Selig Talks Contraction

In case there was any lingering doubt, Commissioner Bud Selig made it very clear Sunday that baseball owners are seriously considering contraction, and that teams could be eliminated as soon as this winter.

“Can it be worked out for 2002? Time will tell, but I wouldn’t rule it out,” Selig said Sunday before Game 2 of the World Series. “We’ve worked on a lot of different schedules. The [2002] schedule is out, and it’s a good schedule, but like a lot of things in life, it can be changed.

“I would also remind you that, while this is different, the Braves moved [from Boston] to Milwaukee on March 13, 1953, and that the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee on April 1, 1970. Life is full of surprises.”

The Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins and Minnesota Twins have been the primary targets for contraction, but the Angels have been involved in scenarios that include the owner of a contracted team, such as Florida’s John Henry, buying the Angels, whom the Walt Disney Co. have been looking to sell for years.

Owners are scheduled to meet Nov. 6 in Chicago, but Selig doesn’t expect a contraction vote that soon. Players union head Donald Fehr said Saturday that no contraction proposals have been issued to players, an indication baseball is not ready to move on the issue. Contraction is, however, on baseball’s front burner.

“How many teams [to be contracted] has been a subject of debate among ownership for a long time,” Selig said. “There have been many things discussed. Some have been discarded, some have life. We’ve run through the spectrum of just about everything.

“I had an owner say to me the other day that our greatest mistake was too much expansion in too short a time, and that’s a fair assessment to make. The only serious question I have is, given the deterioration of our economics, what are the best solutions? There are no simple answers.”