Boston Mayor Thomas Menino on Saturday "dismissed talk"
of building a new ballpark for the Red Sox along the South
Boston Waterfront, "insisting that the best site" for a new
facility is in the Fenway area, according to Meg Vaillancourt
of the BOSTON GLOBE. Menino: "The only site that's in play
now is the Fenway. ... The team wants to build it there and
the Legislature passed a bill providing aid that's earmarked
to the Fenway. Talk about other sites is just a bunch of
baloney." However, Menino said that MA and Boston officials
"might have to consider alternate sites" if the team "cannot
secure" the $352M for the ballpark on the Fenway site.
Menino: "We might have to review things. But that's not been
determined" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/15).
NOT-SO-LIMITED: Also in Boston, Will McDonough reported
that any serious bidders for the Red Sox "are going to find
out ... that the so-called limited partners in the team are
not so limited. In fact, they control the situation." The
team's seven limited partners control 47% of the team, which
"will be a huge headache for the next owner and may indeed
discourage a lot of potential bidders." McDonough: "By
owning 47 percent, they are entitled to 47 percent of any
payout at the end of the year. By owning 47 percent, they
are entitled to 47 percent of the tax benefits" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 10/14). Also in Boston, Scott Van Voorhis writes that
while both the limited partners and MLB must approve any
suitor proposed by Red Sox CEO John Harrington, Harrington's
"decades of working with them is expected to give him
substantial influence with both." Harrington, on his
fiduciary responsibility to the Yawkey Trust, which requires
his selection of the highest bidder: "I have very little
leeway. One cent could make the difference." Harrington
also said that he "wouldn't even be able to choose a bidder
whose overall offer was lower but whose package included less
debt and more equity" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/16).
