UNDATED (AP) — The Major League Baseball Players Association has won a scheduling battle with owners.
MLB will proceed with an on-time start to spring training and the season after players rejected a plan Monday night to delay reporting by a more than a month. Management proposed to the players’ association on Friday that the start of spring training be pushed back from Feb. 17 to March 22, that opening day be delayed from April 1 to April 28 and that each team’s schedule be cut from 162 games to 154.
As part of the offer, MLB included the expansion of the playoffs from 10 teams to 14 and extending the designated hitter to the National League for the second straight season, a plan the union rejected Jan. 6.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has retired. The three-time All-Star played his entire 17-year career with the Red Sox, taking 2007 Rookie of the Year honors and the AL MVP in his second season. But he played in a total of nine games in the last three seasons because of a knee injury.
— Free agent outfielder Delino DeShields has agreed to a minor league contract with Texas that includes an invitation to spring training with the team that traded him away just more than a year ago. DeShields and hard-throwing reliever Emmanuel Clase were traded to Cleveland in December 2019, with two-time AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber going to the Rangers. The 28-year-old DeShields hit .252 with seven RBIs in 37 games last season with the Indians, who didn’t offer him a contract for 2021.
— The Mets have acquired pitcher Jordan Yamamoto from the Marlins for minor league infielder Federico Polanco. The 24-year-old Yamamoto was 4-5 with a 4.46 ERA in 15 starts in 2019, striking out 82 and walking 36 in 78 2/3 innings. The right-hander was 0-1 with an 18.26 ERA in 11 1/3 innings over three starts and one relief appearance during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
— Left-hander Derek Holland has agreed to a minor league contract with the Tigers and was invited to major league spring training. The 34-year-old Holland is 79-81 with a 4.61 ERA in 12 major league seasons. He went 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA in 12 appearances for the Pirates last year.
