A's Owners Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann, who last month
received a 30-day extension "to decide what they wanted to
do with the team," received another 12 weeks to consider
accepting the current lease with the Coliseum or putting the
team up for sale, according to Monte Poole of the OAKLAND
TRIBUNE. Schott and Hofmann, "displeased with the ballpark
in the wake of changes made to accommodate the Raiders, have
not reached a decision." Poole added that the extension
"allows the current owners more time to sell the idea of a
new ballpark to other areas, notably the South Bay Area"
(OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 7/30). In San Jose, sources of Mark Purdy
say that the A's front office "has proposed" dropping its
$48M lawsuit against Oakland and Alameda County "only if
Oakland agrees to drop the portion of the escape clause that
allows the city to find a buyer for the team. That way,
Schott and Hofmann could still keep the year-to-year lease
without any risk of losing the franchise." Purdy adds that,
"So far, neither side is budging" (S.J. MERCURY NEWS, 7/31).
