In what appears to be the first step in John Henry’s purchase of the Florida Marlins, Don Smiley withdrew his bid to buy the team. Smiley‘s 14-month attempt to purchase the team was unable to gather enough money. This clears way for John Henry to complete his deal. In more exciting news, GM Dave Dombrowski who built a deep minor league system and a world champion re-signed for 5 more years. Despite lucrative offers, specifically from the Dodgers, Dombrowski opted to stay in South Florida. Henry has already indicated that he wants to invest more money in the payroll and name Dombrowski the president of the ball club.

News out of Wayne Huizenga and John Henry‘s representatives indicate that Henry is on the verge of purchasing the Florida Marlins. Henry has already promised to build a new stadium from his own funds. He also suggested that any public fund would be welcome and allow him to direct more of his money to the payroll. Henry also would keep Dave Dombrowski as President and General Manager. Finally, and most importantly, Henry would increase the payroll back to a competitive level, probably convincing Jim Leyland to stay. At this point, Henry still has not sold his 1% of the NY Yankees and Huizenga has not submitted his name for approval by Major League Baseball.