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Fehr: Owners' plan too extreme

In memo, union chief says proposals would cripple teams with highest payrolls and severely limit salaries.

©Associated Press
August 21, 2002

NEW YORK -- Union head Donald Fehr made his most pointed criticism of the owners' economic proposals, calling them "a wholesale attack on the salary structure."

In memos sent to players and agents, Fehr said management's revenue sharing and luxury tax plans would result in crippling losses for baseball's biggest spenders. The Yankees, who gave up $28-million of their $242-million revenue to other teams last year, would have to surrender $86.9-million, Fehr said.

Meanwhile, 10 days before the strike deadline players set last week, negotiators met twice and discussed the core economic issues, focusing on the luxury tax and revenue sharing. The sides did not provide details but planned to meet again today.

San Diego owner John Moores told the New York Times he would prefer a yearlong work stoppage to a bad deal and predicted as many as 10 other owners would support his position if players go on strike Aug. 30.

"I think he's accurate on people who feel strongly that significant change needs to occur," Astros owner Drayton McLane said.

Rockies owner Jerry McMorris said hard-liners had become more vehement in lobbying for their position.

"The hawks are circling," he said.

Nonetheless, the union strenuously opposes what owners have on the table.

In memos sent to players Saturday and to agents Monday, Fehr disclosed the amounts that would be transferred from baseball's wealthiest clubs to the others under management's revenue sharing and luxury tax proposals.

The Mets would give up the second most at $35.8-million, followed by the Red Sox ($34.2-million) and the Mariners ($32.3-million), according to his memos, which analyzed proposals using revenue and payroll figures from the 2001 season. Most of the money would be redistributed to low-revenue teams.

"The players have addressed what the clubs have said are their concerns in bargaining, but not what their revenue sharing and tax proposals reveal is their objective: a wholesale attack on the salary structure," Fehr wrote in the memo.

Rob Manfred, management's top labor lawyer, called it a "baffling characterization."

"Our purpose, in terms of the revenue sharing and the tax, is to take money, redistribute it among the clubs, place some sort of a speed bump on the very highest-payroll clubs," Manfred said.

Manfred said that the owners' proposals were made to "reduce revenue disparity" and that they contained "a very, very limited form of payroll regulation designed to improve competitive balance."

Fehr wouldn't respond to Manfred's statements, saying only: "Rob knows better."

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