Lockout Looks Unlikely If Strike Ends

Despite a new proposal from the club owners, a federal judge continues to hold the key to a baseball season with major leaguers.

A decision by Judge Sonia Sotomayor of United States District Court in Manhattan on whether to grant an injunction requested by the National Labor Relations Board appears to be paramount because the players are not going to accept the new proposal, and the owners seem less likely to lock out the players if they offer to return to work, injunction in hand.

The most interesting development in the dispute Tuesday was a collection of comments from people in three areas about the reported lockout views of Robert Ballow, a hard-line labor lawyer from Nashville, who has become a key legal adviser - the No. 1 adviser, the union believes - to the clubs.

A high-ranking person on the management side, a union official and a labor lawyer outside baseball who is familiar with but not directly connected to the negotiations said they had been told that Ballow has recommended that the owners not lock out the players if they offer to end their 7-month strike and return to work.

The players, at this stage, are more likely to put on their uniforms under protection of an injunction, which would force the clubs to restore salary arbitration and competitive bidding for free agents, than with a new collective bargaining agreement.

The owners improved their offer to the players Monday night, but they held to a 50-percent rate - a “whopping 50 percent,” Donald Fehr, the union chief, said - as a luxury tax on payrolls, and the players will not accept that kind of tax.

“It is fair to say the series of suggestions we have received represents some movement by the clubs,” Fehr said at a news conference at a Manhattan hotel. “It would be incorrect of me to suggest we thought it was substantial.”

Asked if the proposal could open the door for discussions, he said: “I don’t know yet. I’m a little puzzled by some parts of it.”

Fehr met with the players’ negotiating subcommittee Tuesday afternoon and with the executive board Tuesday night. He also had lunch with Bud Selig, the acting commissioner, before Selig returned to Milwaukee to await further word from Fehr. The season is scheduled to open Sunday.

The union leader said at the news conference that he expected to respond to the proposal later this week. A technical meeting with one lawyer from each side, Lauren Rich for the union and Rob Manfred for management, was scheduled for today to discuss the elements of the owners’ proposal.

Although the owners left the impression that the proposal, which they said will be on the table only until the weekend, is non-negotiable, the players are expected to formulate a counterproposal, though Fehr declined to say if they would.

“Bud kind of said to Don, ‘This is it,”’ said a person on the players’ side. “They would have us believe there’s no room for movement. But we’re getting signals otherwise. It has to be negotiable because there’s no chance for it to be accepted as is.”

Fehr said: “I assume there’s room for negotiation. If there isn’t, we’re in trouble.”

Before meeting with the executive board, Fehr once again reiterated the players’ position that they will return to work if the judge grants an injunction compelling the owners to reinstate salary arbitration and competitive bidding for free agents to the other elements of the expired agreement.

“I will be discussing with them, probably tomorrow morning, whether or not to formally indicate what we will do if there is an injunction,” he said.