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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Mel Antonen
Aired August 17, 2002 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: There is no joy in Mudville or anyplace else for baseball fans, where they gather.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN Sports' Josie Karp looks at the growing possibility of yet another baseball strike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS (voice-over): This time, when players left a union meeting, there was no surprise postponement and very little optimism. After resisting the urge to set a strike date on Monday, the players acted on Friday.
Fifty-seven representatives from every club, in person and on the phone, gave two weeks' notice that a deal must be reached, or they'll go on strike August 30.
Baseball owners and their representatives seemed adamant that this time they'd done their part to avert just such a threat.
ROB MANFRED, CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: We decided, made a strategic choice, to come to the table with a set of proposals. I've characterized them as modest. Maybe a better way to say it is calculated to produce an agreement without this. Are we disappointed that that hasn't come to pass? Yes, we are.
TODD ZEILE, ROCKIES PLAYER REPRESENTATIVE: A strike date is set to get an agreement. It's not to go out, it's not to screw somebody, it's not to, you know, put something in somebody's face. It's set to have a deadline to make both sides realize that an agreement has to be made between that -- now and that date.
MIKE PIAZZA, METS CATCHER: Well, I mean, I think it'll affect it in a positive way, knowing that both sides now have significant amount to lose. And again, I think it is unfortunately a last resort for us to try to leverage a deal. And I think that that's the bottom line.
KARP: The barrier separating the two sides is the issue of a payroll tax. They're about $30 million apart on the total amount a club can pay its players without being taxed and differ on the tax rate.
ANDY MCPHAIL, CEO, CUBS: There's no new philosophical concept that we got to wrestle with and debate from now till the end of eternity. To me it's just a matter of working through the numbers and working out a deal. And that's what we intend to do. PETER ANGELOS, OWNER, ORIOLES: We believe that in order to keep the game within the reach of the American baseball fan, we've got to get some payroll stabilization here.
TOM GLAVINE, MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYER REPRESENTATIVE: The fan issue is something that's on everybody's mind. We're sensitive to it. And that's why I say that, you know, we're committed over the next two weeks to get something done and not have to go through this process.
UNIDENTIFIED BASEBALL PLAYER: I think the bottom line is, they see millionaires and billionaires, you know, trying to divide a very large pot, and figure that reasonable people could be able to get this done without any kind of a work stoppage.
KARP (on camera): A dark day for baseball was not without at least one sign of light. Even as each side was choosing a different method to get its message out to the public, both agreed that they'll be back at the bargaining table on Saturday.
Josie Karp, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks very much, Josie.
Let's check in with an expert all this. Mel Antonen writes about baseball for "USA Today." Good to have you with us, Mel.
MEL ANTONEN, "USA TODAY": Good morning, Miles.
O'BRIEN: You're in Nashville, of all places.
ANTONEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right. I'll ask you later about that, I guess. But it has nothing to do with the baseball strike, I trust.
Let's talk a little bit about this whole -- the big picture here. Sort of feels like 1994 to me. Is it?
ANTONEN: Yes, I think it is. And I think the key to ending this strike, or ending, you know, this possible strike, is whether or not the owners are unified. In the past, every time the players have gone on strike, the owners have caved in and given them everything they've wanted.
The players think that'll happen again. The owners this time say that they're unified. You know, we can only see what's going to happen when they start negotiating again.
O'BRIEN: All right. How important is this salary cap? If you're a small franchise (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kansas City Royals or Milwaukee Brewers, for that matter, the commissioner's team, how important is it?
ANTONEN: Well, I think it's important for the small market teams, because it's their perception that it will slow down salaries and keep all the big money players from going to the teams, like the Yankees, Mets, Braves, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, those types of teams.
Roughly in the owners' original proposal, the luxury tax would have $57 million going from the big market teams to the small market teams. It's not a significant amount of money in the scheme of baseball finance, but it would probably slow free agents going to the big-time teams.
O'BRIEN: All right. But in theory, all you're doing is redistributing the total pot. It doesn't change the size of the total pot. Is it really true -- because we know in other sports, there are all these wink and nod deals anyway that try to circumvent these rules -- does it really mean that these players are going to be paid any less?
ANTONEN: No, I don't think it really does. I think it just means that it's going to slow -- it might slow the payroll growth some. It might- stop a player from making -- instead of signing $120 million contact, it might be a $90 million contract. I don't think the players are going to go broke if they accept changes in baseball's economic system.
It's not going to make the small market teams automatically rich. If they get this deal, it's not going to mean that the Kansas City Royals are automatically going to be challenging the New York Yankees for the American League pennant.
O'BRIEN: All right...
ANTONEN: But they think it is going to slow down this whole process.
O'BRIEN: Two quick questions for you, then. How important do you think this is for the future of baseball?
ANTONEN: I think it's very important. I think the owners are very solidified, very unified, and I think that -- I think they're as strong as they've ever been. So I think it's very important to baseball, very big public relations nightmare if there's any kind of strike.
O'BRIEN: How greedy are these players?
ANTONEN: I don't know if they're greedy so much. The average salary is $2.3, $2.4 million. I don't know if greed's the right word. In the players' mind, they're fighting for the right to have -- to make money on the free market system. They believe that a luxury tax is a salary cap in disguise, and it's unofficial restraint on the free market system.
So in their mind, they're fighting for the free market system. They're not fighting for more money.
O'BRIEN: You know, Mel, it's hard to make ends meet on $2.3 million these days, you know? Got to give them a little sympathy, right?
ANTONEN: Well, that's right. I mean, I think in this tough economic time when big companies are laying off thousands of workers, I think baseball players probably need a little bit of perspective.
O'BRIEN: Ah, yes.
ANTONEN: Two-point-three million dollars is a lot of money. But in their mind, they're fighting for the right to make more money, and there's a fine line between that and actual needing more money. So there you have it, I don't know.
O'BRIEN: They got a tin ear, that's my opinion.
Mel Antonen with "USA Today," thanks for being with us. Go get yourself a cup of coffee, send us the bill whenever you like from Nashville, and we'll put you on TV in just a little while. Josie Karp will be joining you, and they'll be taking your questions, your comments. You can give them the high hard ones, because they're good, they can take it.
Little chin music from Mel Antonen.
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