Baseball owners say MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will be offered a contract extension at this week's meetings.
ESPN.com first reported that Selig will be offered an additional term when owners meet Wednesday and Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Two owners, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to attract criticism from Selig, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that a new term will be proposed.
Owners also intend to approve the completion of the sale of the San Diego Padres from John Moores to Jeff Moorad.
Selig is expected to accept the offer, one source with knowledge of his plans told FOXSports.com national baseball writer Jon Paul Morosi. The source cited three reasons: Selig’s good health; the game’s sound financial condition, after reaching a new collective bargaining agreement; and Selig’s desire to strengthen his legacy by shepherding the Dodgers and Mets through tumultuous periods with their respective ownerships.
Selig has been commissioner since September 1992 and would surpass Kenesaw Mountain Landis for longest tenure in September 2016. Selig repeatedly has said he intends to retire in December but also admits almost no one believes him.
Selig, who turns 78 in July, became acting commissioner in September 1992, when clubs forced out Fay Vincent. After saying he wouldn't take the job, Selig was elected to a five-year term as permanent commissioner in 1998 and gave up running the Milwaukee Brewers, the team he bought in 1970 and his family sold in 2005.
Owners voted in November 2001 to extend his term through 2006, then voted in August 2004 to extend it through 2009. Although he first said in 2006 that he intended to retire at the end of that term, in January 2008 he accepted an extension through 2012.
Before Game 7 of the World Series in October, Selig again said he planned to leave this year but admitted few thought he would. Sitting in the front row of the news conference room, Sue Selig nodded her head.
''Starting with my wife, I'm happy or sad to say, but she's somewhat skeptical,'' he said.
