4B = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2002
Teams prepare for possible strike
Teams alter travel in anticipation of player walkout
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — While baseball negotiators intensified their meetings and commissioner Bud Selig made plans to travel to the labor talks, teams began pushing back travel plans to prepare for a possible strike Friday.
The Chicago White Sox called off their Thursday charter to Detroit and said they would travel Friday only if there isn't a walk-out. Boston rescheduled its charter to Cleveland for Friday, too, but St. Louis will travel Thursday for the following day's game at the Chicago Cubs, which would be the first game affected by a strike.
"Midnight Thursday, if we don't have a deal by then, we're on
very dangerous ground," Selig told ESPN radio.
After negotiators met briefly Tuesday morning, players held a telephone conference call with the union staff. There was a longer session in the afternoon and another at night as the sides tried to avert baseball's ninth work stoppage since 1972, but the sides were holding nonbinding two-on-two discussions instead of trading formal proposals.
The tone of the meetings was far more serious than in earlier days, several people on both sides of the negotiations said on condition of anonymity. Rob Manfred, the owners' top law lawyer, said no new proposals have been made since management's offer Sunday.
Owners and players disagree on how much to increase revenue sharing and on the level of a luxury tax on high-payroll teams that would slow salary increases.
Seeking to increase competitive balance, owners want to increase the percentage of locally generated revenue that teams share,and they want to tax highpayroll teams to discourage spending.
Management's last offer would tax the portions of payrolls over $107 million in the first three years of the new contract, a threshold that would increase to $111 million in 2006. The figures use the average annual value of contracts for players on 40-man rosters, plus about $7.7 million per team in benefits.
Players have proposed thresholds of $125 million next year, $135 million in 2004, $145 million in 2005 and no tax in the final season of the deal. Owners proposed tax rates of 35-50 percent, depending on the number of times a team exceeds the threshold, while players have proposed rates
of 15-40 percent.
The sides also disagree on revenue sharing, with players wanting to phase in changes so large amounts wouldn't immediately be drained from high-revenue teams. Manfred said that while only 16 votes are needed to approve an agreement, 23 are needed for revenue sharing changes.
Owners proposed that teams share 36 percent of their locally generated revenue, up from 20 percent this year, and the union proposed 33.3 percent.The owners' plan would transfer $263 million annually from baseball's richest teams to its poorest, using 2001 revenue figures for analysis. The union's proposal would phase in changes, transferring $172.3 million in 2003,$195.6 million in 2004,$219 million in 2005 and $242.3 million in 2006.
St. Louis businesses get ready for strike
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Just days before baseball players are scheduled to strike, the Maririott Pavilion Hotel marketing chief Bill Tirone says the mere threat of a walkout has been bad for business.
Tirone needs to look only at bookings for the weekend of Sept. 6-8, when the hometown Cardinals are to play host to the Chicago Cubs in a three-game series.
"We'd already be sold out by now," Tirone said from the 627room hotel, which overlooks Busch Stadium and counts Cardinals games as its single-biggest source of bookings.
Fact is, the Marriott still has plenty of vacancies for that weekend.
Businesses across downtown St. Louis and throughout the area nervously watch the talks between major league players and owners, hoping the sides reach a new deal before Friday's strike deadline.
"We went through it before, in 1994, and it hurt us pretty good," said Charlie Gitto, estimating his Charlie Gitto's Italian restaurant could lose 40 percent of its business if a strike goes forward.
"Baseball has a big impact on downtown St. Louis," Gitto said. "If we lose it, a lot of people won't survive."
The Regional Chamber and Growth Association projected in April that the Cardinals' 81 regular-season games would generate $159 million in economic activity, or just under $2 million a game.