-of-town investor.

Still, this poker game is going to take a year or more to play out.

“The tough decision the board has to make is, are they trying to maximize the sale value so more money can go to charity?” said Brett, “And will that make the team a perennial loser? Or was Mr. Kauffman’s intent to turn the team over to someone who can keep the team competitive and have a chance to make it a viable business?”

If it sounds like Brett is negotiating already, he is. The higher the sale price, he contends, the less the new owners will have for payroll.

“I think you need a creative type of sale,” he said.

Yeah? How creative?

“Not just Texas Whip-Out.”

New ownership in Pittsburgh, Brett noted, secured a $30 million loan at no interest - as long as the club stays there. If it moves, all the back interest is compounded.

But the X factor in Kansas City is the IRS. While it hasn’t mandated the highest bid be accepted, it could take a dim view of any deal that might short the charitable purpose - especially since it’s taking heat from watchdog groups for approving this bizarre union in the first place.

Brett is no less enthusiastic about his pursuit of the Royals than when he offered Glass $100 million.

But he does wish he could turn back the clock.

“Really, 1995 was perfect,” he said. “The direction of the team was to go with youth and that would have been our approach - pare the payroll way back, beef up the minor league system. Then they decided they were pretty good. They committed to the youth plan for one year.”

Trades brought 32-year-olds King and Jay Bell. Aging Chili Davis was signed to DH. Outfielder Tom Goodwin was dealt to the Rangers for Dean Palmer- now a free agent.

“And they lost more games last year with a $31 million payroll than they did the year before with $18 million,” Brett said. “They’ve lost a lot of money and the public perception of the team is shaky. The franchise has been damaged.”

A charity case in a charitable trust.

Brett again maintained he has no plans of unloading any of his local properties even if his bid is successful and he moves to Kansas City to run it - which is not a pledge that he won’t.

“Sometimes I wonder, ‘What the hell am I thinking about?”’ he said. “I have the best position in sports in America - a nice town, a great new arena, a wonderful ballpark. We have all the fun you can have in sports without the pressure of million-dollar salaries.

“But this is an opportunity that is really once in a lifetime - especially for George, who’s a big part of the community and literally put Kansas City on the baseball map. We want to see how far we can go with this thing.

“Of course, once we see the numbers, it may be more red than we’re used to.”

That would be the part of “no” Bobby Brett does understand.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review