01:00 AM EST on Friday, March 17, 2006

Commissioner Bud Selig is proceeding cautiously before deciding whether baseball should launch an investigation into allegations that Barry Bonds used performance-enhancing drugs for at least five seasons.

Selig dismissed a report yesterday in the New York Daily News, citing an unidentified baseball official, that the commissioner already had decided to investigate Bonds.

"It's just something I'd rather not discuss right now," Selig said before the World Baseball Classic game between Mexico and the United States in Anaheim, Calif. "I'll make the decision based on all the factors that are involved and go from there, and do what I think is in the best interest of everybody involved."

Bonds, who broke Mark McGwire's single-season record with 73 home runs in 2001, is accused in an upcoming book of using steroids, human growth hormone, insulin and other drugs for at least five years, beginning after the 1998 season. Baseball did not have a joint drug agreement with the union banning steroids and other performance-enhancing substances until September 2002.

Game of Shadows, which is out March 23, is based on a two-year investigation. The book includes an extensive summary on the authors' sources, including court documents, affidavits filed by BALCO investigators, documents written by federal agents, grand jury testimony, audio recordings and interviews with more than 200 people.

Selig said any decision regarding Bonds would not hinge on whether the prosecutors investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative charge the slugger with perjury for his testimony to a federal grand jury in December 2003.

"What happens to the grand jury and the federal government and Barry Bonds, nature will have to take its course," Selig said. "Whatever decisions I make will be on what I believe is clearly necessary and what is in the best interest of the sport, and I'm not going to let any other factors play a role."

ROUNDUP

When the Oakland Athletics open their season at home against the Yankees next month, the entire upper deck will be covered by green tarpaulins, making the Coliseum the midget of the major leagues. It may seem counterintuitive, but the A's -- who have struggled for years with low attendance -- hope that by permanently closing off about 10,000 of the stadium's most undesirable seats they will make more money by boosting demand and renewing fan loyalty. Since the early 1990s, major-league clubs have torn out seats and built smaller stadiums to put fans closer to the diamond and capitalize on the energy of a packed house. But Oakland's strategy, which also includes cutting prices, is a relatively novel approach to stoking fan interest. Seating capacity in the stadium the A's share with the Oakland Raiders will be reduced from 44,073 to 34,077 for baseball, supplanting Boston's Fenway Park as the smallest stadium in the major leagues. The capacity will stay at 63,132 for football.

BRAVES HAVE SUITORS: Cumulus Media Inc. president Lew Dickey Jr. said his family has been approved by Major League Baseball to enter negotiations to purchase the Atlanta Braves from Time Warner Inc. An investment group led by Ron Terwilliger, chairman of Atlanta-based apartment builder Trammell Crow Residential, also has been permitted to enter negotiations, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said. Prospective buyers must first be approved by baseball before they're allowed to examine a club's finances and enter significant negotiations. Major League Baseball spokesman Rich Levin declined to comment on the status of the Braves' negotiations. Time Warner, the world's largest media company, put the team up for sale in December and had been in negotiations with Arthur Blank, a co-founder of Home Depot Inc. and owner of the NFL Atlanta Falcons, for two months before Blank ended talks in February.

CORDERO HEADED TO WBC: Rangers closer Francisco Cordero will be pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic after all. Cordero had been on the original Dominican roster, but he bowed out three weeks ago because of a sore pitching shoulder. A roster spot on the team opened when reliever Damaso Marte injured his shoulder and Cordero was asked to join as a replacement.

HALLADAY SIGNS EXTENSION: Toronto pitcher Roy Halladay signed a $40-million, 3-year contract extension yesterday, the latest in a series of big-money moves for the Blue Jays. The deal could keep the 2003 A.L. Cy Young winner with the Blue Jays through the 2010 season. The 28-year-old righty was 12-4 with a 2.41 E.R.A. in 19 starts last year when his left leg was broken July 8 by Kevin Mench's line drive in Texas. The Blue Jays have not finished better than third place in the A.L. East since winning the 1993 World Series. Since last season ended, Toronto has added -- by trades or free agency -- closer B.J. Ryan, third baseman Troy Glaus, pitcher A.J. Burnett, catcher Bengie Molina and first baseman Lyle Overbay.

GUZMAN TRYING TO AVOID SURGERY: Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman will try to avoid surgery on his injured right shoulder, but if two weeks of rest and rehab don't work, he could miss much of the season. A tear was revealed by an MRI exam when Guzman went to Cincinnati to get a second opinion on the shoulder, the team said yesterday. If Guzman were a pitcher, he'd have an operation right away, GM Jim Bowden said. Instead, Guzman will try to build up the muscle around the tear in his throwing shoulder for the next two weeks, then be re-evaluated.

PRIOR HAS SHOULDER STRAIN: Cubs pitcher Mark Prior has a strained right shoulder and could miss the beginning of the season -- a diagnosis that did not deter the team yesterday. The Cubs had feared something worse. The Cubs' medical staff will meet in Arizona tomorrow to discuss Prior's status and determine a course of action.