People tend to take sides in these discussions. They feel obligated to say baseball is in catastrophic circumstance or no problem at all. I think extremes are misleading. I think there's a problem and it's of modest dimensions.
Andrew ZimbalistBoth sides go the bargaining table holding cards quite close to the chest and bluffing like crazy, .
Andrew ZimbalistI don't think baseball can abandon the Miami market. If MLB does let that market go vacant, I think it'll be one of the biggest mistakes they ever made.
Andrew ZimbalistThe market's been soft, .. and I think that's mostly a result of the new provisions in the collective bargaining agreement.
Andrew ZimbalistBaseball does have some slack here. When they were losing $20 million a year in Montreal, there was some pressure to get rid of it. But as long as they are [profitable] in Washington, there is less pressure. They've got eight bona fide $450 million offers to buy the team, and those offers aren't going to go away soon.
Andrew Zimbalist