D.C. Council Vote Puts Expos’ Move in Jeopardy

Baseball’s plan to move the Montreal Expos to Washington might come apart after the District of Columbia Council voted Tuesday night to require private financing for at least half the cost of a new ballpark.

After an 11 1/2 -hour session filled with contentious debate, the council voted, 7-6, to approve legislation to finance construction of a ballpark. But the bill contained an amendment on private financing, a provision not contained in the September agreement between the Expos and Washington Mayor Anthony A. Williams.

“We will review the amendments and the legislation as passed and have a response tomorrow,” said Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer.

If the law stands, baseball’s probable response is to have the team play the 2005 season at Washington’s RFK Stadium, where it would be known as the Nationals, while the commissioner’s office reopens the search for a permanent home for the franchise.

The Expos were bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season.

Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp said she was not satisfied with concessions offered by baseball that would have made the deal more financially palatable for the city.

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Pedro Martinez confirmed during a television interview in the Dominican Republic that he had agreed to join the New York Mets.

Martinez’s agent, Fernando Cuza, had told the Mets he would try to work out a deal with them after the team guaranteed a fourth year, a person involved in the talks said on condition of anonymity.

The deal for the 33-year-old pitcher who helped the Boston Red Sox win the World Series will be worth more than $50 million.

New York has not announced the deal, but General Manager Omar Minaya said he was confident about the negotiations with Martinez.

Martinez, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, spent the last seven seasons with the Red Sox.

Martinez helped Boston win its first World Series title since 1918, but General Manager Theo Epstein said he refused to increase the team’s offer in the last two days.

Boston’s final proposal was a $40.5-million, three-year deal that contained a club option for 2008, a baseball official said on condition of anonymity. The Red Sox believed the Mets’ offer was for $56 million over four years, the official said, but a Met official said that figure was not correct.

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Representatives from the Major League Baseball Players’ Assn. and the commissioner’s office renewed negotiations in New York toward a stricter drug-enforcement policy.

Union chief Donald Fehr and Rob Manfred, baseball’s lead labor negotiator, met for an undetermined time and planned to convene again, perhaps as early as the end of the week.

Commissioner Bud Selig has asked the union to approve more frequent testing and harsher discipline for performance-enhancing drug users, a process that would require amending the collective bargaining agreement, by spring training.

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A nationwide poll released by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut showed that 61% of the 865 fans polled said players who test positive for steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs should be banned from baseball and 33% oppose such a move.

Of those questioned, 52% said major league players who test positive for steroids or other drugs should be banned from the Hall of Fame, and 42% said there should be no ban.

On whether the records of players who fail drug tests should be expunged, 57% opposed it and 36% supported it.

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Right-hander Curt Schilling of the Red Sox said his right ankle isn’t recovering as quickly as he expected from surgery Nov. 9 for a ruptured tendon sheath and he doesn’t believe he’ll be ready to pitch by opening day.

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Free-agent third baseman Corey Koskie finalized a $17-million, three-year contract with Toronto.... Free-agent left-hander David Wells passed a physical and finalized an $8-million, two-year contract with the Red Sox.... Infielder Jose Hernandez, who played with the Dodgers last season, and Cleveland finalized a $1.8-million, one-year contract.... San Francisco put catcher A.J. Pierzynski on waivers and signed left-hander Jeff Fassero, 41, to a minor league contract.... The players’ association filed a grievance in an effort to overturn Colorado’s termination of pitcher Denny Neagle’s contract. Neagle was cited Dec. 3 for solicitation.

Jurisprudence

Rape charges were dropped in Madison, Wis., against former Wisconsin running back Dwayne Smith and friend Anwar Jones after prosecutors said DNA testing showed part of the woman’s story was not true.

Smith and Jones were charged in February after the woman said she was assaulted at a party. Smith left the team in August after learning he had a previously undetected heart condition and has served as a student assistant coach.

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The amount of bail was reduced for three of the four former Brigham Young football players charged in a rape case.

A judge lowered bail from $100,000 to $50,000 for Karland Bennett, 19, Ibrahim Rashada, 18, and B.J. Mathis, 18. Each can now bail out of jail by paying 10% of the reduced amount.

The other man, who was 17 when the alleged assault occurred, will be prosecuted in juvenile court, where penalties are handled differently.

The charges stem from an allegation by a 17-year-old girl that she was raped in August by several men in an apartment in Provo, Utah.

Miscellany

Two-time Olympian Tony Azevedo signed a 1 1/2 -year contract with Italian team Bissolati Cremona that could be worth up to $275,000, which would more than double any previous salary earned by an American water polo player, USA Water Polo said.

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Azevedo, a senior at Stanford, Brett Ormsby of UCLA and Juraj Zatovic of USC were nominated for the Peter J. Cutino Award, given each year to the top men’s and women’s water polo player in the nation. Azevedo won the award the last three years.

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Alan Knipe, who guided the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team to a second-place finish in the NCAA championship behind Brigham Young, will receive the award for coach of the year at the American Volleyball Coaches Assn.’s banquet Thursday at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach.