Speaking of (the opposite of) places with no people, Mayor Williams and his NoVa-smacking posse have shuffled off to China for some reason. At the "We Win" press conference, Jack Evans was saying something about how now that he's returned baseball to the District, his next challenge will be to test himself against the world's greatest martial artists, so that might have something to do with it. Depending on how much ass Evans wants to kick, don't be surprised when the Post reports tomorrow morning that Williams has been named Mayor of China and that the Marlins will be playing in Beijing.
Anyway, I don't know what this trip has to do with anything, but everyone seems to be bitching about it. It's a shame they didn't take Marion with them. Just imagine the kind of hell he could raise during one night in Bangkok, which can make a hard man crumble. Or indeed, the tough guys tumble.
Thom "Tom" Loverro is reporting that Bob Watson, former Astros and Yankees general manager, is now the leading candidate for the Washington GM job. I don't know much about this guy, but he ran the Yankees from 1995-1998, and those were pretty good years for the Highlanders (ooh, pretentious!). Anyone have an opinion? Step right up.
Oh, and this is cool: Selig also said his goal is to have an owner selected for the relocated Montreal Expos by the end of the calendar year. MLB has been getting things done pretty fast lately, so I'm not completely sure this couldn't happen. How's that for a vote of confidence?
If you're still worried about RICO, here's some movement on that front:
A hearing on the lawsuit aimed at blocking the Montreal Expos' move to Washington will be held in Miami on Dec. 6, the day before the D.C. Council is scheduled to vote on a renovation proposal to make RFK Stadium ready for baseball next season.I don't have much to add, except that this thing isn't going to send the Expos back to Montreal.
Speaking of trying to send the Expos back to Montreal, Field of Schemes looks at what Marion Barry actually can do to undercut stadium financing.
The challenge, then, will be for the lame-duck council and Mayor Williams to both pass a stadium bill and sell stadium bonds before the new council meets for the first time in January. If they succeed, D.C. will be contractually bound to keeping the new stadium taxes in place until the bonds are paid off - no matter what Barry, D.C. voters, or Barry's hat have to say about it.It's like I said on Thursday. It's one thing to try to stop the funding before it happens. But to revoke it after it's been passed is political suicide, and I have a hard time believing that a sound financial policy is more important to Barry than his political career.
In non-crackhead news, congratulations are due to Dr. William Yurasko, so give them heartily. Opa!
2 comments:
My recollection of Bob Watson was that he did a decent job, but got burned out by Steinbrenner and was having heart problems when he left. He sounds to me like a "safe" hire in the fact that he will not screw things up and probably comes cheaper than Pat Gillick.
I'm not looking for anything much from the new GM where free agency is concerned. I'm more interested in building an organization for this semi-expansion team, emphasizing scouting (especially on the international level, where Washington may have some extra allure) and player development. One would hope Watson, Gillick or whomever is hired makes this his chief priority.
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