Devil Rays' ownership transfer approved

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MILWAUKEE -- Baseball owners on Thursday approved transferring control of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to Stuart Sternberg from founding owner Vince Naimoli.

Sternberg, who is now principal owner, has been in charge of the team since Oct. 6.

"It was approved unanimously, so Stuart Sternberg is now in control of Tampa Bay," commissioner Bud Selig said.

Naimoli was the driving force in bringing baseball to Tampa Bay and was rewarded with an expansion franchise in 1995. But his stint as managing general partner was marred by numerous public relations blunders and he quickly became the man most associated with the Devil Rays' futility.

Tampa Bay went 518-775 in its first eight seasons, finishing last in all but one of them. The team has never won more than 70 games, and it had the lowest payroll in the majors last season.

Sternberg headed a group that acquired about 50 percent of the Devil Rays in May 2004, and was originally supposed to take control from Naimoli in January 2007. But he convinced Naimoli to step aside early, and has promised to improve the franchise, on and off the field.

Naimoli retains 15 percent ownership of the team.

"The time has come for dramatic change for this organization," Sternberg said when he took over in October.

He fired general manager Chuck LaMar, and hired Andrew Friedman as his executive vice president of baseball operations. Longtime Los Angeles Angels bench coach Joe Maddon was hired Tuesday as the team's new manager.

Also Thursday, Selig reiterated the need for a new stadium for the Florida Marlins. The Marlins want a 38,000-seat ballpark next to the Orange Bowl in downtown Miami, but it's been stalled by funding issues. While the team, the city and Miami-Dade County have pledged $390 million toward construction, there's still a gap of up to $45 million.

The Marlins hoped to be in a new stadium for the 2008 season. The team's series of one-year leases with Dolphins Stadium will expire after the 2010 season.

"They're working very hard. ... They need the new ballpark," Selig said. "It's very frustrating. We have two or three franchises that really are going to have to solve their stadium problems."

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

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