DODGERS' COSTS WILL GROW : ADDED SERVICE TIME GIVES CLOUT TO PIAZZA, KARROS.

Byline: Tim Brown Daily News Staff Writer

The tentative agreement reached Tuesday in Chicago between baseball's players and owners could cost the Dodgers several million dollars in players' salaries next season and as much as $70 million over the next five years, according to one club source.

The reinstatement of service time lost during the strike of 1994-95 strengthens the earning potential of several high-profile players, including catcher Mike Piazza and first baseman Eric Karros, whose previous contracts expired at the conclusion of last season. Both will negotiate multi-year contracts this winter, and both moved a year closer to free agency.

The additional 75 service days make Piazza a four-year player and Karros a five-year player, in effect lifting their classifications. Deals negotiated before next season then would buy out more free-agent seasons and fewer arbitration seasons.

With the service time, Karros would be eligible for free agency after next season, and Piazza after the 1998 season. Without it, each would need an additional year to reach that plateau. Karros, for example, could decide that salary arbitration followed by free agency is more attractive than a longer-term deal with the Dodgers.

The club has not opened negotiations with either player.

Left fielder Todd Hollandsworth, the National League's Rookie of the Year, and right-hander Pedro Astacio also would gain classes. Their increased standing alone would cost the club next year, and it is difficult to measure the long-term financial impact. As a three-year player, Astacio was likely to draw between $1.6-$1.8 million. With the service time, he could command closer to $2.5 million.

Also as a result of the service days, right-hander Tom Candiotti becomes a 10-and-5 player, and therefore can reject any trade.

As one of the standards of stability in the game, the Dodgers also will pay out money in revenue sharing, rather than receive it. Per the agreement, 13 teams will donate up to $6 million in 1996, and 13 will cash those checks.

According to sources, Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley supported the agreement in both votes.

``We certainly have an understanding of the impact,'' Dodgers executive vice president Fred Claire said. ``There is an impact. Just as important, from our club's standpoint, it's a matter of budgeting for the payroll. That's a major part of our expenses.''

Claire said that he intends to keep the payroll at approximately $37 million, where it was last season.

``We haven't been, nor are we going to be, one of the top five or six payrolls,'' he said. ``Obviously, our financial people have looked at all of this. It's something we have to factor in. For us, it's a loss of revenue. That's a fact.''

However, Claire viewed the agreement, which awaits approval from the players association, as a solid first step.

``I'm happy that it was approved,'' he said. ``In many ways I see it more as a beginning than a conclusion to a long, long labor debate. What's really critical is to be able to move from this point, and to move with a spirit of cooperation with the players association.

``There's no question that a lot of fans have been turned off by the debate over labor.''

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