Decision on Expos likely soon

Major League Baseball likely will announce the future home of the Montreal Expos in two or three weeks, representatives of the District and Northern Virginia said yesterday.

The officials, speaking after two days of in-depth meetings with MLB’s relocation committee, said that committee is expected to forward its recommendation to commissioner Bud Selig next week. The most likely date for an announcement is the week of Sept.5 after Labor Day.

Selig said this week that a decision on the Expos could arrive “within four to six weeks.” But the District and Northern Virginia representatives said that, based on their meetings with the relocation panel, the decision would come sooner.

“The relocation committee is clearly focused on getting a resolution,” said Keith Frederick, chairman of the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority. “There is a real push happening to get this done. Something is going to happen soon.”

Frederick yesterday led a contingent of stadium authority officials and developers in a three-hour meeting in Georgetown with the relocation committee.

The Virginia session followed a 71/2-hour conference Tuesday between District officials and MLB. Much like the District’s meeting, yesterday’s talks centered on all key aspects of the authority’s stadium proposal and sought to advance lease negotiations that have been occurring for several weeks.

Joining Frederick were Gabe Paul Jr., Brian Hannigan and Jerry McAndrews from the stadium authority; consultant Mitchell Ziets and two developers from Diamond Lake Associates, Larry Bensignor and Hobie Mitchel. The stadium authority, along with Diamond Lake, is proposing to build a stadium and town center complex near Dulles International Airport.

Again leading MLB’s contingent was Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

“It was a great day,” said John McHale Jr., MLB vice president of administration.

Amid the breathless expectation, local officials remain wary because of repeated delays that have beset the Expos relocation.

The difference in Selig’s timetable for a decision and the one the relocation committee gave local officials also highlights a minor schism within baseball.

For weeks, committee members have grown increasingly restless waiting for Selig to aggressively move on the Expos situation. It now appears, however, that Selig at last understands the importance of settling the matter quickly.

The District is waiting for an award of the Expos before passing stadium financing. It would then need four to six months to properly convert RFK Stadium into a temporary baseball venue.

The city also is facing political uncertainty: Three D.C. Council members who support baseball — at-large Democrat Harold Brazil, Ward 8 Democrat Sandy Allen and Ward 7 Democrat Kevin Chavous — face tough battles for re-election. District elections are Sept.14, and even if those members lose, they will remain on the council until January. But if a vote on a stadium financing bill is delayed past then, the chances for passage are less certain.

“We need to get this done sooner rather than later, and we should get it done in this [political] cycle,” District Mayor Anthony Williams said yesterday. “We can’t take for granted the political support that is now in place for this.”

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