ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 TAG: 9612170079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BASEBALL
SOURCE: Associated Press
With the Seattle Mariners' owners announcing the team is for sale, a Northern Virginia group may again try to buy a team and move it rather than wait for the next round of expansion.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Monday that Bill Collins' group has $85 million in cash and a $100 million bank note to back up its search for a franchise.
Collins' group, which would put a team in Washington's RFK Stadium until a new ballpark is built, has previously failed to land a 1998 expansion team and the Houston Astros,
If the Mariners' owners do sell, Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia, may make offers.
In Portland, Nike's Phil Knight has been enlisted as a potential owner in its attempt to develop a stadium plan. A commission has been formed with the support of Portland Mayor Vera Katz.
In Vancouver, the Canadians already have what they hope can become a major-league facility, B.C. Place Stadium.
Mariners CEO John Ellis doesn't expect to find a local owner to keep the Mariners in Seattle.
``The offering we will make will be to all,'' he said. ``And I would be more than totally surprised to find anyone that would give anything like what this group has given to baseball here.''
Because of baseball's lengthy approval process, it is virtually certain no sale could be finalized until late this season at the earliest.
In other baseball news:
YANKEES: New York just about completed a $13.5 million, three-year deal with left-hander David Wells to replace Jimmy Key, who signed with the Orioles. The contract, which contains a team option for 2000, was expected to be finalized today.
ORIOLES: Baltimore added another pitcher, agreeing to a one-year contract with Shawn Boskie worth about $600,000. Boskie, 29, was 12-11 with a 5.32 ERA in 28 starts and nine relief appearances for the Angels.
ROYALS: Kansas City agreed to a minor-league contract with third baseman Scott Cooper, an American League all-star for Boston in 1993 and 1994. Cooper hit .243 with seven homers and 27 RBI last season with the Seibu Lions of Japan's Pacific League.
GIANTS: Infielder Mark Lewis, acquired by San Francisco from Detroit for infielder Jesus Ibarra, agreed to a $1.6 million, one-year contract.
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