Union head optimistic about CBA

TAMPA, Fla. - Michael Weiner doesn't see any major obstacles in the way of a new collective-bargaining agreement, but he's also been with the Players Association for more than 20 years, so he knows things can change quickly.

"I'm optimistic that the lines of communication are open," MLPA executive director Weiner said after meeting with Yankees players for a little more than two hours yesterday morning. "I've also been working for the union since 1988 and I've seen things take twists and turns . . . We don't take anything for granted."

The CBA is up at the end of December and talks, though nothing substantial, have begun. Weiner believes those discussions will begin "in earnest" once the season starts.

Everything from baseball's drug-testing policy to the international draft to banning smokeless chewing tobacco will be on the table. Weiner said that is the nature of bargaining, but his optimism stems primarily from the fact that there doesn't appear to be any issue - such as demands for a salary cap in 1994 - that either side wants to go to war over.

"Unlike in times past, where one side or the other came in saying we need to make radical or fundamental changes to the agreement, I don't think the bargaining demands of either side are going to be looking for that," Weiner said. "I don't think it's going to be status quo, but it doesn't appear that anybody's looking to reinvent the wheel."