“While all of us would love to have a Minor League Baseball team in Alexandria, it’s not as simple as it might appear at first glance,” she said.

[City manager Mark] Jinks’ office must look at team financials and ascertain whether reports were accurate that Prince William County residents could have been liable had the team’s fiscal fortunes shifted, she said.

“We would want to know much more information from our staff and be cautious,” Silberberg said. “We have to be cautious and focus on our city’s economic interest.”

Silber, the P-Nats owner, said he understood the trepidation but dismissed financial concerns, saying a stadium pact with any locality “is about as riskless a deal as there is.” “It is proper for anyone we’re going to talk to to have questions,” he said. “It would be our job to properly explain that, so that the community could understand that what we’re doing is bringing in a fantastic amenity.”

Alexandria has been without professional baseball since the P-Nats, then known as the Alexandria Dukes, moved after the 1983 season. It is, however, to a summer collegiate league team, the Alexandria Aces (Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League).

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