From the archives: Baseball strikes a deal

This story was originally published in Newsday on Nov. 27, 1996

Baseball is safe through the turn of the century.

The sport soon will feature a few new wrinkles, such as interleague play and revenue sharing, but the owners guaranteed that the game will continue without likely delay through the year 2001 by ratifying the same labor agreement they vetoed just three weeks ago. The owners voted 26-4 yesterday in favor of the deal during a comparatively brief, 2-hour, 15-minute meeting at the O'Hare Hilton.

"This is a landmark day for baseball," said Brewers owner Bud Selig, the acting commissioner. "It gives me a great personal pleasure to say that baseball fans can finally now look forward to five years of uninterrupted play. We can now work together to bring peace to the game and reconnect our sport to all of our fans. This very painful and difficult process is now behind us . . . To paraphrase the Beatles, this long and winding road is coming to a conclusion."

Union head Donald Fehr, who worked with management negotiator Randy Levine to initially forge the agreement Oct. 24, was less effusive. Fehr was not too receptive when Selig visited the union's Manhattan offices to try to amend the deal Nov. 11, but generally was satisfied by yesterday's outcome.

"While we are pleased with the owners' action today, the successful conclusion of this negotiating process represents only the very first step in the rebuilding process," Fehr said in a statement. "Much work remains to be done. Clearly, Major League Baseball must centralize its operations under the leadership of a real, full-time chief executive officer . . . With the conclusion of these negotiations, the dark cloud that has been hanging over the sport for far too long will dissipate."

On Nov. 6, an embarrassed Selig was trying to explain why his peers sabotaged an agreement approved by their own negotiator. The deal was defeated 18-12 that day during a seven-hour session, with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf leading the opposition, and the sport seemed headed toward labor strife once again.

Reinsdorf, however, signed free-agent outfielder Albert Belle to a record five-year, $55-million contract last week and Marlins owner H. Wayne Huizenga signed Bobby Bonilla to a four-year, $23.3-million deal. Those signings might have spurred yesterday's reversal by angering Reinsdorf's once-loyal contingent. Selig and Reinsdorf denied that Belle's signing was a factor, but something aside from Selig's impassioned pleas had to have made a difference yesterday. The acting commissioner previously had sided with Reinsdorf.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the owners just got fed up with Reinsdorf and turned on him," agent Alan Meersand said.

Agent Tony Attanasio said: "I think the Belle contract had a substantial impact. A lot of owners were upset. They looked up and said, Whoa! This guy's talking from both sides of his mouth.' "

Padres president Larry Lucchino and Mets president Fred Wilpon openly criticized Reinsdorf during the meeting, according to one owner. Lucchino apparently told Reinsdorf that he had led teams astray with his own hard-line stance.

"Actually, it's good for the White Sox because it dooms the small-market teams," Reinsdorf said. "If anybody was for the deal because of what happened with Belle, I didn't hear it.

"If nothing else, it's over. What people refuse to understand is that I don't control Selig . I don't control anybody. Bud changed his mind. For whatever reason, he changed his mind."

Selig said: "I've been raised, I guess, with an ethic of common sense and sensitivity. Driving home from Chicago on Nov. 6 and even before that, I began to think I'm the one person that has to think not only of their own myopic interests and their own franchises . . . I had to evaluate where the game was and where it was going. I really believe that if we can eliminate the acrimony from this equation, that baseball will have a renaissance in the coming decade that will startle everybody."

Selig's unflagging optimism comes at the expense of baseball's richest clubs, especially the Yankees. The luxury tax, which will be implemented for the first three years of the deal, affects payrolls above $51 million in 1997, and forces no more than five franchises in that bracket to pay 35 percent of payroll above $51 million as a contribution to their brethren. The Yankees had the highest payroll in the majors last season at $61 million and under the new agreement would be taxed $3.5 million. As for revenue sharing, the top 13 teams would pay a factored amount to the bottom 13 - excluding the Rockies, Marlins, Devil Rays and Diamondbacks - and that could run as high as $6 million for some clubs.

The ratification yesterday also creates a new crop of 14 free agents, including the Yankees' Jimmy Key, the White Sox' Alex Fernandez, Montreal's Moises Alou and Mel Rojas and the Mets' Brent Mayne. Fernandez turned down a five-year, $25-million offer from the White Sox on Monday. The agreement also allows for interleague play next season, with teams from the corresponding divisions facing each other. The Yankees will have clubs from the National League East on their schedule, including the Mets and Braves.

**** MLB LABOR AGREEMENT

The Vote

How the 30 major-league baseball teams voted yesterday on the labor agreement:

For: Yankees, Mets, Diamondbacks; Braves; Orioles; Red Sox; Angels; Cubs; Reds; Rockies; Tigers; Marlins; Astros; Dodgers; Expos; Brewers; Twins; Phillies; Pirates; Cardinals; Padres; Giants; Mariners; Devil Rays; Rangers; Blue Jays.

Against: White Sox; Indians; Royals; Athletics.

The Deal

Highlights of the tentative agreement between baseball players and owners:

Length: Through Oct. 31, 2000. Players have option to extend to 2001.

