Owners to Vote on Reopening Talks : Baseball: Result might lead to a spring lockout. No immediate action is expected in Schott case.

It was uncertain Saturday whether Marge Schott, beleaguered owner of the Cincinnati Reds, would attend baseball’s winter meetings, although it’s only a two-hour drive.

If she chooses to dodge the ongoing cross-fire, Schott will miss a critical battle among the owners on whether to reopen bargaining talks with the players union now or wait until that contract expires after the 1993 season--a vote that could lead to a spring lockout.

The balloting, scheduled Monday, is considered a toss-up, which might mean that the lack of overwhelming support will sidetrack the opportunity to reopen the talks by the Friday deadline.

And what else would Schott miss by retreating from the circus that would accompany her appearance during the four days of these meetings? That is unclear, although this much seems certain:

--The ongoing availability of more than 125 free agents probably will restrict trade attempts. Barry Bonds, Kirby Puckett, Doug Drabek, Greg Swindell and John Smiley are among the free agents who have signed, unwilling to let the glut leave them without options in January, but Greg Maddux, Mark McGwire, Ruben Sierra, David Cone, Joe Carter, Tom Henke, Dave Winfield, Jimmy Key and Ozzie Smith are among the free agents still available.

--The ruling executive council probably won’t discipline Schott here, although Jackie Autry, executive vice president of the Angels and a member of the committee investigating Schott’s alleged racial and ethnic slurs, said:

“Hopefully, we’ll be ready to make a satisfactory recommendation during the meetings.”

The executive council will meet Monday.

Jesse Jackson is expected to conduct an anti-Schott rally at a local church that night and has talked with National League President Bill White in the hope of meeting with the owners to discuss Schott and minority hiring on Tuesday, but that has not been decided yet.

The reopening of talks with the players, meanwhile, represents the most important business the owners will conduct here.

It is believed that Richard Ravitch, president of the owners’ Player Relations Committee, favors talks that would be tied to a spring lockout if the union does not respond favorably to a plan modifying arbitration and consigning a specified percentage of revenues for player salaries.

However, it is also believed that Ravitch wants the support of 20 or more clubs to reopen the talks and has only 13 or so, with many others undecided despite lobbying efforts by Ravitch and Dodger President Peter O’Malley.

“If he chooses to reopen, I think it will be the right thing to do at the right time,” O’Malley said of Ravitch. “I think he has an outstanding grasp of the industry’s problems.”

Ravitch met in New York last week with several owners who are opposed to reopening the talks, and O’Malley is said to have reacted angrily to a letter that New York Met co-owner Fred Wilpon sent to fellow owners citing 10 reasons why Ravitch’s plan should be rejected.

“I think everybody feels the system needs to be changed,” said Philadelphia Phillie president Bill Giles, who is in favor of reopening the talks, “but some people feel the timing isn’t right.”

Opponents fear that the risk of a work stoppage, either a spring lockout by the owners or a late season strike by the players, would threaten the $401 million at stake in the final year of the national TV contract, dilute the new enthusiasm in San Francisco, Denver and Miami, and make it difficult for several clubs on the market to be sold.

Opponents of Ravitch’s plan also believe that while Bonds, Puckett and others are signing lucrative contracts, the free-agent glut will help stabilize salaries until the collective agreement expires at the end of next season. The Chicago Tribune Co., which owns the Cubs and will have seven major league teams playing on five of its TV stations next year, is also known to be pressuring the five to avoid a stoppage.

Jackie Autry, however, says the economic crises overrides all of that. She said she favors reopening the talks without a lockout, giving the owners a full year to educate the union on the proposed changes.