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CNN Live Today

Baseball Talks Strike Deadline

Aired August 16, 2002 - 10:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: There is new talk of a baseball strike that could put the big leagues out of operation two weeks from now and that would, of course, threaten the playoffs and the World Series. Major League Baseball players may set a strike deadline today. At this hour, the players are talking about their next move.
And we get the latest on the impasse now from Josie Karp of CNN Sports in New York City -- Josie.

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martin.

I'm in midtown Manhattan where the Major League Baseball Players Association is headquartered. And a conference call was scheduled to begin around 10:00 this morning of the executive board of the union. During that conference call, it is expected that they will set a strike date of August 30. That conference call, though, could last a couple of hours.

On Monday when the union executive board met face to face in Chicago, they actually delayed setting a strike date because they said they were hopeful with another three days of talks maybe they could continue some of the progress that had been made leading up to Monday. But I can tell you, over the last three days very little progress has been made.

On Wednesday, both sides exchanged proposals on the thorny issue of a luxury tax. And after that day on Wednesday, the owners' chief negotiator said the talks had hit a bump in the road. And when I spoke to a union source last night, he nearly scoffed at that idea. He said it's substantially more than that. And of the luxury tax, he said it's a problem -- it's a real problem.

Now players, many of whom thought that they were going to set a strike date on Monday, now wonder if they waited too long.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PIAZZA, NEW YORK METS: The biggest danger is that -- is that you know it's sort of perceived as a sign of weakness, and that's what I think we're bordering on right now. So, you know in the short term it may have done more harm than good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR HOFFMAN, SAN DIEGO PADRES: It's going to be a last resort kind of thing, having to set a date, having to come down to that date. But I mean, yes, we're probably getting a little bit closer to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By setting a date, isn't the players saying that they want to strike, it's a matter of averting a work stoppage. And by having a deadline with the amount of progress that has been made, I think can be viewed as a positive thing to get something done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARP: If you are wondering if there's a chance that maybe the union will again postpone setting a date, when I spoke to a union source last night, he pointed out the calendar is not our friend right now. And what he means by that is they can't keep pushing back the setting of a date because then that doesn't give them enough time to negotiate before the strike deadline and then to negotiate afterward, if there is a strike, and still have the possibility of getting to the post season and actually getting the World Series played this year -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Josie, what's so significant about that specific date that's been talked about, August 30?

KARP: Well, again, the date is just giving them enough time -- gives them enough time leading up to it. It's two weeks from today. There's a chance, because progress had been made, that they could get something done and then it gives them, of course, time before the end of the season. There's about a month that they play in September, throughout the whole month. And the date of September 11, everyone has been very wary of the idea that they might be on strike on September 11. So they're trying to give both sides as much time as they can to actually get a deal done -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: That's what I was thinking.

Josie Karp, thank you very much.

If you want to keep up with the baseball talks when you are away from your television, you can tune in to CNN.com. The CNN Sports Illustrated Web site has all the latest details on the talks and the baseball season.

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