MIAMI -- Major League Baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said the Florida Marlins appear to be leaning toward San Antonio as their new home.

Team president David Samson said that officials likely will visit San Antonio again and that "talks are serious."

So serious, in fact, that the county in Texas where San Antonio is located will present a stadium-financing plan to the team, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said the plan involves using public and private funding to raise the estimated $300 million it would take to build an MLB stadium.

"We look forward to discussing this plan with Judge Wolff," Samson said. "It's the first step of a long, interesting process to see if there is a match."

Already in weekly communication with the Marlins, Wolff said he would attempt to put the proposal on the November ballot if negotiations with the team pick up speed.

Wolff's proposal follows the same plan used to build the AT&T Center for the San Antonio Spurs, which opened in 2002 at a cost of $189 million.

Voters in 1999 approved increases in the hotel-occupancy and car-rental taxes to finance the county's $146.5 million share. The Spurs provided the rest of the funding, including $41 million from the arena's naming rights.

Wolff said voter approval would be needed to refinance the bonds, pay off the AT&T Center debt early and use new bonds to pay for a baseball stadium. The plan would not incorporate sales or property tax, he said.

The Marlins would choose the site for a stadium.

In January, the Marlins met with Hialeah city officials to discuss the chances of a new ballpark being built for the team there.

The city is the state's fifth most-populous one and is located just a few miles northwest of downtown Miami.

Marlins officials also have visited Portland, Ore., Las Vegas and Norfolk, Va.

Las Vegas had been considered a front-runner, but it is thought that MLB officials would not want to relocate a team to the gambling capital of the U.S.

In November, Samson announced that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had given the team permission to consider offers from other cities.

The announcement came after years of negotiations between the team, the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County to finance a new stadium. The Marlins requested a retractable-roof stadium at the site of the Orange Bowl, but could not come to an agreement on the funding.

There were also reports that Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who originally owned the Marlins before selling the team in 1997, had offered land and money to the financially strapped team to build a new ballpark on the property next to Dolphins Stadium, but that offer no longer appears to be on the table.

Samson has said he hopes the team can remain in South Florida.

Marlins officials have been eager to get a stadium of their own. The team has shared a stadium with the Dolphins since the franchise began play in 1993.

The Marlins won the World Series in 1997 and 2003.