Indians' search for minority owner is ongoing

CLEVELAND -- Indians owner Paul Dolan was surprised by the timing of a recent report noting that he was seeking a minority investor for his ballclub. Dolan has been open to adding an ownership partner for several years and little has changed in that regard.

The only new public information in last week's report was the fact that Dolan has hired Allen & Co. -- a boutique investment bank based in New York -- to assist in his search. The Indians owner took that step roughly one year ago, though, so even that was not a drastic development.

"The franchise is very, very stable. Our ownership is stable," Dolan said on Monday. "We have said from the outset that, in the right circumstances, we'd look for a minority investor. The only change is a year or so ago, we actually hired somebody to help us with that process, but we're not in a hurry. When the right circumstances come along, we'll do it."

Dolan has no plans of conceding majority ownership of the team, but he has reportedly made an estimated 30 percent of the team available to an external investor. The Tribe's owner was not willing to delve into any specifics beyond what has already been reported.

"Other than affirming the fact that it exists," Dolan said of his search, "I'm not going to comment on the process itself."

• Shapiro headed to Blue Jays to be president, CEO

Dolan reiterated that the search for a minority investor is in no way related to Monday's news that Indians team president Mark Shapiro will become the Blue Jays' president and CEO at the conclusion of this season.

"It was unfortunate timing with Mark's announcement," Dolan said, "because some might conflate the two stories as being related. They couldn't be more separate."