MLB "made it official" yesterday by "eliminating" the
Miles Prentice group's bid for the Royals, according to
Steve Rock of the K.C. STAR, who writes that the league
faxed the team a memo last night "that indicated Prentice
would not be approved" by MLB team owners. Royals President
Mike Herman announced that the sales process "would now
begin anew." Royals CEO David Glass, who has been rumored
to be a potential ownership candidate, said last night that
he "would speak with the team's board of directors today to
discuss other ownership options," including "his possible
involvement in the bidding process." Royals Dir Joe McGuff:
"If no one else comes forward, then David Glass is our last
hope." The team is "obligated," due to stipulations in
former Owner Ewing Kauffman's succession plan, to be sold by
January 1, 2000, to investors "interested in keeping the
team in Kansas City." If the Royals are not sold by then,
they are "obligated to open the search for investors with
out-of-town interests." Rock reports that the minimum bid
is "expected to be" $75M (K.C. STAR, 11/11). Glass said
yesterday, "This is not a disaster. This does not threaten
baseball in Kansas City" (K.C. STAR, 11/11).
REAX: Prentice group investor Buck O'Neil, on the
rejection process: "It didn't have to take so long. They
[MLB] knew they were not going to let him have it. It's not
fair to Miles Prentice, it's not fair to Kansas City." But
MLB Exec VP/Administration Robert DuPuy said he "thought a
strong message had been delivered" by MLB at the league
meetings in September when team owners voted 29-1 to "table"
the bid and advised the Royals to pursue "additional
alternatives" in their ownership search. DuPuy: "Two months
have gone by, and we have not received any alternative
proposals." In K.C., Jim Pedley writes that the league "has
been worried by, among other things, the amount of money
that the Prentice group had at its disposal" (K.C. STAR,
11/11). In K.C., Joe Posnanski calls Prentice's rejection
"sad" and "unfair" (K.C. STAR, 11/11).
