Washington awaits final word on Expos franchise

WASHINGTON – As far as Washington is concerned, the negotiations with Major League Baseball are essentially done. Now it’s a matter of waiting for a 33-year drought to end.

Months of talks – including an 11 1/2 -hour session last week and another round that lasted until midnight Wednesday – have produced a 30-page document that would conditionally award the Montreal Expos to the nation’s capital.

“I would say that it is virtually completed without any major deal points outstanding,” Bill Hall, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission’s baseball committee, said Friday.

So what’s next?

“As far as I’m concerned,” Hall said, “(it) is to hear from Major League Baseball that we have a deal.”

The wait shouldn’t be long. The city needs a decision by the end of next week so legislation can be introduced to pay for a $13 million renovation of RFK Stadium as well as a $440 million package that would build a new stadium south of the Capitol along the Anacostia River. The team would play in RFK for three seasons before moving to the new ballpark.

If the process should start later, stadium financing would be in danger of not being passed before Dec. 31, when the terms expire for several City Council members whose votes are needed to pass the measure.

“We believe that we are in very, very good shape,” Mark Tuohey, the sports commission chairman, told radio station WTOP. “We are told that an announcement will be next week. We told them we need an announcement before (Friday). Delay is not in the cards.”

Washington has been without a major league team since 1971.