Reports over the weekend from the MLB ownership meetings in
Detroit indicated there wasn't much discussion on the labor
front. One who attended the meetings said acting MLB
Commissioner Bud Selig "complained that 'some people in this room
are disclosing our strategies to the other side.'" Orioles Owner
Peter Angelos reportedly answered: "No one in this room knows
what your strategy is. How could anyone disclose it?" The owners
"continue to discuss" a revenue-sharing plan, but they won't
implement it "until they have labor peace with the players." But
Murray Chass writes that owners "are hurting the teams they want
to help" by waiting, as team like the Pirates and Brewers "need
financial help now" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/17).
TV TALK: In Boston, Peter Gammons writes ownership is still
"trying to find a way to put blackened-out playoff games on cable
outlets" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/17).
NOT ON BOARD YET? Talk of NYC Labor Commissioner Randy
Levine becoming MLB' new chief labor negotiator may be premature,
according to Bill Madden, with owners offering "substantially
less" than the $750,000 paid to former negotiator Dick Ravitch
(N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/17).
