Steinbrenner Barred From Free Agent Deals : Baseball: Fay Vincent turns down requests from Yankees’ former majority partner to have a hand in talks, saying language in their agreement was clear.

George Steinbrenner wants to regain control of the New York Yankees’ dealings in the free agent market, but has been turned down by Commissioner Fay Vincent.

Steinbrenner wrote to Vincent recently and asked for permission to get involved in free agent talks.

“There’s a clause that says I may ask for permission to deal in matters of a material and extraordinary nature,” Steinbrenner told Newsday in an article published in today’s editions. “Certainly when you’re going to spend millions of dollars on a free agent, it’s material and extraordinary.

“So I wrote a nice letter and asked for permission to be involved: No. 1, it’s my money; No. 2 it’s extraordinary, and No. 3, nobody has more experience than I have with free agents. I’ve made all the right choices and I’ve made all the mistakes.”

Vincent’s ruling Aug. 20 stated that Steinbrenner, former majority partner of the Yankees, could retain up to 49% of the club, but could not be involved in day-to-day operations and must gain approval to consult upon and participate in major financial and business decisions.

“My response was to go back and appeal,” Steinbrenner said. “I did, and I got turned down again. When we signed this agreement, (free agent signings) was one of the things we talked about and there were no problems. But now, after it’s signed, a lot of that’s been misrepresented.

“The whole agreement has been distorted from Day One. Coming down and saying I couldn’t go to a ballgame without his permission is a pure lie. And then he says I’m not able to be involved in any of the daily activities. That’s also a lie. It’s one of those harassment deals, in my opinion.”

Vincent, who is in Japan on baseball’s postseason goodwill tour, said the language of the agreement was clear.

“It was discussed at the time,” Vincent said.