An investment group headed by CA attorney Michael
Lazarus that includes AZ-based Founder's Bank Chair Lyle
Campbell and Cubs TV analyst Steve Stone "is ready to put
down a deposit" to buy the A's, according to Rick DelVecchio
of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The Lazarus group joins the
consortium led by former A's exec Andy Dolich as the "two
possible buyers seriously interested" in the team. Game
Plan Chair Bob Caporale, who is representing the Oakland-
Alameda County Coliseum Authority in the potential sale,
said that both ventures "claim to have the financial
capacity to buy the team." Caporale "expects" each group to
submit a separate bid next week on a one-time offer to buy
the A's for $120M, which is a "slight markdown from the
team's market value," and they have until an April 21
deadline to put money down for the team. If both proposals
were to garner MLB approval, the Coliseum Authority "would
likely break the tie" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/10). Lazarus: "We
are in the process of establishing an escrow and anticipate
that sometime next week we will be depositing the funds
necessary to exercise an option granted by the A's" (SAN
JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 4/10). Stone, who would likely be in
charge of the hiring of front-office personnel: "It's not an
opportunity that comes around very often, so I just felt I
had to pursue it to a conclusion." The group would like to
keep the team in Oakland (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/10).
WHAT ABOUT BOB? In Chicago, Mike Kiley reports that
Astros GM Bob Watson has joined the Lazarus group as an
equity partner (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/12).
PRINT IT! Dolich confirmed that the Oakland Tribune
"will likely be an investor" in his group's bid for the A's.
Though he did not reveal how much the paper would invest in
the bid, Dolich called the amount "significant" and said it
may also include advertising and marketing support. Dolich,
who once criticized the $120M asking price for being "too
high," said it is now a "viable equation" (C.C. TIMES,
4/10). But ESPN/NBC MLB analyst Joe Morgan, who is a member
of Dolich's group, is now "undecided" about whether to
invest in the team due to "worries" about a conflict of
interest with his broadcasting career (OAK. TRIBUNE, 4/9).
