Mcclatchy Nears Formal Approval As Pirates Owner
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ 15-month search for new owners neared an end Tuesday when Major League Baseball’s ownership committee authorized Kevin McClatchy’s purchase of the money-losing team.
“We’re excited because we can soon quit worrying about working to get the deal done and start worrying about the Pirates and their fans,” McClatchy said.
The Pirates’ owners will vote today on the $85 million buyout, and ratification is almost a certainty as five of the 10 owners have joined McClatchy’s group. If the owners accept, McClatchy would sign a final purchase agreement and post the remaining $2 million of his $3 million down payment.
“We’re in good shape,” McClatchy said following an afternoon-long wait to learn the committee’s decision. “It was a nerve-wracking day, but we’re excited baseball accepted our preclosing escrow agreement. This is what the (Pirates’) owners requested, and if they accept it, we’ll pay the deposit and be on our way.”
Ten of the 14 National League owners and eight of the 14 A.L. owners still must ratify the sale, with a vote expected at a January meeting. But the ownership committee’s approval often is the key hurdle in any franchise sale.
Baseball’s new negotiator will meet in Chicago with members of the owners’ negotiating committee in the next two days in hopes of finalizing a proposal for players union chief Donald Fehr.
Though sources said Fehr also is scheduled to be in town today and staying at the same hotel as the owners, acting commissioner Bud Selig said no talks are planned in the long-standing dispute.
Selig said the two sides “are getting close” to the resumption of formal talks to reach a collective-bargaining agreement, but he declined to predict when they will resume.
“This is just an internal meeting,” Selig said, adding later it’s an “important” one.
White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf will be among the owners in Chicago for meetings with new negotiator Randy Levine, who was hired as the owners’ new negotiator in September after serving as commissioner of labor relations in New York City.
Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr., considering selling the team to a Virginia businessman, met with Houston’s mayor to gauge fan support.
McLane and Bob Lanier met for about an hour and talked, among other things, about the pace of season-ticket sales.
Page Cullison, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said she knew nothing else about the meeting.
California pitcher Chuck Finley was among five players who filed for free agency, raising the total to 124.
Also filing were Detroit second baseman Lou Whitaker, Kansas City shortstop Greg Gagne, Florida outfielder Andre Dawson and Los Angeles outfielder Brett Butler.