CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A day after acknowledging that he attended a meeting last November between commissioner Bud Selig and Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark on Wednesday that he never predicted this week that Rose would be reinstated before Opening Day.

Schmidt said he had merely been asked Tuesday what he thought the chances were of Rose being reinstated, and he placed them at "90 percent." Schmidt said that when he was asked when he thought Rose would be reinstated, his reply was: "I'd like to see it happen by Opening Day."

But Wednesday, Schmidt had softened his expectations for that timetable to: "by spring, at the latest." He said he didn't think the recent flurry of stories about Rose's tax troubles or casino visits had made a significant dent in Selig's thinking on this matter.

Schmidt speculated that if the matter was, in fact, on hold, it was simply because Selig was "a busy man" and that people in the commissioner's office were still debating the question of "when is the best time" for Rose's reinstatement.

But Schmidt did express concern that the longer a decision is delayed, the less likely it might be that Rose would be reinstated.

"If it drags into May, or June, then there's a chance it won't happen," Schmidt told Stark. "Because if it drags on that long, it would be because there's a reason (for further delay). That, to me, would be a sign there had become too many reasons it wouldn't happen. But my impression right now is still that the only reason it's been held up is red tape. I don't think anything has happened to change Bud Selig's mind."

Last week, a high-ranking baseball official said Selig doesn't plan to consider Rose's application for reinstatement before Opening Day.

The Cincinnati Reds, the team Rose played for from 1963 to 1978 and later managed, open their new ballpark on March 31 and Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken wrote to Selig in November, urging that Rose be reinstated by the first game in the Great American Ball Park.

Schmidt, a Hall of Famer and a teammate of Rose on the Phillies' 1980 World Series championship team, attended the Nov. 25 meeting in Milwaukee that also included Rose, Selig and Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

"I'm not going to report on the exact things that were said, but Pete did meet with the commissioner and hopefully in a period of time Pete will be reinstated," Schmidt said. "I think that particular day opened the eyes of people to allow Pete an opportunity to return to baseball."

Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in August 1989 after an investigation of his gambling. Baseball investigator John Dowd detailed 412 baseball wagers in 1987, including 52 on Cincinnati to win, but Rose has repeatedly denied he bet on baseball.

Baseball officials have said Rose must admit he bet on baseball if he is ever to gain reinstatement. As long as he is banned, he is ineligible for the Hall of Fame ballot.

During the 2002 World Series, Hall of Famers Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, teammates with Rose on the Reds' 1975 and 1976 championship teams, approached Selig about reinstating Rose.

"Joe and Johnny put the bug in the commissioner's ear that if (Selig) would give the forum, Pete might do the right thing, whatever the right thing is," Schmidt said. "Johnny Bench has recently been supportive of Pete. Of course, Joe always has been. I've been in Pete's corner. Pete wanted me to be there (at the November meeting)."

Since the meeting, the momentum to Rose's possible reinstatement has stalled following the revelation that the Internal Revenue Service placed a lien on a home Rose owns in the Los Angeles area, claiming $151,689 in unpaid federal taxes from 1998. Baseball officials also were surprised by reports Rose was seen last month at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas and the sports book at Caesars Palace.

Schmidt thinks Rose will stay out of further trouble if his ban from baseball is lifted.

"He won't have the free time to travel around," Schmidt said. "He won't be doing card shows. He'll be back doing what he has a passion to do and what he does best -- and that's be involved in baseball in some way."

Schmidt talks with Rose on the phone every few weeks, and said Rose most wants to work in baseball, not get into the Hall of Fame.

"Pete knows he's got a Hall of Fame career, but becoming a Hall of Famer is not the No. 1 priority of Pete Rose," Schmidt said. "He really wants to be a manager."

Schmidt promised to keep fighting for Rose until the ban is lifted.

"The way this whole thing is choreographed really has been a nightmare," Schmidt said. "Trying to do it when the timing is right; meeting with Hall of Famers, don't meet with the Hall of Famers; speculation about some of the things that Pete has been seen doing or involved in; IRS issues. In my mind, that's making it take three or four months longer than we all thought it would."

Schmidt is confident that Rose will be back in baseball very soon, though.

"I know, based on the conversations that we had, the commissioner is very much interested in allowing Pete Rose to return to baseball," he said.