There’s no crying over Portland-area baseball sites

Minor league baseball in Beaverton or Clackamas County?

Portland Beavers owner Merritt Paulson may get to choose.

On Thursday, Clackamas County officials confirmed they have approached the Triple-A baseball team’s owner to discuss relocation options along Interstate 205 and the soon-to-open light rail line. But those talks are preliminary, county leaders say, and thus far have not generated as much buzz as efforts in Beaverton.

Clackamas County’s interest is the latest curve as Paulson looks to move his baseball team, which needs a new home for 2011 because PGE Park will be remodeled to accommodate Major League Soccer.

Beaverton didn’t wait for negotiations to finish in Portland before lobbying the team. And now, Clackamas County officials haven’t paused to see how things play out in Beaverton.

“If they had told us, ‘Thanks, we’re not interested in talking,’ we would have respected that. But we haven’t heard that,” said Steve Wheeler, Clackamas County’s acting administrator. “Until they settle on one, I think it’s fair game.”

Paulson on Thursday declined to comment about Clackamas County. But his public relations firm released an artists’ rendering for “Beaverton Stadium,” an 8,600 capacity ballpark that is not site-specific.

“We remain excited about the possibility of Beavers baseball in Beaverton,” Paulson said in a statement tied to the rendering.

– Excerpt from The Oregonian, September 4, 2009