Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, with an extended contract and display of support from baseball's owners, continues to promise the eventual contraction of teams, whether it be sooner or later.

The number one conclusion drawn, as well as the main focus of a 2001 report by, Minnesotans For Major League Baseball, a volunteer citizens committee, is that a new state-of-the-art stadium was of utmost critical importance in assuring that the Twins stay in Minnesota.

This group was formed for the express purpose of "saving the Twins and keeping the club in Minnesota", and was funded by the team itself.

The recent announcement by MLB of its intended contraction plans, with the Twins and Montreal Expos as its two likely choices for elimination, came as no real surprise to anyone, politicians included. It's interesting with all of the sudden fuss over the Twins' plight, no one seems to have a
problem with the Expos being wiped away.

Unlike when the original Cleveland Browns were shockingly moved to Baltimore by Art Modell, and without the slightest hint beforehand, no one in Minnesota could have been even remotely surprised at either a relocation or elimination of the Twins.

People there knew of the extreme necessity for a new stadium yet nothing concerning this matter has made it beyond first base. The public there doesn't want to put up any money.

Leave it to politicians there to grandstand and whine long after the train has left the station and is halfway into the next county. Politicians now, in a pure public relations ploy to satisfy those who elected them, want to pull every legal stunt in the book to prevent the Twins' demise. The sad
part is that they are screwing with the future of major league baseball and fans everywhere, in the process.

The Hennepin County (Minn.) Court decision, issued by Judge Harry Crump, which attempts to prevent the Twins from being eliminated by ordering them to fulfill the final year of a lease agreement at the Metrodome, should be overturned by the state Supreme Court.

The Twins finished 25th in the league in attendance this past season, and despite the fact they occupied first place in the A.L. Central Division for much of the season. The fact of the matter is, the Twins have rarely drawn a herd of fans to their ballparks, as attendance seems to depend on
their team going to the World Series.

It's clearly obvious to most folks that MLB has severe financial difficulties, what with the majority of its teams losing as much as $500 million this past season. It isn't any wonder when the industry has one player making $25 million per year. There is no question a complete overhaul of the system is in order.

So, how can a team be forced to play in a stadium for one likely lame-duck season, if the club no longer exists ? It's backwards to legally prevent MLB from relocation or contracting one of its own clubs.

The players grievance, along with threatened action on the part of the Florida attorney general, as well as proposed legislation to strip baseball of its antitrust exemption all serves to prohibit MLB from getting its financial house in order, at a time of critical importance for the good of the game and its fans.