Fehr: Players Unlikely To OK Playoff Proposal

NEW YORK The chances are "very small" that major league playerswill agree to a proposed playoff format involving four divisionwinners and four second-place teams starting next season, union chiefDonald Fehr said Monday.

The owners approved the change in the playoff setup at theirquarterly meetings last June, but have yet to vote officially on anew format. The owners apparently would prefer, at least for 1994,the four division winners and the four second-place teams.

Fehr said the union is open to negotiations, but didn't considerit likely the players will agree to the owners' current version. Theowners don't think a schedule for the players' version of threedivision winners and a wild-card team can be in place by next season.

The additional round of playoffs was established by the ownersas part of the new TV venture with ABC and NBC. Next season'splayoffs are scheduled to be televised by NBC with ABC carrying theWorld Series.

"It's awful," St. Louis manager Joe Torre said of the expandedplayoffs. "In the NBA and NHL you have to look in the newspapers tosee who is in first place."

There also have been reports that the owners might decide tokeep things the way they are - four division winners - until the 1995season.

"It's possible," said Richard Ravitch, the owners'representative. "But everyone wants to see a change in the playoffsin 1994."

In a letter to Ravitch, Fehr wrote, "If the additional round ofplayoffs is a good idea, then the additional round of playoffs shouldbegin next year, in 1994. If it is not a good idea, then we shoulddispense with it altogether."

Ravitch said he was "delighted" to receive the letter from theunion and wants to negotiate soon. He added all the options,including three divisions, have been discussed by the owners andanything is possible.

Fehr said the players are concerned the playoffs and regularseason will be diluted if the four second-place teams qualify.

"The players do not believe it is a good idea to conduct anadditional round of playoffs within the traditional two-league,four-division structure, with the eight playoff teams being thefirst- and second-place finishers in the existing four divisions.Simply put, the obvious damage that format would do to the nature ofthe divisional championship races makes this approach untenable."

Fehr said it might take up to three months for the negotiationson the playoffs to finish and he hopes things get started by the endof September, depending on what the owners decide at their meetingnext month in Boston.

Ravitch responded there might be a problem with schedule changesin 1994 as teams must start to make season-ticket plans soon.