BASEBALL : After a Long, Tough Night, Dodgers Have a Team

The players handed in their questionnaires, which were tallied behind closed doors, and by noon Friday at Vero Beach, Fla., the Dodgers said they have a replacement team.

“People have to understand that we want our (major league) players here,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “But if they’re not going to be here, we’ve got to be satisfied with the next-best thing.

“It’s like if you can’t have pasta, you have to have something else, like pork chops.”

Fred Claire, executive vice president, would not specify how many had agreed to become replacement players, but said there were enough to field a team for exhibition games this spring.

“We will have a representative team,” he said.

The Dodgers needed at least 25 positive responses and will be allowed to carry 32 players if the strike has not ended before the regular season begins. The Dodgers will begin signing players to replacement contracts early next week, giving them $5,000 bonuses and guaranteed jobs in the organization through the season.

“This is probably the most difficult 24 hours in these men’s lives,” said Charlie Blaney, director of minor league operations.

“There was a line past midnight to my room with players asking questions (Thursday night). It’s terrible what these players had to go through.”

The union will consider minor leaguers as replacement players if they play in exhibition games.

“Everybody’s fed up with the whole strike situation, and at this point, I’m not surprised what anybody’s doing,” said pitcher Tom McCarthy, one of about 30 players willing to be a replacement player. “You’re supposed to go to spring training to be a major league ballplayer, so why should this spring be any different?”

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Major league players have ridiculed replacement players and many baseball fans have scoffed at them, but Angel owner Jackie Autry remains confident there will be interest in games played with strikebreakers.

“It’s too early to tell, but every survey we’ve done shows fans will support replacement players because their anger is such that they may come out just to prove a point,” Autry said in Mesa, Ariz. “I think people would just like to see baseball, period.”

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The Angels will begin polling players this weekend on how many want to be replacements. Virtually all of the 49 in camp have indicated they would be willing to cross the union’s imaginary picket line.

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Management negotiator John Harrington said he is optimistic the baseball strike will be settled soon.

“It may be unfounded, but I have a personal feeling that we’ll get cooking this week in Arizona,” Harrington said. “We may not settle it in four or five days, but I hope we can make some major breakthrough in the core issues.”

He said the strike needs to be resolved by March 5 to start the regular season with major league players on April 2.

Harrington also said two baseball teams would be added in 1998 and two more perhaps in 2000 under a plan the expansion committee intends to recommend to owners at Palm Beach, Fla., March 7-9.

* The Associated Press contributed to this story.