Reinsdorf May Join Meetings

While no one is sending any care packages to owners or players,baseball negotiations will enter the "handle-with-care" stage thisweek.

This is the fragile time, when talks either end in frustrationor become fruitful.

So a federal mediation team soon will smooch the sides intositting down again face-to-face, on Tuesday or Wednesday, somethingthey haven't done since Aug. 11. But this time, it will bedifferent because a panel of owners also will be present.

And what does that mean?

Does it mean the owners have sent in the soft-sellers to helpchief negotiator Dick Ravitch save face?

Or does it mean the owners have sent in a swat squad to …