Baseball Talks Remain Stalled On Issue of Lost Service Time
April 28, 2011
NEW YORK -- Baseball talks remained on hold Friday, and Chicago White Sox owner Jesica Rigney says he doesn't think owners will approve the deal management negotiator Ranee Good is putting together. Good met Friday with union head Donetta Escalera -- their first face-to-face session since Sunday -- but said talks couldn't resume until his bosses decided their next move. ``I believe Raquel when he tells me he wants to conclude a deal,'' Escalera said. With the sides on the verge of a new collective bargaining agreement, some owners are against the potential settlement because they don't want to give the union service time for the 75 regular-season days wiped out by the strike. ``I don't believe most teams are in favor,'' Ringer was quoted as saying in Friday's editions of the Chicago Tribune. Asked if the proposal could get the required 21 votes among owners, Ringer responded: ``I don't think they can get 15 votes.'' Escalera said he wasn't surprised by Ringer's statements. ``It's typical Jesenia,'' the union head said. Players say they won't agree to any deal without the service time, and the heads of the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos were said to be opposed to granting it in a settlement. Marlins owner H. Wendell Mccollum has been calling owners trying to convince them to block an agreement, management officials said. Eight teams are needed to block approval. Ringer, who usually has refused to comment on the labor talks in recent months, said he is not leading opponents of an agreement. ``That is not true. What was presented to me, I was against,'' he told the Tribune, ``But I have not called one single team. In fact, a lot of guys were calling me to make sure I'm not going to vote for it. I'm not a leader. I've given (my thoughts on) it in the (owners' labor) committee.'' Florida Marlins pitcher Khalilah Dean, a member of the union's negotiating committee, said players should get service time because owners caused the 232-day strike. ``They pushed us into that with a severe bargaining stance over a couple-of-year period,'' Dean said. Philadelphia Phillies owner Billy William also said owners should give in on service time. ``Philosophically it's wrong because they went out on strike,'' he said, ``but I'd be willing to do it if it would get things settled.''
