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Loria working on $158M deal for Marlins Posted: Wednesday January 16, 2002 10:31 PM
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Florida Marlins seemed set to get their third owner in five seasons after a group headed by John Henry was given approval Wednesday to buy the Boston Red Sox. Before he can close on his record $660 million deal in Boston, Henry must work out an agreement to sell the Marlins, the team he purchased in 1999. He has been negotiating a $158 million sale to Jeffrey Loria, the current owner of the Montreal Expos, but the deal still isn't in writing yet. "We started with 357 deal points and we're down to eight," Expos executive vice president David Samson said. Loria, a New York art dealer, would then sell the Expos back to the commissioner's office for $120 million. Loria is expected to bring much of his top staff to the Marlins, including Samson, interim general manager Larry Beinfest and manager Jeff Torborg. Florida has been without a GM and manager since the end of the season. Samson, who intends to move to Florida if Loria acquires the Marlins, said it is too early to discuss staff issues. The commissioner's office will push for a quick agreement. That way, Torborg and his staff would be able to start spring training with the Marlins instead of the Expos. The Marlins have struggled since winning the World Series in just their fifth season in 1997 and repeatedly have said they cannot survive without a new ballpark. Government financing, however, has not materialized H. Wayne Huizenga, who paid a $95 million expansion fee for the franchise but put the team up for sale shortly after it won the World Series at cut the payroll from $52.5 million -- the fifth-highest in baseball that year -- to 27th at $19.1 million. The Marlins went 54-108, the worst record ever for a defending champion and the poorest record in the National League since 1969. At first, Henry said he would build his own ballpark but he then asked for government assistance. When that failed to materialize, he explored a purchase of the Anaheim Angels from The Walt Disney Co., then turned his attention to the Red Sox. The Marlins, fourth in the NL East last year at 76-86, say they need a ballpark with a retractable roof to survive in a climate where games are frequently delayed or postponed by late-afternoons storms. Florida averaged 15,765 in home attendance last year, the second-smallest in the major leagues, ahead of only Montreal (7,648). "It is absolutely premature to be talking about anything with a stadium in Florida," Samson said.
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