Oakland Coliseum officials seeking a buyer for the A's "find
themselves ominously close to a deadline to get the job done."
But so far, "even with no indication that a legitimate buyer has
been lined up for the baseball team, they have not asked the
current owners for an extension, and none has been offered."
Coliseum board member James Vohs, who heads the search committee,
said the December 6 deadline is "helpful in bringing things to a
head. I don't want to even talk to the A's about it to give any
impression (to possible buyers) that there might be an
extension." When the Haas family announced that the team was for
sale, it set a price of $85M, contingent on the buyer keeping the
team in Oakland. The search committee has forwarded several
names of possible buyers for review by MLB but none of the names
has been released to the public. If the officials are unable to
find a buyer before the December deadline, the Haases have the
option of "marketing the team as they deem fit -- possibly at a
higher price, without the local buyer restriction" (Larry
Slonaker, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/20).
