Angelos Situation Still Up in the Air : Baseball: Orioles’ owner still won’t use replacements. AL president says statement will be made at appropriate time.

Baltimore Oriole majority owner Peter Angelos strolled into the ballroom at the Breakers hotel Wednesday afternoon, waited for one of his peers to address him and all he heard was silence.

While the expansion committee officially unanimously recommended that Phoenix and Tampa Bay be awarded franchises in 1998 for about $140 million--with both teams expected to be placed in the American League, according to one owner--the league still has not made a recommendation on what to do about Angelos, who is refusing to hire replacement players.

“I know exactly where they stand,” Angelos said, “and they know exactly where I stand. I still believe major league baseball is too dignified to resort to this.

“I recognized that replacement players will not work from the start. All it does is drive the warring sides further apart.”

Yet, with only 3 1/2 weeks left until opening day, and no negotiations scheduled, the American League is exploring the possibility of seizing control of the Orioles if Angelos refuses to field a replacement team.

“The league constitution is clearly enforceable in our judgment,” American League President Gene Budig said. “We continue to hope for a settlement, and at the appropriate time, we’ll make a statement.”

Said New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner: “It’s a concern, sure. It has to be. But I’m not going to lash out at Peter Angelos.”

Meanwhile, a bill that would ban replacement players from Oriole Park at Camden Yards was signed by Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke.

The measure was sponsored by Councilman Joseph DiBlasi, who said he wanted to make sure that Cal Ripken’s consecutive game streak wasn’t interrupted. Ripken is 122 games shy of breaking Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played. The Oriole shortstop has played in 2,009 in a row.

The measure would fine major league baseball $1,000 for each game played at Camden Yards with replacement players.

The owners’ greatest concern this day was not Angelos, they insisted, but finding a miracle cure to resolve the seven-month labor dispute. Federal mediator William J. Usery is scheduled to address the 28 owners today, and possibly make a recommendation on the next move.

“Bill Usery has to come forward in a meaningful, strong way,” Steinbrenner said, “and do a little admonishing on both sides.”

No matter, at a time when baseball contends that it’s in dire straits, Phoenix and Tampa Bay are expected to officially become baseball’s 29th and 30th major league franchises today. The two teams will be placed in the same league, sources say, to prevent interleague play. Baseball then plans to expand again at the turn of the century with Mexico City emerging as one of the leading candidates.

“I’m for Mexico City,” Dodger President Peter O’Malley said. “In our league, I think it would be great. It would excite all of Latin American and all of Mexico. I think we have to broaden our sights, and not just think of cities in the United States.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.