Friday, September 19, 2003

 

Montreal Expos For Another Year!

I just received e-mail from Major League Baseball with breaking news--

The Expos players weighed their options on Friday and in
the end, decided to play the entire 2004 home season in
Montreal.

Any permanent relocation of the Expos is now officially
delayed until 2005, at the earliest, said Bob DuPuy,
Major League Baseball's president, chief operating officer,
and a member of the relocation committee that has been
studying the future of the team.

Complete Story >> http://lists.mlb.com/u/282528/6405328

This is good news for the Expos and the fans in Montreal. What MLB did to the team was year was simply unconscionable. They What they'll do to the roster next year will probably require another adjective. The league has threatened massive cutbacks in the payroll if the players didn't agree to another split schedule. This means that the contract negotiations between the Expos and superstar Vlad Guerrero, who will be a free agent after this season, may be aborted. The Expos are on the hook for Livan Hernandez's $6+ million option for 2004. If MLB tells them to cut payroll, that will tie their hands quite a bit.

However, every year the Expos are given a reprieve is good. It increases the odds that the team will find a long-term solution to staying where they belong permanently. The odds are still very slim, but they're better than they were yesterday.

Jefferson 4:44 PM

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