Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 18, 2006
Nationals Mediator

They've selected a mediator to try to seal the stadium deal between MLB and the Washington, D.C. government. Mayor Williams must be overjoyed with the pick:

Former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer, a longtime political ally of D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams's, was selected yesterday to mediate a dispute between the District government and Major League Baseball over the stalled agreement to build a new stadium.

Archer, 64, was in town yesterday for an initial meeting between Williams and representatives from the Washington Nationals and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission. Officials from the American Arbitration Association, which is handling the mediation process, also were involved.

Archer sports an impressive resume:

Archer, who served eight years as an associate justice on the Michigan Supreme Court, has a long, distinguished résumé. He is chairman of Dickinson Wright, a Detroit-based law firm.

Archer and Williams used to talk by telephone every month, and Williams has said he based his initial blueprint for governing the District on Archer's work in Detroit. Archer, who was Detroit's mayor from 1994 through 2001, is a former president of the National League of Cities, a role Williams filled last year.

He's only a mediator, however. He'll use whatever skills it takes to move the sides to an agreement, but if MLB believes it's case will sway an arbitrator, they may not budge. Again, I wonder how much the owners will push Selig to get a deal so they can get their money back. And if the whole thing falls apart, what's next? A move to another city?

I understand MLB wants a deal in place that makes the Washington franchise as viable as possible. Unfortunately, they want the city to make sure that happens. Why not agree that the new owner will cover cost overruns for the stadium, and take $100 million off the purchase price? The clubs still get a good return on their investment, and the new owner has an economic reason to work against toward keeping the stadium on budget. Seems everyone wins in that scenario.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:36 AM | Stadiums | TrackBack (0)
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