It looks like August might be a busy month in D.C. baseball, though not necessarily on the field.

Recent news reports and rumors indicate that the current owners of the Nationals — Major League Baseball’s 29 teams — may well announce the winner of the bidding process for the ownership of the team later this month. Eight groups are competing for what may be one of the most expensive teams ever sold, with the highest bid approaching $450 million (allowing MLB to reap a cool $330 million in profit). This past Saturday the Post analyzed the bidding process and the factors that might determine the winner — a mix of money, politics, and ties to the city. According to the article, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, President Robert DuPuy, and head of the relocation committee Jerry Reinsdorf are the final word on any decision, and have some specific characteristics they are looking for:

Their ideal owner: someone who has deep ties to the community, the long-term financial resources to support a competitive team, the prudence to treasure the franchise as a public trust and, not coincidentally, the savvy to toe the company line when it comes to MLB’s operations.

In related news, word has it that the firm charged with designing the new stadium — HOK Sport — will unveil their long-awaited design plans. Last Monday the Post interviewed Joseph Spear, the project’s lead architect, who noted that the stadium would most likely reflect the two sides of the city — federal and local:

“It depends on who you ask,” Spear said. “There’s a federal city and a local city. We are 100 percent committed to a ballpark that represents D.C. What does that mean? Our answer is both. We’ll do something symbolic of both.”

If you want some humorous ideas of what the stadium may not look like, the National Association to Restore Pride in America’s Capital (NARPAC) recently invited residents and architects-to-be to submit some ideas of their own. Clearly, snark seemed to be one of the most valued characteristics of the 20 submissions, conveniently divided into six categories — internal self-image, external image, constitutionally circumscribed position, regional position, national image, and international perspective. The “Locked Ballot Box” proposal is pictured above. While the ideas are amusing, we’re guessing Spear isn’t going to incorporate any of them in his final design.