Yankees Must Pay Angels : Fine: Complaint yields $200,000 when commissioner rules Steinbrenner tampered with Winfield in trade.

Standing on principle paid off financially for the Angels.

Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent ruled Thursday that comments made by New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner in a May 14 meeting with Dave Winfield after the Yankees had traded him to the Angels were “clearly improper,” and ordered the Yankees to pay fines of $200,000 to the Angels and $25,000 to the Major Leagues’ Central Fund for tampering.

The Angels had requested $2 million in damages when they filed a grievance with Vincent last month.

It was also announced Thursday that Steinbrenner met with Vincent for seven hours to discuss his involvement with gambler Howard Spira, whom Steinbrenner allegedly paid $40,000 to prevent his revealing embarrassing information about former team employees, and who says he was hired to uncover disparaging information about Winfield to discredit his charitable foundation.

The Winfield-Mike Witt trade was announced May 11, but Winfield balked at reporting, saying that as a 10-year veteran with at least five seasons with one team, he was entitled to veto the deal. He immediately stated his intention of going to arbitration.

In comments made to Winfield and repeated to reporters, Steinbrenner said that the trade had been made without his knowledge or approval, and that he would gladly take Winfield back and see that he played regularly if Winfield won his arbitration case and remained in New York.

Eager to play again and swayed by a lucrative offer made by the Angels, Winfield decided not to take his case to arbitration. On May 16 he agreed to a three-year contract extension potentially worth $9.1 million.

“Mr. Steinbrenner’s statement that Mr. Winfield would be welcomed back to the Yankees if he won the arbitration and should play on a full-time basis was clearly improper,” Vincent said in a statement from New York.

“It follows, therefore, that Mr. Steinbrenner’s improper statements harmed the Angels’ bargaining position. Although the Angels failed to offer evidence which would properly measure their damages, they have demonstrated some degree of harm.”

Angel General Manager Mike Port, who had filed the grievance and met with Vincent last month to state his case, was satisfied that the Angels had been vindicated. Neither Steinbrenner nor the Yankees issued a comment on the decision.

“It was most unfortunate for all concerned (that) we had to pursue the matter to begin with,” Port said in a prepared statement. “We felt we had a position to maintain and had to pursue it accordingly. In the overall, we applaud the commissioner for his handling of the entire matter. Needless to say, we’re glad the entire situation is resolved and that in our regard our baseball focus can now return to action on the field.”

Winfield preferred to keep his feelings to himself.

“I heard the Angels were doing this, and they told me it had nothing to do with being mad at me,” Winfield said. “They were pleased with me and my representative, Jeff Klein, but this was something they felt they had to do and this is the end result. What has just gone on has nothing to do with me.”