[December 19th] -- The Washington Post is reporting that D.C. mayor Anthony Williams has asked the city council to remove the stadium vote from tomorrow night's agenda. Member Linda Cropp agreed, and says that the vote won't occur any earlier than January 3rd. It might be much later, weeks or even months down the road.

Although no reason was given, it doesn't take much imagination to figure out what's going on: Williams doesn't have enough "yes" votes to pass the stadium agreement.

Don't sweat it. It's not a big deal.

There is no way that the city council would allow this measure to fail. No stadium agreement means no owner. No owner means that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball still controls the team, and could on a whim and a "fixed" vote by its fellow owners move the team again. Knowing this, the city council would never allow their beloved Washington to lose a third baseball franchise. The repercussions would be enormous. No, it won't happen.

How does this effect the Nationals for the upcoming season? It doesn't. The payroll has already been set and spent. The team isn't good enough to contend and won't need extra dollars to swing a last-minute trade this year. With both Jim Bowden and Frank Robinson returning, the team is on auto-pilot and really won't need an owner until the last day of the season, when plans must begin for next season's free agent signing period. The team doesn't want a repeat of last month, when no free agent was willing to sign with the ownerless Nationals.

Bob DuPuy, resident hard-nose for Major League Baseball, wrote in a letter to the city council that the two sides were at a "crossroads" in their relationship. He [rightfully] spelled out that baseball has not only adhered to the stadium agreement, but allowed it to be modified to benefit the city. No more shenanigans, he says. DuPuy even hinted that the team's future in D.C. is very cloudy without the agreement being finalized NOW. If the council doesn't approve the lease by December 31st, the whole deal becomes null and void, and would likely head to arbitration.

This isn't a fight between the North and the South, or democracy and communism. It's more like Saddam fighting Osama. Neither side is loveable and both sides can't be trusted.

I say let them fight. We'll give them another nine months or so before sweating the stadium situation. And when all is said and done, it'll get done. It has to. It's meant to be.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 5:49 PM