Will Service Time Be a Deal-Breaker?

Baseball’s labor negotiations took an internal turn again Tuesday, as management negotiator Randy Levine worked to defuse the opposition of what a source called a “vocal minority” among owners to the restoration of service time that the players lost during the 1994-95 strike.

It’s the last major hurdle to an armistice in the four-year bargaining battle.

A National League owner said Tuesday that the 21 votes needed to ratify an agreement are in place or Levine wouldn’t have been permitted to climb as far out on the limb as he has in taking negotiations with union leader Donald Fehr to the verge of settlement.

However, the service time issue seemed to have created considerable uneasiness Tuesday, and there was no clear indication when a settlement would come--if at all.

The union has said from the start there will be no deal unless players are restored the 75 days lost during the strike, as they have after previous stoppages. If service time is restored, 20 more players will become free agents at the end of the season, including Chuck Knoblauch, Alex Fernandez, Bernard Gilkey and Moises Alou.

The owners, still reeling from the longest and costliest of eight work stoppages, are believed willing to grant service time only if the union waives all damages and litigation stemming from the strike and the National Labor Relation Board’s unfair labor practice charges against the owners. The union has said it cannot waive representation of players who were wronged by the owners’ actions.

Thus, on the precipice of peace, with the owners about to emerge with major economic concessions from the union, the issue of service time has seemed to take on an importance among some owners that does not equate to the damage that an already damaged industry could suffer if this latest attempt at a partnership blows up.

Where the sides would go from there is uncertain, but it would confirm what the union has suspected (but did not want to believe) all along, that Levine, a respected deal-maker admired by the union, did not have any more authority to close a deal than any of his predecessors.

Levine refused comment Tuesday. Sources said he is furious by what is construed to be the undermining of his authority by a few vindictive owners who believe the union can still be broken and are seemingly unaware that in most strike settlements, employees are restored seniority.

“I assume Randy wants to close, but he has his own constituency to deal with,” Fehr said after talking only by phone to Levine Tuesday.

At the heart of the opposition to service time, according to sources, is hard-line Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who has repeatedly hammered Fehr, calling him the industry’s No. 1 problem.

Among Reinsdorf’s closest allies, the sources say, are the cross-town Cubs and Florida Marlins.

In addition to their belief that the service time precedent must be broken, that the players have to pay a price or they will continue to strike, selfishness is a factor.

Restoration of service time could cost Reinsdorf the services of pitcher Fernandez, whom he has already controlled for seven years.

The Cubs could lose outfielder Luis Gonzalez. The Marlins could lose pitcher Chris Hammond.

The Minnesota Twins, who could lose Knoblauch, and the Montreal Expos, who could lose Alou, are also said to be supporting Reinsdorf, although they will have to weigh that support against the loss of revenue sharing and other cost restraints if the deal dissolves.

Acting Commissioner Bud Selig, who on a day of ongoing intrigue opted to attend a Green Bay Packer board of directors meeting and did not return phone messages, is an obvious key. He has maintained owner unity after repeated capitulations in previous labor disputes, but it is not clear where he stands on service time or a proposed settlement that clearly benefits his low-revenue Brewers.

A source said that before and after the Packer meeting, Selig helped Levine contact the clubs, correcting disinformation being spread by the vocal minority.

If a settlement fails because the minority undercuts the majority, if the industry doesn’t get the long-term peace Selig has given so much lip service to while claiming implementation isn’t the answer, the acting commissioner faces a loss of influence that many believe should now influence him to step up to the threat--or step down later.