This Is It

The Expos are coming to Washington, DC. Period. I don't base this statement on wild speculation or wishful thinking. "It hasn't happened yet, why would it now?" is no longer a viable argument, if it ever was. DC officials and the Relocation Committee have produced a "30-page memorandum of understanding." Baseball has given formal notice that they're moving the Expos. There are reports that the team has been giving a moving date - November 30. Even Will Carroll, who has made being dead-ass wrong something of a trademark, has come around, after laughably declaring the DC bid "dead" in June. There is no more question of Northern Virginia or Montreal or anywhere else. From this point on, the only conflicts will come from within the District.

I guess there's still RICO. Look, I know nothing about the merits of this case, but I would be beyond shocked if a judge says the Expos have to stay in Montreal. The dearth of RICO-talk in the media is telling. Anti-stadium zealots and desperate Quebecois are leaning on it pretty hard, but I find it really hard to believe that MLB would have done all this work if they didn't think it would lead to anything.

About those new councilmen. It's conventional wisdom at this point to say that DC needs to get stadium funding passed while the lame duck City Council is still in power. Marion Barry's going to put the kibosh on this boondoggle, they may be heard to say. I'm not so sure.

The former "mayor for life" says he then plans to push for, among other things, building a major-league baseball park on the site of RFK Stadium on East Capitol Street . . .

That doesn't sound like something a staunch opponent of a publicly-financed ball park would say.