Don Fehr, the most powerful man in baseball this side of acting commissioner Bud Selig, will win another skirmish with the owners Wednesday with the anticipated announcement that only one franchise will switch leagues. It also will prove all the talk of realignment was much ado about nothing.
Fehr, the kingpin and linchpin of the players’ union, had said he didn’t like the idea, particularly the original massive realignment proposal that would have affected 15 teams. By coincidence, a majority of the owners don’t like the idea, either, so all Fehr had to do was ride shotgun.
Fehr is mentioned here because this might be his last victory. Down the line, two or three years hence, as the designated hitter is phased out, Fehr is likely to oppose. If he does, he will go down for the count. He’ll suffer his first loss, the first for the union in the last half-century. This could put the owners on a roll, incredible as that may seem.
After the conclusion of a full-ownership conference call Wednesday, it will be revealed that only one franchise, either Milwaukee or Kansas City of the American League, will be moved into the National League. This will give the NL 16 teams, the AL 14, and break the 15-15 deadlock that would have created the necessity of a daily interleague game.
In other changes, both comparatively minor, the expansion Tampa Bay club will move from the AL West to the AL East; Detroit will go from the AL East to the AL Central. The entire idea of putting Tampa Bay in the West was ridiculous. This correction, if nothing else, will help geographical balance.
More Top Picks Best Budget Soundbars For 4k Tvs
Overall, it will be a defeat for Selig and John Harrington of the Boston Red Sox, chairman of the owners’ realignment committee. It isn’t likely, however, to effect the choice of a new commissioner. Selig, if he wishes to continue or if he doesn’t approve his proposed successor, has enough support from the owners to delay further the appointment of a new commissioner.
More than likely, realignment isn’t dead and is certain to be on the docket next year. The long-range prediction is realignment will be achieved in small phases. By the turn of the century, as many as five or six teams, possibly more, will be moved.
In the midst of all the realignment talk, the more significant development has been the suddenly aggressive stance of Randy Levine, management’s liaison with the Players Association. Levine maintains Fehr and the union are out of bounds and won’t be allowed to badger the owners on realignment. Also, and this isn’t widely known, Levine has declared the owners will go full speed ahead on their plan to dump the designated hitter.
Fehr has contended that union approval is necessary in both situations. If the owners ignore the union, the players, he has indicated, could counter by withholding their permission on the continuation of interleague play during the 1998 season.
Levine insists that to eliminate the DH, all the owners have to do is give the union 12-month notice. Management then would have the legal right to implement this decision. He says, pure and simple, it’s a management prerogative.
As a sweetener, the owners have agreed each club would add a 26th player to its roster. This would give Fehr an additional 30 union members. But the owners know what they’re doing. They would be cutting costs. The 26th player can be expected to sign for the $150,000 minimum; the average salary of a DH, on Opening Day this season, was $1.8 million.
Fehr could respond with the threat of a players strike. But it seems highly unlikely the union rank-and-file would agree to walk on this thin issue. Assuming the players wouldn’t agree to strike, Fehr’s only recourse would be to fight the owners in court. So it goes in big-time baseball.