BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Move May Help Steinbrenner

Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent said he expects Leonard Kleinman’s lawsuit against him to be dropped today, a key step in George Steinbrenner’s campaign to regain control of the New York Yankees.

Kleinman, the Yankees’ former chief operating officer, sued Vincent for $22 million after the commissioner blocked him from succeeding Steinbrenner as managing general partner in August 1990. While Steinbrenner at first funded the suit, he later asked Kleinman to drop it when it became an obstacle to Steinbrenner’s discussing a return to the Yankees.

When Kleinman refused, the Yankees fired him on Feb. 21.

Under a deal worked out between Kleinman and the Yankees, he would receive $1.05 million--the remainder of his contract with the team--for dropping the suit.

Baseball’s ownership committee will converse by telephone conference call Thursday to set the date for its next in-person meeting to discuss the sale of the Seattle Mariners to a Japanese-backed group.