I just spoke with a source from the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, who confirmed a report that the Nationals are seeking $100,000 per day in damages on grounds that the city was not able to complete the team's new ballpark in time for Opening Day.

According to the source, the dispute centers almost solely around the stadium offices, which city officials acknowledged were not completed on time. But, they pointed out, the offices represent a very small portion of the overall project, and has no impact on the ability of the team to hold games or sell tickets and concessions.

It is unclear how much the team believes it is owed in total, but construction of the offices will be 100 percent complete in just a few weeks.

According to the source, this dispute has commission officials quite perturbed, given that the city is paying upwards of $600 million toward the stadium. The Lerners claim to have contributed as much as $50 million to upgrade the team scoreboard, luxury suites and concourses, though official figures in the stadium budget as of Opening Day show a contribution of $11.5 million.

"We don't take too kindly to this at all," the source said. "To say the stadium was not substantially complete is almost a joke."

But at the same time, this type of legal wrangling should not be surprising, given the Lerner family's reputation for taking a hard line in the stadium negotiations. Last year the team owners took the commission to arbitration over several million dollars in disputed costs over the stadium. (An arbitration panel ruled unanimously in favor of the commission.) And early in the stadium construction, the Lerners nixed a proposal that would have allowed for parking to be built underground at the stadium site, allowing for commercial development above ground.

"They're very contract-bound, letter-of-the-law people," said the commission source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the commission. "If 2 percent isn't complete, then they're going to stick you with it. I'm not surprised."

The source referred to the $100,000 per day request "ridiculously excessive."

The Nationals also have yet to pay the $3.5 million rent payment to the city.

Readers of this space will recall that I wrote earlier this month about how the team had not yet made its first rent payment because of a lengthy "punchlist" of items that had yet to be resolved. Of the list of more than 11,000 unresolved issues, 200 were considered "high priority" and 15 of those were considered "top priority," including the completion of doors in the team offices.

Sports commission CEO Greg O'Dell declined to discuss the dispute with the Nationals, but issued the following statement:

"As it relates to the new ballpark, we are in the process of closing out the project. In addition to completing the punch list work, we are working to resolve several issues inclusive of some contract-related matters. Specific to the issue of substantial completion of the ballpark, we are currently in discussions with the Team, and it is our hope that this will be resolved for the best interest of all parties."

In other ballpark news, Fitch Ratings today said it will upgrade its rating on $25 million in bonds used to finance the Nationals new ballpark, from "BBB+" to "AA." The rating upgrade will take place Friday after the city converts the bonds to a weekly rate from an auction rate. People who follow the bond issue closely will recall that the city was recently stuck with higher interest payments on that $25 million because the auction rate was affected heavily by the worldwide credit crisis. Rates on those bonds rose from 4.75 percent to 14 percent, costing the city as much as $200,000 per month.

According to Fitch, the bonds will now also have a short-term rating of F1+, its highest rating, indicating "exceptionally strong capacity of obligor to meet its financial commitment."

I'll translate the above paragraph: the bonds used to finance the ballpark a good, solid bonds and the city is not in any danger of defaulting.

-- Tim Lemke