Twins Get Clout in Stadium Fight

Baseball owners, concluding three days of meetings in Philadelphia, gave the Minnesota Twins approval to seek buyers who might move the franchise after the 1998 season, handing the team a hammer to use in negotiations for a new ballpark.

Acting Commissioner Bud Selig called the Metrodome, opened in 1982, an “economic albatross” and said the sport’s new revenue-sharing rules have increased pressure to make more teams maximize their income.

“I’m going to take [the Twins] at their word. I think it’s serious,” Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson said in St. Paul. “The issue will ultimately come down to either a new stadium or the Twins leaving.”

In other action, the owners approved a 10-year Professional Baseball Agreement with the minor leagues through 2007 that is expected to lower major league costs by $5 million a season. The minor leagues will take over from the parent clubs the costs of the umpire-development program, uniforms and some equipment.

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Houston Astro pitcher Shane Reynolds will undergo arthroscopic surgery today to repair torn cartilage and remove a cyst from his right knee. He is expected to return after the All-Star break.

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A federal appeals court in Chicago has upheld the regional sales tax helping to pay for Miller Park, the new stadium the Milwaukee Brewers intend to move into for the 2000 season.