Yankees Are Kept Off Limits

Since being forced to give up control of the New York Yankees Aug. 20, George Steinbrenner twice has asked Commissioner Fay Vincent for permission to become involved in negotiations with free agents--and was turned down each time, Steinbrenner said Tuesday.

Steinbrenner, punished by Vincent for his dealings with gambler Howard Spira, maintains that free-agent talks are not part of the ban. But Vincent ruled otherwise in September.

“No one in the Yankees’ organization has the experience I have with free agents,” Steinbrenner told the Associated Press. “This is an extraordinary item. You only come to it once a year. This certainly qualifies.”

But Vincent said he never intended to allow Steinbrenner to become involved in player contract talks.

“It was discussed at the time,” Vincent said from Osaka, Japan. “He asked me at the time the agreement was made, and I told him he would not be involved in free agency, and he understood it.”