Columnist Dean Juipe: Selig needs to give it a rest

Dean Juipe

Monday, Nov. 12, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

Baseball has a public relations problem -- to say nothing of a growing labor dispute -- and I have a solution.

Never warmly received even on his best days, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig added to his snarly reputation last week by announcing an intention to eliminate two teams within the month. It seemed a hasty and poorly timed move, given the superb World Series that had just come to an end and the lack of public discussion on the contraction issue in recent months.

Out of the blue, franchises in Montreal and Minnesota were targeted for the dump.

Within days this was the hottest topic in sports, and the furor has yet to subside. In particular, fans seem outraged at the Twins' inclusion in the carnage.

Others in baseball worry that if Minnesota is susceptible, the same fate could befall a team like the relatively stable and well-managed Oakland A's, who, like the Twins, have been unable to convince their local politicians and voters to build them a new stadium.

Selig will chair another meeting on the subject today, and this debate won't be easily resolved.

But it might be if MLB would back off and lessen the immediacy of the situation. With a new collective bargaining agreement needed between the owners and the players' union yet this fall -- and with spring training now fewer than 100 days away -- Selig should do his best to orchestrate a treaty in which the Twins and Expos compete in the 2002 season with the understanding that either or both might be playing its final season.

The reprieve would serve all parties well.

For starters, a labor agreement could be hammered out that would ensure a cohesive offseason without the threat of a strike or lockout in 2002. Additionally, suitors could use the "do or die" status of the Twins and Expos to step up and bid on the clubs, even if it means moving them to other cities. And, just as importantly but vastly overlooked thus far in the overall discussion, the many minor league franchises (and players) that would be affected by reducing the majors by two teams would have time to assess their options.

To localize, imagine the disbelief we would be feeling in Las Vegas if the triple-A 51s were affiliated with the Twins or Expos and suddenly ceased to exist because of some decision made in New York. Well, every major league team has six or eight minor league teams it stocks, and, arguably, the good people in those cities don't deserve to have their teams taken away from them, especially with such abrupt notice.

Selig is just plain rushing it. He has taken an insensitive approach to a very sensitive problem, and it's one that doesn't need to be unnecessarily constrained.

Give this a little time, like all or most of 2002, and a few solutions are bound to be worked out. And, even if they're not and the Expos and Twins are back on their death beds a year from now, it won't come as quite the shock that it still seems to be today.

As it stands, only lawyers can expect to benefit if MLB follows through and drops from 30 to 28 teams by the end of the year. The lawsuits and legal actions will be expensive and many.

A far more practical approach would be to put the matter on hold, or at least a back burner. Then, perhaps, cooler heads could prevail.