By Dean Russin
Sports Editor
May 09, 2008 08:08 am ONEONTA _ Oneonta Tigers co-owner Sam Nader acknowledged Thursday that negotiations involving the sale of his minor league baseball team are under way. "We're talking," Nader said at Damaschke Field, the home of his Single-A New York-Penn League team since 1966. "It's not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination. If it was, I wouldn't be here right now." Nader, 88, would not reveal the other party involved in the discussions with his Oneonta Athletic Corporation, which started as a group of 10 men who purchased the franchise for $10,000 in 1966. Nader and co-owner Sid Levine, 95, are the only living members of the OAC, serving as its president and vice president/treasurer, respectively. Nader said Thursday the OAC has turned down several offers over the years, including one from AlliedSignal in 2001 that would have fetched more than $2.5 million. He went on to say the OAC has entertained more offers in recent years, citing his and Levine's advanced ages, as well as his desire to secure his family's financial future. "Am I saying would we sell the ballclub? At my age, hey, how long am I going to live? Whatever I'm going to do, I've got to take care of my estate," said Nader, whose son is Oneonta mayor John Nader. Sam Nader also has two daughters who live out of state and several grandchildren. When asked if the OAC is negotiating a sale of the O-Tigers, Nader responded: "I'm not answering any of those things there." When asked, "You're not selling the team, then?" he responded: "I didn't say that. If I get the right offer, obviously, I'm 88 years old. As of right now, nothing has transpired." Asked if he was saying that nothing is in the works, Nader answered: "I'm not saying anything of that nature. I'm just saying, as of right now, it's the same old situation. Have we talked? Yeah, we've talked to people. We're going to continue to talk to people. How long can I do this? I have a hard time putting one foot ahead of the other." Reached by telephone Thursday, Levine answered "not yet" when asked if the O-Tigers had been sold. He directed follow-up questions to Nader. Nader said his team has not been sold. He also said the franchise will stay in Oneonta through the 2010 season _ its last under a five-year contract with its parent club, the Detroit Tigers _ regardless of who owns the O-Tigers. "Our motivation is to keep baseball in Oneonta," Nader said, expressing the same sentiment from a 2001 Daily Star interview about the possible sale of the O-Tigers to AlliedSignal CEO Larry Bossidy Jr. During that interview, Levine said the OAC rejected a $2.5 million offer in 1998 and would have turned down $5 million if it meant the Tigers would have to leave Oneonta. Neither Nader nor Levine revealed the actual figure in the 2001 proposal from Bossidy, who was trying to bring a franchise to Pittsfield, Mass. In 2002, the NY-Penn's Pittsfield Astros moved to Troy to become the Tri-City ValleyCats, a Stedler Division rival of the O-Tigers. "Whatever agreement we make will be that they would have to keep baseball in Oneonta, at least through the (contract) terms of 2010," Nader said Thursday, adding that Bossidy is not involved this time. "After that, it's between them and whomever. Everything we have in place would have to be honored. They couldn't just pick up the team and say, So long, Oneonta.'" Nader reiterated that no contract to sell the team exists, although he said: "Whatever we have, the issue of confidentiality is a major issue in any of these transactions and so on." He also said that Damaschke Field, the city-owned ballpark that recently underwent a multimillion-dollar upgrade led by New York State Electric & Gas Corp., will continue to host NY-Penn baseball through the 2010 season. "Take my word for it _ and my word is damn good; I pride myself on my word _ there will be baseball in Oneonta through 2010," Nader said. "That's when my contract with Detroit, and I don't know, maybe they'll renew it again _ they always have sooner than the expiration time _ but my work agreement with Detroit is through 2010. "The ballclub will be here in 2008, 2009 and 2010," he continued. "And for me to go beyond three years at my age, I'd be a damn fool." The O-Tigers, who went 45-34 last season and reached the first round of the NY-Penn playoffs, open their 2008 season at Vermont on June 17. Their first home game is June 21 against Tri-City. Part of the Boston Red Sox farm system in its first year of NY-Penn baseball, Oneonta spent 32 seasons affiliated with the New York Yankees before joining Detroit in 1999. "I want to be as honest as possible," Nader said, "but as of right now, there's nothing I can talk about." Reached by cell phone Thursday, John Nader said he did not know if the O-Tigers were in the process of being sold. Sam Nader said his son "washed himself from the operation" after becoming Oneonta's mayor in 2006. ___ Dean Russin can be reached at drussin@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 215.
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