The Cubs don’t think they are being greedy corporate ogres by refusing to hurry toward a settlement in baseball’s labor dispute.
Will you trust them on this one? Nah, probably not. Which is actually a good lesson on why there is no baseball agreement. The lack of trust continues to be palpable between owners and players, not to mention fans and baseball.
While Cubs President Andy MacPhail and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf have been portrayed as obstacles to the agreement, the Cubs think they are being true to the public by not accepting a deal they believe is fated to break down in more bickering three years from now.
Although MacPhail declined comment on the ticklish issue because he says public statements at this stage of negotiations have the chance to be detrimental to a resolution, his private feelings on the matter are worth examination.
His view is that the union could posture again for a work stoppage in a few years if the luxury tax on owners doesn’t apply to the last year of the agreement.
Although the Cubs are opposed in principle simply to handing players service time for the games missed in 1994 and 1995, that’s really not the central deal-breaker to them. Rather, their main concern for this agreement is reducing the likelihood of union boss Don Fehr going back to rabble-rousing before the contract ends.
The Cubs are willing to barter on the service time. But what irritates them is the idea that another mess appears unavoidable unless that tax covers the length of the agreement and takes leverage out of Fehr’s grasp.
So it’s difficult to fault the Cubs based on this perspective. Their primary concern is another strike in so short a time would be an enormous setback for a game whose image still is tarnished.
But going public with this view merely would escalate a war of words with the union. MacPhail knows all too well fans are tired of hearing both sides.
Some may wonder why the Cubs and White Sox don’t make this deal and hope in the next three years to foster a better relationship with union negotiators. Well, here is the crux of the problem. Players and management continue an awkward dance.
This all started because of distrust between owners and players and it drags on because it continues. MacPhail and Reinsdorf just don’t trust Fehr to refrain from using that last year without a tax as a club over their heads. Fehr wants the slate wiped clean.
But if the two clubs’ cautious movements are based on avoiding future labor impasses, as they seem to be, then they can’t be derided.
Wait ’til this year: MacPhail admits the Cubs considered moving a big chunk from their lineup at the trading deadline.
Whether that would have meant dealing Brian McRae, Mark Grace or Jaime Navarro is open to speculation, but the good news is the team president is rooted in reality enough not to take credit for knowing the Cubs would be contending for the National League Central title by standing pat.
“It’s reasonable to assume if we had enhanced our 1997 chances it would have been at the expense of 1996,” MacPhail said. “I have to say we considered it and would have done it if the right deal had made sense.”
Now with the race so near, the Cubs are under more pressure to add a pitcher who would settle a rotation that remains iffy after Steve Trachsel and Navarro.
