http://prospectinsider.com/view/ownership-change-may-be-closer/ If you have followed Prospect Insider for the past few years you have read pieces here at the site as well as a number of tweets -- not to mention segments on local radio -- where I discuss the potential change of ownership for the Seattle Mariners. It's been apparent for at least three-plus years that the current group is not long for the task, at least not as presently constructed. A lot has been written over the past year or so, on many pages in many publications, about the timing of such changes potentially coinciding with the club's opt-out clause with their TV contract. The new pact could net the club more than $1 billion in guaranteed revenues, making the franchise likely worth more than the $800 million for which the San Diego Padres were recently sold. Despite the losses on the field piling up -- 283 in the last three seasons -- and the attendance dropping for the fifth straight year, the M's are a great investment. So great that the club may be sold sooner rather than later, probably before the TV deal can take effect -- prior to the 2015 season. The contract can be reworked before it's expired, and there's a chance talks are already under way. While Chris Larson, to my understanding, still holds the right of first refusal to buy the majority shares of the team, it seems highly unlikely he will be part of a majority takeover, considering his current financial situation after his divorce. After Larson, a credible source on the topic tells me that John Stanton, a 10 percent minority owner, could be poised to step up and put something together to gain majority ownership of the Mariners, potentially including a buyout of Larson's shares -- partial or full -- which is believed to be just above 30 percent in total. Other shares, the source adds, will likely remain local, and could remain with current minority shareholders, including Larson. Stanton is the chairman and CEO of Clearwire, a Kirkland-based wireless company, and former executive at Western Wireless and the old VoiceStream wireless company that sold out to T-Mobile for $35 billion early last decade. Stanton, who graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and lives in Bellevue, has a net worth believed to be in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion. While all of the above is about business, it would impact the baseball operations directly, since payroll is always part of the equation, no matter the size of the market. Perhaps the biggest impact is that Stanton could very well bring Hall of Fame general manager Pat Gillick back to Seattle in a role similar to that held by Nolan Ryan in Texas, further strengthening the baseball operations in the organization. Gillick, who left the helm of GM in Seattle after the 2003 season, spent three years as GM for the Philadelphia Phillies, winning the World Series in 2008. Gillick, now 75, is now serving in a similar role with the Phillies after the club's title run. He still lives in Magnolia, a point he reiterated to me this spring when I ran into him at Husky Ballpark. Gillick made it very clear that he adores the area, though as an employee of the Phillies, he did not speak of the Mariners specifically. I have been given clues on numerous occasions, however, that Gillick's relationships with the likes of Larson and Stanton, more than leaves the door open for him to return the organization, and Gillick's name has come up before in these types of discussions. Such alterations to the makeup of the Mariners' ownership and management may not occur within the next year, but it may also not be a matter of 2014 or 2015, either -- the time span of the new TV deal. What that kind of new leadership would bring remains to be seen, but having a baseball man like Gillick at the top of the chain can only be a good thing. Check that -- it can only be a great thing. I don't have any actual knowledge on whether or not Gillick would want to change general managers, but I get the impression that Zduriencik would be safe, at least for the first year or two. Gillick, however, could attract more great baseball evaluators to the organization to team with the likes of Ted Simmons, among others, that would make more of an impact on major league talent, the area in which the club has struggled some, even since Zduriencik arrived. That isn't to say the club has focused on this department and failed, but the few ventures they have taken -- most notably Chone Figgins -- have not worked out well. In the end, it appears inevitable that the team will be sold soon. Geoff Baker and Larry Stone of the Seattle Times have hit on the subject a number of times and lead the way in such reporting, especially lately, and it appears there could be some moving and shaking over the next several months. Before now, the expectation was always relayed to me as "sometime in the not-too-distant future." Now it's being termed "sooner, rather than later," and "it probably won't drag on past next offseason." The television contract and the actions of the team in terms of payroll -- not necessarily cutting spending, but certainly the lack of aggression in free agency -- strongly suggest the team is preparing to sell. On top of that, the M's have clipped their debt right in the bud and I can't find another team in baseball without any debt. When the sale goes down, don't be surprised if the names John Stanton and Pat Gillick are a significant part of that process. ownership-change-may-be-closer 短评：Paul Allen！说好的西雅图大满贯呢？！赶快抛弃阿拓啊！Q__Q --

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