The Miami Marlins on Monday night denied a Forbes report that they’ve reached an agreement to sell the team to Miami businessman Jorge Mas.

“There’s no agreement reached with anyone,” Marlins President David Samson said.

A Mas associate said Mas remains very interested in buying the team and has spoken to owner Jeffrey Loria but hasn’t made a formal offer and is still doing due diligence.

The Forbes report, quoting “baseball insiders,” said Mas would buy the team for $1.17 billion.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL will continue to delay any plans for expansion until after the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays get new ballparks.

“I think it would be difficult to convince the owners to go forward with an expansion until those situations are resolved,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday during an All-Star Game town hall meeting.

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“Once they’re done, I think we have some great candidates,” Manfred said. “I know the mayor of Montreal has been very vocal about bringing baseball back to Montreal. It was not great when the Expos left. The fact of the matter was baseball was successful in Montreal for a very long time. Charlotte is a possibility. And I would like to think that Mexico City or some place in Mexico would be another possibility.”

OLYMPICS: Manfred repeated the sport’s opposition to having top major leaguers play at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 2020 Games are scheduled for July 24 to Aug. 9, and Major League Baseball has repeatedly said it will not interrupt its season. The World Baseball Classic, co-owned by MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association, has been the sport’s alternative.

“I can’t imagine a situation where we would take the kind of break that would be necessary to have our best players in the Olympics,” Manfred said. “As a result of that, we feel the WBC is crucial as a substitute, a premiere international tournament that allows our players to play for their countries.”


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