If He’s Only Acting, What’s His Next Role?

He doth protest too much?

For more than an hour in a conference call with reporters Wednesday, acting Commissioner Bud Selig insisted he is not interested in becoming permanent commissioner, even with his respected friend Paul Beeston installed as baseball’s president and chief operating officer--akin to deputy commissioner.

Selig said his thinking has not changed in the five years he has been acting commissioner and he is confident the search committee ultimately will reach a successful conclusion.

Meaning he is confident the committee will recommend a candidate other than himself?

“Yes,” Selig said.

However, Beeston, also on the call, may have delivered the telltale comment regarding the possibility of Selig’s becoming permanent commissioner when asked if he would try to persuade Selig to take the job.

“I’ve tried to persuade him in the past,” Beeston said. “But [if in my new position] I can free up time for him to do some of the other things he wants to do, maybe he would be in a position where he’d consider accepting--for two or three years anyway.”

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Both Selig and Beeston seemed to say the sweeping realignment plan, in which American and National league composition would be totally revamped, is the aim.

“We can’t be prisoners of tradition or snub our nose at what the fans want,” Selig said. “There are inherent problems in the current schedule that have prevented revenues from growing as anticipated.

“Interleague attendance proved that we need to take advantage of the geographics.”

In a separate interview, Texas Ranger President Tom Schieffer indicated the sweeping plan is almost a done deal.

“We’re on the eve of doing something that will have a very profound and positive impact on baseball for a very long time,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s a slam dunk, but I’m very encouraged.”

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If the Cleveland Indians are unable to land Curt Schilling before Thursday’s non-waiver trading deadline, they may turn to Ken Hill, which would mark the second time in three years they had made a July trade for Hill.

The Rangers, cashing it in on ‘97, are hoping to move Hill and Bobby Witt this week, freeing payroll to retain Ivan Rodriguez among their other eligible free agents and picking up prospects to bolster a thin farm system.

Two pitchers who were expected to be traded, Milwaukee’s Ben McDonald and Minnesota’s Bob Tewksbury, went on the disabled list to kill possible deals. McDonald, who will have rotator cuff surgery Tuesday, received a cortisone injection that allowed him to make his last start against Cleveland on July 16, his 56th start in two years with the Brewers, activating a clause that increased his salary in his 1998 option year from $2.5 million to $4.5 million.

McDonald, now certain to exercise the option rather than test the free-agent market as a pitcher recovering from surgery, bristled at insinuations that he made that 56th start only to qualify for an additional $2 million.

“I would never risk my career that’s hopefully going to last another five or six years for any amount of money,” he said. “That contract was signed so long ago I couldn’t remember how many starts I had to make.”

Of course.