Selig Pens Future Of Marlins In Letter To Miami Senator

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig wrote a letter yesterday to FL State Senator Alex Villalobos (R-Miami) stating that MLB will "likely move" the Marlins out of South FL, "or abolish it altogether, if [the team] doesn't get a new ballpark," according to Marika Lynch of the MIAMI HERALD. Selig wrote, "Bluntly, the Marlins cannot and will not survive in South Florida without a new stadium." Marlins Owner John Henry, on the letter: "Those are strong words. That pretty much sums it up. This is an enormous battle." FL State Senator Kendrick Meek (D-Miami) said, "It sounds like Johnny Soprano writing that letter, trying to threaten and put pressure on us." Lynch writes that Selig's letter "surfaced at a critical juncture," with the Miami-Dade "legislative delegation divided on the question of using up to" $122M in future tax dollars for a $385M ballpark. Though the Marlins "scored a victory with an overwhelming" 16-2 vote in favor of the tax rebate in a Senate committee on Tuesday, Senate President John McKay said that he "won't even let senators debate the issue if the proposal drains dollars from the state treasury" (MIAMI HERALD, 4/26). In Ft. Lauderdale, Talalay & Kleindienst cite a source as saying that owners and MLB officials "have been working for months on a plan to dissolve" the Expos and Marlins, if the Marlins "do not secure financing" for a ballpark (SUN-SENTINEL, 4/26).