Luxury tax: Payrolls exceeding set thresholds will be taxed on portions above thresholds. Money will fund owners' 1997 revenue-sharing shortfall.

1997 -- 35 percent tax on amounts above $51 million
1998 -- 35 percent above $55 million
1999 -- 34 percent above $58.9 million
2000 -- No tax
2001 -- No tax Payroll tax

Players pay tax of 2.5 percent of salaries in 1996 and '97, with money coming from licensing income, special dues or other method determined by union. Players will pay minimum of $40 million.

Minimum salary
1997 -- $150,000
1998 -- $170,000
1999 -- $200,000
2000 -- $200,000 plus cost-of-living adjustment if option isn't exercised
2001 -- $200,000 plus cost-of-living adjustment if option isn't exercised

Free agency
Eliminates restriction against filing for free agency twice within five years if team offers arbitration.

Salary arbitration
Three-person panels instead of single arbitrators in 50 percent of cases in 1998, 75 percent in '99 and 100 percent in 2000 and 2001.

Revenue sharing
The owners' revenue sharing plan can take effect at the following levels: ****
1996 -- 60 percent
1997 -- 60 percent
1998 -- 80 percent
1999 -- 85 percent
2000 -- 100 percent
2001 -- 100 percent

Thirteen teams will give money and 13 teams will receive, with about $70 million to be transferred this year. The most a team will give in 1996 is about $6 million, which also is about the most a team will receive.

Service time
Players will receive credit for major-league service for regular-season days canceled by the strike.

Interleague play
Owners may start interleague play next season, with each team playing 15 or 16 interleague games. The designated hitter will be used in American League ballparks. The interleague play agreement is for 1997 only.

Antitrust
Players and owners jointly will ask Congress to repeal baseball's antitrust exemption on labor matters. Because of the Supreme Court ruling this year in Brown vs. Pro Football Inc., the only effect of this change, if enacted into law, would be to allow players to file antitrust suits if the union decertifies.

The Freedom 14
The 14 players who will become eligible for free agency under the terms of the labor agreement owners ratified yesterday.

AMERICAN LEAGUE Orioles (1): Jesse Orosco, lhp (y). Red Sox (1): Tim Naehring, inf. White Sox (2): Tony Castillo, lhp; Alex Fernandez, rhp. Yankees (1): Jimmy Key, lhp (x). Athletics (1): Mike Bordick, inf. Mariners (1): Mark Whiten, of. Rangers (1): Mark McLemore, 2b (x).

NATIONAL LEAGUE Cubs (2): Luis Gonzalez, of; Bob Patterson, lhp (y). Expos (2): Moises Alou, of; Mel Rojas, rhp. Mets (1): Brent Mayne, c. Padres (1): Craig Shipley, inf. x-offered salary arbitration for 1997 under old rules; y-signed for '97 under old rules.

What They're Saying:

"I'm just happy that it's all over with. Now, we can just concentrate on playing baseball." - Padres' Ken Caminiti, 1996 NL MVP.

"It's about time for the fans and for everybody. It won't take much for us to be the No. 1 sport in the world again." - Cardinals reliever Tony Fossas.

"It's definitely about time, but why did it take so long? The Fans have been taken advantage of for too long." - Jimmy Rodrigues, a Yankees fan.

"I think there was the realization that we couldn't change the deal, and there was the fact that Bud Selig suported the deal today." - Phillies owner Bill Giles.

"I voted against because I didn't think it solved any problems. The agreement is probably good for the White Sox, because it dooms the small-market clubs to not being able to compete, and we're a large-market club. - White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

**** REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH
How the central provisions of baseball's new labor deal will work:

Luxury Tax
In 1997, up to five teams will be taxed on the portions of their payrolls above $51 million, using average annual value of contracts on the 40-man roster plus $4,998,374 per team in benefits.

If teams maintain their payrolls at the same levels as 1996, four teams - the Yankees ($65,993,669), Orioles ($61,905,128), Indians ($54,240,457) and Braves ($53,931,178) - would be over the threshold.

If the tax system had been in effect, they would have paid the following amounts in tax: Yankees ($5,247,785), Orioles ($3,816,795), Indians ($1,134,160) and Braves ($1,025,912).

Revenue Sharing
Begins in 1996 and 1997 at 60 percent of the formula adopted last March.
In 1996, nine teams will pay more than $1 million apiece: --Yankees ($5.5 million). --Indians ($5 million). --Orioles ($5 million). --Braves ($4 million). --Dodgers ($3.4 million). --Rangers ($2.8 million). --Red Sox ($2.7 million). --White Sox ($2.4 million). --Blue Jays ($1.2 million).

In 1996, 11 teams will receive more than $2 million each: --Pirates ($4.7 million). --Royals ($4.5 million). --Expos ($4.5 million). --Tigers ($4.4 million). --Twins ($4 million). --Brewers ($3.7 million). --Athletics ($3.2 million). --Reds ($3 million). --Angels ($2.7 million). --Padres ($2.7 million). --Astros ($2.5 million).

ASSOCIATED PRESS