PLAYERS WON'T STRIKE IF PROMISED NO LOCKOUT.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

MANHATTAN BEACH - If baseball owners ensure no lockout will take place in the offseason, union chief Don Fehr said Thursday the players association might agree not to strike this season.

Such a move would allow for more negotiating time and allow the players association to maintain a significant piece of leverage without holding the postseason captive by threatening to strike.

``If the clubs were in a position where they said that they would not hold over the player's head the threat of an offseason lockout or unilateral changes in conditions - the way the NBA did the last couple of times - and that would last until opening day next year, that changes that equation pretty significantly,'' Fehr said.

Fehr met with a group of agents and briefed them on the current labor situation, which is seemingly getting worse with each passing day.

However, Fehr echoed the sentiments issued a day earlier by commissioner Bud Selig in saying that talk of a strike date, be it in mid-August, September or at the start of the playoffs, has not been discussed by the players association's executive board. The board talks regularly via telephone, but the next meeting isn't expected to take place until July 8.

``Our executive board has not sat down and considered, 'Should we set a strike date, and if so, when?' '' Fehr said. ``Sooner or later that might have to be considered, but we're not there yet. You don't strike unless you think that it's essentially what you have to do in order to reach an agreement.''

The players walked out during the 1994 season on Aug. 12, and a month later the World Series was canceled for the first time in 90 years. A repeat of that labor strife, which carried into 1995, is a possibility this season.

``I don't even want to think about that,'' Selig said. ``We're off to such a good start and the races look like they're going to be terrific in all the divisions, and there's a lot of great individual accomplishments. I don't even want to permit myself to even think about that.''

However, the players believe a strike might be their only recourse in preventing ownership from claiming an impasse in negotiations after the World Series and implementing new rules. Negotiations likely will begin again next week, but just how serious those talks will be is in question.

Animosity exists between the sides because of the contraction issue, which Selig introduced days after a wildly popular and exciting World Series. But legal ramifications exist because of contraction, as well.

The players association argues baseball does not have the right to implement contraction without its approval. Baseball believes it can contract teams without negotiating about the move with the players association. Arbitrator Shyam Das is hearing arguments about the case and said he hopes to have a decision by July 15.

``I think it is fair to speculate, at least with respect to contraction, it is difficult for the parties to get together until you have a resolution on that,'' Fehr said. ``Having said that, if you can find a way to settle with grievance without compromising the issues to either party - the answer is maybe, but I don't know.''

There is great disparity in viewpoints from each side and little progress was made toward a new collective bargaining agreement in the last nine months.

When the sides met in early May, one of the hottest issues was whether teams should take bus rides longer than two hours, or if trains or planes were a better mode of transportation.

This type of negotiating skirts the enormous issues that could lead to baseball's eighth work stoppage since 1972.

Chief among them are revenue sharing, which changes from 20 percent to 50 percent after park expenses, and a luxury tax of 50 percent on a given figure, likely to be about $95 million.

Also, there is a proposal to eliminate a first arbitration year for a select group of players, and allowance for clubs to bail out of the arbitration process if they don't like the figures, and a requirement for all teams to chart contract offers to free agents.

Management, at least outwardly and at this juncture, believe each such point must be agreed upon for the economic and competitive health of the sport.

The Dodgers reported an operating loss of $45.3 million last season. The new revenue sharing and luxury tax the owners want implemented would cost the Dodgers an additional $17 to $20 million, sources close to the situation said.

``Both sides have a comprehensive set of proposals out there on the table and that's a step you need to get out of the way before you can get to an agreement,'' said Rob Manfred, baseball's top lawyer. ``In that sense, yeah, we have accomplished some things. We have a very moderate set of proposals on the table.

``We have purposely, at the commissioner's direction, avoided issues that we knew would be problematic in terms of getting an overall agreement. I think we have come with a more realistic, moderate, set of proposals and I think that should be seen as a positive thing.''

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(color) DON FEHR