Although Rockies Chair Jerry McMorris' trucking
company, NationsWay, filed for Chapter 11, "people who know
him say he will remain" in his team post, according to Mike
Klis of the DENVER POST. McMorris said that while he owns
an interest in the Rockies and several other businesses,
none of his holdings were "cross-collateralized." Klis
reviewed the Rockies' ownership structure and noted that
only if attendance slips to below 10,000 a game and the
partners conduct a capital call would McMorris' bankrupt
trucking company "become an issue" (DENVER POST, 5/23).
TWINS: St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman said that by the end
of the summer, there should be a "very clear picture" as to
whether the city can attract the Twins and what the cost
would be for a new ballpark. Coleman: "I'm very optimistic
that we can put something together that people can support."
Twins President Jerry Bell said that the team has "no
qualms" about moving to St. Paul (STAR TRIBUNE, 5/23). In
Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse wrote that St. Paul is the "only
hope" the Twins have for a new stadium (STAR TRIBUNE,
5/23)....Twins Owner Carl Pohlad, on trading longtime Twin
Rick Aguilera and his $3.25M salary to the Cubs on Friday:
"When you have to write out a check for a projected $8
million to $10 million loss, there isn't much else you can
do" (PIONEER PRESS, 5/23). Patrick Reusse noted the trade
of Aguilera and the team's poor play of late: "Pohlad's
pathetic stewardship and the Twins' poor-stepchild status
have so disillusioned the sporting public that there is an
absence of outrage and an abundance of indifference. We can
slash and we can carve and we can rip, but why bother? Carl
Pohlad doesn't care that big-league baseball has become an
embarrassment in Minnesota" (STAR TRIBUNE, 5/22).
