Fight Over Twins’ Lease Goes to Court

Less than two months before spring training’s scheduled start, baseball asked a Minnesota appeals court Thursday to clear the way for plans to eliminate two teams before next season.

Lawyers for the Minnesota Twins and major league baseball said in St. Paul that the court should lift a district judge’s order that the Twins play through the end of the 2002 season to fulfill their lease with the Metrodome.

“No court in the history of the United States has determined that a major league should have a certain number of franchises,” baseball attorney Roger Magnuson argued.

The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, the state attorney general’s office and a season-ticket holder are fighting to enforce the Twins’ Metrodome lease, meaning the team would have to play.

Corey Ayling, the attorney for the Twins’ landlord, said the lease “is a covenant to operate” and the benefit of the deal for the commission was that the team would play through the end of the contract.

“We didn’t force that bargain on the Twins....They signed on the dotted line. They consented to this,” Ayling said.

The hearing lasted less than an hour, and judges Edward Toussaint Jr., Robert Schumacher and Roger Klaphake could rule any time.

The owners of the Boston Red Sox refused to turn over to the state of Massachusetts documents detailing offers made to buy the team.

State Atty. Gen. Tom Reilly would not say if he intends to subpoena the bids, but he said the team owners’ refusal raises questions about why they sold the team for a reported $90 million less than the highest bid.

That discrepancy will shortchange homeless shelters, hospitals and other charities designated to benefit from the Yawkey trust, the team’s outgoing majority owner, by $50 million, Reilly said.

“Thus far, they have refused to give us the documents,” Reilly said. “One way or the other, we will get these documents.”

John Harrington, Red Sox chief executive, said he plans to give Reilly “detailed information and extensive documentation” about the bidding process, including the bids themselves, when they meet next Wednesday.

Reliever Alan Embree agreed to a $500,000, one-year contract with San Diego, giving the Padres a veteran setup man to fill in while two young relievers, Kevin Walker and Tom Davey, recover from arm surgery.

Embree, who turns 32 on Jan. 23, has pitched eight seasons in the majors.

Free-agent pitchers Hideki Irabu and Bill Pulsipher agreed to terms with the Texas Rangers. Both have one-year deals with triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League....Outfielder Ender Chavez was sent from Colorado to the New York Mets to complete an Aug. 23 trade for catcher Gary Bennett.