European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 26 the stars and stripes tuesday december 10,1991baseball�?Ts Winter meetings Vincent wants reasonable salaries Revenue sharing by Jim Donaghy a baseball writer commissioners report Miami Beach Fla. A with the Money flying for missioner spending is a a a j a it a free agents at the Winter meetings again commissioner Fay Vincent told club officials monday that out of control. In his annual report to the clubs at the Winter meetings Vincent identified baseball a biggest challenges As future to Revenue player compensation and minority hiring. The cry of poverty is growing louder from the smaller markets and there a a fear they wont be Able to compete someday. Shortly after Vincent a warnings about the games fiscal future the Chicago cubs signed reliever Paul Assenmacher to a three year Deal for $7.5 million and the Kansas City royals signed Wally Joyner to a one year Deal for $4.2 million. A because of local Revenue disparity our clubs generate considerably different amounts of Revenue a Vincent said. A your most prosperous club will generate $100 million a year while at the other end of the spectrum a club will generate less than $40  Seattle mariners owner Jeff Smulyan has put the club up for Sale because he feels the team cannot generate enough Revenue from local to and radio contracts to compete. A the Small Market franchise has to compete on the Field but its alternatives Are limited a Vincent said. A Small Market clubs simply have no Choice but to arrange their payrolls on an entirely different scale. Moving Money from club to club is not the total answer a Pittsburgh another Small Market already has lost free agent Bobby Bonilla to the new York mets and May have to Trade Barry Bonds. The mets gave Bonilla $29 million for five years and Bonds will seek at least $6 million per season. Vincent blames salary arbitration for the Sharp Rise in salaries which averaged $851,492 in 1991 and probably will reach an average of $1 million in 1992. A the result of arbitration is that it imposes Large Market financial prices on Small Market enterprises a Vincent said. A the trickle Down effect As free agent signings seep into the salary arbitration process is like facing Mantle and Maris Back to Back if one does no to get you the other one  right after commissioner Fay Vincent warned of the danger of High salaries Wally Joyner and Paul Assen Machor signed for More millions. And Danny Tartabull has yet to sign. Vincent said baseball must find a Way to fairly share Revenue. An economic study committee currently is examining the situation. The Money crunch May get a Little worse when current to contracts with lbs and esp expire at the end of the 1994 season. Vincent expects revenues from the next to contract will decrease $4 to $5 million per club. Minority hiring still wanting by Jim Donaghy a baseball writer Miami Beach Fla. A commissioner Fay Vincent expressed disappointment monday Over the Lack of minorities filling managerial openings and urged clubs to create More opportunities at the minor league level. Baseball a minority report showed increases in front office positions but Only one of the 14 managerial openings since the Start of the 1991 season was filled by a minority. There also Are no minorities among baseball a 28 general managers. There Are three Black assistant general managers. A we Are pleased with the continued Progress in front office hiring but we need to do better in the on Field representation a Vincent said. A there is much More to do. The Challenge is not easy but it must be  Chris Chambliss and Don Baylor interviewed for managerial jobs following the season but were passed Over for candidates who also had no previous major league managing experience. The Only minority to fill a managerial vacancy this season was Hal Mcrae in Kansas City when John Wathan was fired. Baseball wire indians draft Thomas no 1 Miami Beach Fla. The Cleveland indians made left handed Pitcher Mike Thomas the no. 1 pick monday in the major league draft of players left off 40-Man rosters. Thomas 23, split last season Between class a teams in the new York mets and Montreal farm systems. He was 8-3 Overall with 20 saves and a 3.04 Era. He struck out 89 in 68 innings. Houston made third baseman Juan Guerrero 24, the second pick. The native of san Pedro de Marjoris dominican Republic hit .334 with 19 Home runs and 94 Bis for san Francisco a class a team in Shreveport. A total of 11 players were selected including pitchers Dave hold Edge and Tim Fortugno by California. Players left off 40-Man rosters were eligible to be picked for $50,000 in the Rule 5 draft. They must remain on the selecting clubs major league roster for the entire 1992 season or be offered Back to their original team for $25,000. Last year Only two players taken in the draft stayed in the majors All season. Doug Simons was 2-3 with a 5.19 Era for the mets and Mike Huff hit .251 with Cleveland and the Chicago White sox. George Bell and Kelly Gruber were among