MLB's owners "inched closer" to giving chief labor
negotiator Randy Levine "the go-ahead to complete a deal" with
the players, according to sources cited in this morning's
WASHINGTON POST. Those sources report that Levine "has left the
haggling with the owners" over the service time issue to acting
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. Following an apparent
"breakthrough," both sides are optimistic Levine and MLBPA Exec
Dir Don Fehr will meet today or tomorrow "and soon apply the
finishing touches to a labor agreement that could run through
2001" (Mark Maske, WASHINGTON POST, 8/15). SELIG, LEVINE DENY
ANY "SNAG": The owners "engaged in a bit of damage control"
yesterday, according to the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, with both
Levine and Selig disputing notions of a "stall" in talks and
denying that the deal is threatened by the internal rift over
service time. Tom Haudricourt reports the pace of talks has
slowed "because Selig's practice of building consensus on any
issue is painstakingly thorough." One management source:
"That's the process that's going on right now" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
SENTINEL, 8/15). Still, the N.Y. TIMES reports, at this point,
the debate over service time "is more between Levine and some of
the owners than between Levine and Fehr." One person close to
the talks "said he believed Levine had succeeded in changing some
of the opposing views on the basis of an overall agreement."
Selig: "The notion that there are a block of clubs willing to
kill a deal because of service time is absolutely not true. I
have faith in my own ability to count votes" (Murray Chass, N.Y.
TIMES, 8/15). WHAT'S FOR TRADE? There is a "possibility"
that damage claims filed by the union with the NLRB will be
dropped in exchange for service time (Hal Bodley, USA TODAY,
8/15). While Fehr has told Levine the union won't agree to that,
other officials on the players' side say they are flexible on the
legal issue (Mark Maske, WASHINGTON POST, 8/15).
NOT SO FAST: In Boston, Larry Whiteside reports, despite
the "obvious consequences" of no deal, sources say that "no final
decision on a new basic agreement is likely to take place for a
few more days, maybe a week or two." In addition to service
time, sources say the sides need agreement on the length of the
deal (five or six years), arbitration panels, adding a third year
to the luxury tax, and legal claims from the strike (BOSTON
GLOBE, 8/15). In Chicago, Dave Van Dyck reports Levine also is
"fighting" some owners who are upset the last year of the deal
does not include a luxury tax. One owner: "There is no way we
can have a contract without that" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 8/15).
THE RECALCITRANTS: The AP identifies seven team heads
opposed to granting the players service time for days lost in the
strike in '94 and '95: Stan Kasten (Braves), Andy MacPhail
(Cubs), Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox), Wayne Huizenga (Marlins),
David Glass (Royals), Carl Pohlad (Twins) and Claude Brochu
(Expos) (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/15). Selig told the N.Y. TIMES
that there is an eighth, although he did not identify the team
(Murray Chass, N.Y. TIMES, 8/15). The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
profiles Reinsdorf, who reportedly has been trying to convince
other owners to adopt his position. Marc Schogol writes, "There
he stands, in the path of a settlement, and there apparently
he'll stay until he's good and ready to move" (PHILA. INQUIRER,
8/15). SportsTicker legal correspondent Dan Wasserman reports
that management sources say five teams -- Twins, Astros, Marlins,
White Sox and Mets -- would vote against any agreement that
includes a return of service time (SportsTicker, 8/15).
STOP TALKIN' AND HE'S WALKIN': The WASHINGTON POST also
reports Levine has told owners that without service time, "the
owners won't have a deal with the players, won't have a
bargaining impasse immediately and probably will have to look for
a new lead negotiator." One source on the players' side said a
breakdown over service time "would push Randy off the stage"
(Mark Maske, WASHINGTON POST, 8/15).
