Acting MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will lead a management
group to meet with MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr today in New York.
Selig will be joined by management negotiator Randy Levine, Red
Sox CEO John Harrington, Rockies Owner Jerry McMorris, Mets
President Fred Wilpon, Blue Jays President Paul Beeston and Expos
President Claude Brochu. Fehr will be assisted by associate
general counsel Gene Orza and assistant general counsel Lauren
Rich. USA TODAY's Hal Bodley notes Selig "is not expected to
receive a favorable response" from the union when he requests
alterations to their pending labor deal (USA TODAY, 11/11). A
Friday deadline has been established for having a labor deal that
would affect the winter signing period and next season (Mark
Maske, WASHINGTON POST, 11/9). The AP's Ronald Blum reports some
NL owners "planned to press for another vote" on the proposed CBA
if Monday's talks "proved unsuccessful." A petition by three NL
owners would force NL President Len Coleman to "demand that the
ruling executive council call another owner's meeting"
(AP/DETROIT NEWS, 11/11). Mariners Chair John Ellis: "If a deal
isn't made in the next week, it'll be made this winter. We're
too close not to make a deal" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 11/8).
DUMP BUD? In New York, Murray Chass notes Padres President
Larry Lucchino and Dodgers Owner Peter O'Malley "have been named
as two" of Selig's "bigger opponents." At Wednesday's meeting in
Chicago, sources report O'Malley was "prepared" in his support of
the deal, "asked thoughtful questions and was rough on Selig."
One person on the owners side believes the NL "will make a move
to dump Bud if this fails." But Chass writes, "don't be
surprised if Selig calls for another vote on the rejected
agreement if his initiative with the union fails." Meanwhile,
Red Sox CEO John Harrington "hasn't gained friends either."
Harrington reportedly had eyes on the commissioner position or AL
President once the Red Sox are sold, but his "increasingly close
alliance" with White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf "has soured some
people on him" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/10).
RANDY'S ROUTE: ESPN's Steve Levy noted a source close to
negotiator Levine told ESPNEWS that, regardless of the state of
negotiations, he will resign effective midnight Thursday
("SportsCenter," ESPN, 11/9).
OPINIONS: NEWSDAY's Jon Heyman: "Because most folks aren't
paying full attention, the owners will continue to succeed at
selling the false notion that this war isn't their doing"
(NEWSDAY, 11/10). In Minneapolis, Jim Souhan writes MLB
"actually did the right thing by not agreeing to the deal
fashioned" by Levine, as he "caved in on all the critical
issues." Souhan: "Stop sending in amateurs against Fehr. Some
like Andy MacPhail should be at the bargaining table"
(Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/10). An editorial in the CHICAGO
TRIBUNE notes MLB "dropped the ball again" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
11/9). A WASHINGTON TIMES editorial writes it was not
"surprising" MLB "resoundingly rejected" the proposed deal,
adding that "investment-protecting adjustments" -- eliminating
the tax-free years at the end of the deal and canceling the five-
club luxury-tax restrictions -- "hardly seem extreme" (WASHINGTON
TIMES, 11/10).
