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Baseball notebook

Selig-Prieb replaced, GM fired in Brewers shakeup

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers, completing their worst season in the 34-year history of the franchise, replaced team president Wendy Selig-Prieb and general manager Dean Taylor on Wednesday.

Attorney Ulice Payne, a former state securities commissioner, takes over for Selig-Prieb as team president. Doug Melvin, the former Rangers general manager, will be GM.

Selig-Prieb, daughter of commissioner Bud Selig, remains with the team in a newly created post as board chairman, but Payne will make daily decisions.

The team said Selig-Prieb wished to resign from her day-to-day duties.

"I want to personally apologize to our fans for the failings of this season," Selig-Prieb said at a news conference before calling it an exciting day.

"We're going to have fun with this," Melvin said, adding that he would challenge the team's scouts to find the best talent available, whether they be late-round draft picks or potential comeback of the year players.

"We have to change the mind-set here, and that's my goal as general manager," he said. "We have to start thinking that we do have a chance."

Payne, a former Marquette basketball star, is a managing partner of the Milwaukee office of Foley & Lardner. He has no baseball experience but is the chairman of the Bradley Center Board and brings a background in business and politics.

EXPOS FUTURE: An Atlanta businessman is leading an investment group interested in purchasing Montreal and moving the team to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2004.

The Expos, currently owned by Major League Baseball, are expected to be sold and moved. At least two groups from the Washington, D.C. area have emerged as prospective buyers.

Charles Vaughn, a 33-year-old tax and finance executive, said he has been working for 10 months to put together an ownership group. The team would play at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, which is scheduled to be renovated.

CARDS, ROLEN NEAR DEAL: Scott Rolen, headed to postseason play for the first time, and the Cardinals are close to finalizing a $90-million, eight-year contract, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Traded from Philadelphia to the Cardinals on July 29, Rolen was eligible for free agency after the season. But the All-Star third baseman quickly embraced his situation in St. Louis and wanted to stay.

BANKS ENDORSES A-ROD: Ernie Banks insisted he wasn't campaigning for Alex Rodriguez as the AL MVP, but Mr. Cub gave a glowing endorsement.

"I'm here to watch, to me, the greatest shortstop that ever played this game," Banks said during a visit to Texas. "This is a joy for me personally."

Banks, the NL MVP with the Cubs in 1958 and 1959, said Rodriguez shouldn't be penalized in the MVP voting because the Rangers will finish in last place.

DODGERS: An MRI on centerfielder Dave Roberts revealed a partial tear of an internal rib cage muscle on his right side, but his condition has improved so dramatically he hopes to return by the weekend.

METS: Prosecutors are investigating a woman the team claimed tried to extort money from pitcher Grant Roberts. Players say Jodi Turner of Long Island tried to extort money from the right-hander before releasing a 1998 picture that appeared in Newsday last week showing the pitcher smoking marijuana.

REDS: Shortstop Barry Larkin is scheduled to have surgery Monday for turf toe but will be available to pinch-hit the rest of the season.

RED SOX: The team's new owners promised season ticket holders more input, less noise and healthier concessions during a debate across a dugout at Fenway Park. A couple hundred fans took the team up on an offer to visit the ballpark and make suggestions on how the team is run.

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