players picked in earlier Rule 5 drafts. Larkin likes reds moves Cincinnati a shortstop Barry Larkin Hopes to get started soon on talks about a Lon term contract with the Cincinnati reds. Larkin who has one More year left before becoming eligible for free Agency said he likes the Way the team has improved its starting pitching. By acquiring pitchers Greg Swindell and Tim Belcher in trades last month he reds have proven to Larkin that they re serious about winning. A the team is going in the right direction a Larkin said. A i see a commitment from the reds a pretty serious one. And even though they traded one of my Best buddies Eric Davis. I want to sign. Things have changed going on what they have done so far. The commitment is  reds general manager Bob Quinn and manager Lou Piniella Are in Miami for baseball a Winter meetings and Are looking to make More trades. There Haven to been any formal contract talks with Larking a agent Eric Goldschmidt but Larkin expects the two sides to meet soon. Larkin 28, earned $2.1 million last season when he batted .302 with a career High 20 homers and 69 Bis. Many people consider him the Premier shortstop in the National league. Cubs extend Assenmacher Miami Beach Fla. The Chicago cubs monday agreed to contract arms with left handed reliever Paul Assenmacher to a three year $7.5 million contract with a club option for a fourth year. Assenmacher 31, would have been eligible to file for free Agency following the 1992 season. He was 7-8 with 15 saves and a 3.24 Era in a career High 75 appearances last season and became the first Pitcher in cubs history to make at least 70 Relief appearances in two different seasons. He appeared in 74 games in 1990. Local buyers have until March 27 to buy mariners Seattle apr speculation on who might qualify As a a local buyer for the Seattle mariners has expanded to include Oregon Canadian and japanese interests and even the major league players association. Mariners owner Jeff Smulyan said Friday he would sell the team for $100 million to a local buyer a generally defined As anyone willing to keep the Money losing team in Seattle. His offer is Good through March 27. If there Are no takers Smulyan said he would offer the franchise to anyone. He would not Rule out the possibility of moving the team although King county which owns the kingdom where the mariners play has threatened to sue. King county executive Tim Hill and Seattle mayor Norm Rice Are confident a local owner can be found but Arentt saying who it might be. Hill plans to discuss a number of ownership options with business and Community leaders. George Duff president of the greater Seattle chamber of Commerce does no to believe there is a single buyer but a group might step Forward. He also declined to name names. Herman Sarkowsky a Seattle businessman leading an Effort to raise $13 million a year in new revenues for the team said a group of Microsoft corp. Employees has looked into buying All or part of the team. Sarkowsky said he met with some of those people recently and determined a Purchase was unlikely. A there were some inquiries a Sarkowsky said saturday. A the Reading is there Isnit any interest  spokesmen for Bill Gates the Multi billionaire founder of Microsoft have repeatedly said he has enough to do running his computer software company and does no to want to buy the mariners. A at this Point my assessment would be nobody has surfaced that has real interest in buying the Ball club a Sarkowsky said. But that does t mean there Hasni to been talk. The Seattle times raised the question with Don Fehr executive director of the baseball players Union. A what if we bought the team a Fehr said. A we have the Money and we certainly have the interest. What you Tell me of the Seattle situation troubles  what about conflict of interest a there would t be any a Fehr said. A you could Structure the Purchase so it is bought by the players As individuals with equity shares put into Trust. When players retire they would simply withdraw their  on the other hand a maybe we should just provide the $13 million a Fehr said. A it would be a tragedy to lose that great Seattle  Seattle City treasurer Lloyd Hara has talked to japanese businessmen about helping the team. Initially the idea was to boost team revenues by playing some Spring training or off season games in Japan and japanese tourists might be brought to Seattle for mariners games. Hara said the businessmen wanted More information and might be willing to finance a local group that wants to buy the team. But he was not sure that would be acceptable to other major league team owners. Seattle port commissioner Paul Schell and Rice met Friday with some political and business leaders from Vancouver British Columbia and Portland Ore. Schell has suggested investors from Seattle Portland and Vancouver buy the team and share Home games. Most games would be played in Seattle but ticket sales television contracts and marketing opportunities should increase through the wider Northwest interest he said