The Ottawa Citizen reports it as a possibility, but we can report it as a certainty that Ryan-Sanders Baseball is negotiating to buy the Binghamton Mets (Class AA; Eastern League) and move the team to Ottawa Stadium in 2014.
The negotiations have been described by baseball insiders as hard-edged, with Ryan-Sanders reps working to lower the costs of the team acquisition (far, far below the $16.75 million paid by Ken Babby for the Akron Aeros of the Eastern League) and reducing the cash Ottawa wants to see an owner put into the ballpark: over $5.1 million. What once was a $20-million-plus deal is now seen more as a $15-million deal.
The Ottawa Citizen report is here. The deal has been brokered by Rick Billings of Beacon Capital.
Ryan-Sanders Baseball, owned by the Nolan Ryan family (which includes sons Reid and Reese) and Don Sanders, owns the Round Rock Express (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and the Corpus Christi Hooks (Class AA; Texas League). The firm has quietly been looking at expansion in the past few years both in the affiliated and summer-collegiate fields.
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