MLB.com

By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

Commissioner Bud Selig speaks to reporters during a press conference at the Owners Meetings on Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Ben Platt/MLB.com)

Selig addresses media: 56k | 300k
Expos president Tony Tavares

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Major League Baseball intends to sell the Montreal Expos this year and relocate them in time for the 2005 season, Commissioner Bud Selig said on Thursday, just after the end of a quarterly joint owners' meeting, adding that contracting the beleaguered franchise isn't an option.

"(The sale) certainly should happen. And by the way, nobody is more anxious for it to happen than I am," said Selig, making a rare public statement about the subject. "As I said to everyone today, it's the last residue of contraction. It was a very difficult situation. I'd like to get the club sold. That will be one less thing for us, in general, and particularly me, to worry about. But contraction is off the table."

The earliest that MLB has the option to contract a team is for the 2007 season. Under a stipulation in the Basic Agreement, MLB owners can't vote to contract before April 1, 2006, and must notify the players association of that intent no latter than July 1, 2006. Under terms of the agreement, which expires on Dec. 19, 2006, the union can't block MLB from contracting.

MLB considered contracting the Expos and the Minnesota Twins after the 2001 season, but ran into court challenges from the communities and a grievance from the union before abandoning the possibility.

MLB is heading into its third season of owning and operating the Expos, who were purchased from Jeffery Loria for $120 million in a deal that became official on Feb. 15, 2002. Since November 2002, MLB's relocation committee has sought a new home for the Expos, compromising in 2004 for the second straight season by playing 22 of the team's 81 home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Tony Tavares, the team's president, said a practical timetable for MLB is again having the Expos' situation resolved by the All-Star break, with full-scale meetings in each of the communities taking place during the months before that seemingly flexible deadline.

"We were looking at the All-Star break last year, if you remember, and the year before that," Tavares said Thursday. "But this time I get a real sense of urgency that the goal will be accomplished."

The relocation committee, which includes Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, and three owners -- Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox, Wendy Selig-Prieb of the Milwaukee Brewers and Tom Hicks of the Texas Rangers -- met for an hour on Wednesday and made a report to the other owners on Thursday.

The report included a survey of recent trips to Monterrey, Mexico, and the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Committee members have also visited Las Vegas twice. Last year's hot contenders, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore., remain very much in the mix and are waiting for the next step to be taken by MLB.

Selig said financing of a new ballpark is still a very much a part of the relocation equation.

"Whoever gets the team is going to have to have a ballpark situation structured," Selig said. "That can't change. That's obviously part of the package."

Selig also commended the relocation committee for its effort. "They've spent an enormous amount of time on it," he said. "They seemed to be encouraged (Wednesday), I must say. They feel good about the options they have. We have a number of viable domestic and international candidates. And no candidate on the list has been eliminated."

Including the purchase price of the team, MLB has invested nearly $200 million in the Expos. Add closing costs and any indemnity payment made to a current owner for moving into an existing territory, and MLB will need considerably more than $200 million from a prospective buyer to break even.

In an unrelated action on Thursday, Peter Angelos of the Baltimore Orioles and Peter McGowan of the San Francisco Giants were selected to the eight-owner executive council, replacing Carl Pohlad of the Minnesota Twins and Bill Bartholomay of the Atlanta Braves.

Angelos has been vocal about not wanting another team placed in the Washington area, saying it will intrude on both his fan base and slice up his television market. The Orioles draw extensively from southern Maryland and Washington's northern suburbs.

The executive council is a sounding board for Selig, who chairs the group and advises it of every piece of business involving baseball.

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.