Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig today reaffirmed that Major League Baseball is fully committed to contraction of at least two teams and will continue with the contraction process, even though that process will not be completed until the 2003 season, it was announced today.

‘Last September and October I said on numerous occasions we would begin to address the serious economic and competitive balance problems facing the game as soon as the season was over,’ said Commissioner Selig. ‘Deferring the announcement of contraction so as not to interfere with the season and postseason put us on a tight timetable. While the clubs would have preferred to contract for 2002 and begin addressing the economic issues immediately, events outside of our direct control, including yesterday’s court decision in Minnesota, have required us to move the date of contraction to 2003.

‘Contraction was an initiative of the thirty clubs and continues to be wholly supported by that group. The clubs recognize that our current economic circumstance make contraction absolutely inevitable, as certain franchises simply cannot compete and cannot generate enough revenues to survive. Quite a few of our clubs advocate contraction by as many as four clubs, and our ultimate implementation of contraction obviously may well be affected by the economics of the industry in 2002.

‘The results of our collective bargaining will likewise be important to our ongoing effort to achieve economic reform and competitive balance. Like most industries, we will continue to evaluate our weakest franchises to determine how much contraction is warranted and in the overall best interests of Baseball and its fans. We remain committed to obtaining competitive balance in the game, which fans in all our markets say is the top priority, and will take the steps necessary to achieve it.’

Major League Baseball had expected resistance, particularly from the communities affected, but not from forces within the game. MLB President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Beeston, who is MLB’s principal labor negotiator and one of the early proponents of contraction, was disappointed by the grievance filed by the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Beeston said: ‘I, personally, had hoped that the Union had an interest in helping us solve our economic and competitive balance problems. It is evident now that they have no such interest and that is a great disappointment to me.

‘We had several discussions this spring and summer indicating our consideration of contraction. The Union’s vigorous opposition to contraction was inconsistent with those earlier discussions.’

Beeston also said: ‘We continue to believe that contraction is a decision to be made by the Clubs and that the Union’s only involvement is to bargain the effects of contraction on the players. We anticipate that the arbitrator will promptly proceed to a determination on that point so we can clear the decks for our decision to contract next year.’

For more details contact:

Richard Levin or Patrick Courtney (212) 931-7878