* Tim Wakefield had been hoping to join the Red Sox’s playoff roster if they advanced past the ALDS, but now that Boston’s season is over the 43-year-old knuckleballer will undergo surgery this week to repair a herniated disk in his back.
Wakefield struggled down the stretch after returning from the injury, but went 11-3 with a 4.31 ERA in the first half while making the All-Star team and hopes to pitch in 2010.
* After struggling in Game 2 before leaving the team to be present for the birth of his first child, Cole Hamels is ready to make the Game 5 start if the Phillies-Rockies series goes that far.
* Scouting director Dana Brown has left the Nationals to become a special assistant to new Blue Jays general manager Alexander Anthopoulos, so Washington is now interviewing longtime Atlanta scouting director Roy Clark as his replacement.
* Phillies reliever Scott Eyre figures to be unavailable for the rest of the NLDS after leaving Game 3 with a sprained ankle.
Nevada Senate vote on proposed A’s stadium in Las Vegas extended until next week
Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports
CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate adjourned Thursday without voting on a financing bill for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip stadium for the Oakland Athletics, extending the special legislative session into the next week amid negotiations over whether to contribute $380 million in public funding to the project.
The measure can still be amended by lawmakers, and if it passes the Senate it would still need approval from the Assembly before going to the desk of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has expressed support for it. Both the state Senate and Assembly are adjourned until Monday.
In a hearing that began Wednesday and stretched into the early morning hours Thursday, lawmakers peppered tourism officials and a representative from a firm partnering with the ball club with questions about the feasibility and benefits of financing such a deal.
Public funds for the stadium would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes.
The A’s would not owe property taxes for the publicly owned stadium. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.
A’s representatives and some tourism officials say a deal would further grow Las Vegas’ developing sports scene and act as an economic engine, but a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers warn that the project would bring minimal benefits for the hefty public price tag.