JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Major League Baseball says the regular season will be shortened if a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t in place by Monday.
Locked-out baseball players and team owners met for a third straight day Wednesday in an attempt to reach a deal that would salvage opening day on March 31. The announcement by management comes amid little negotiating progress with the lockout in its 84th day.
Players have not accepted Monday as a deadline and have suggested any missed games could be made up as part of doubleheaders, a method MLB said it will not agree to.
The union told MLB that if games are missed and salaries are lost, clubs should not expect players to agree to management’s proposals to expand the postseason and to allow advertisements on uniforms and helmets.
MLB’s only new offer to players Wednesday was to increase the minimum salary by an additional $10,000 a year. MLB increased its proposed minimum for this year to $640,000, with the figure rising by $10,000 in each additional season of a five-year agreement. Players have asked for $775,000 in 2022, with $30,000 jumps each season.
The two sides are facing what management says is a Monday deadline for a deal that would allow the season to start as scheduled.
Former Mariners, White Sox 2B Julio Cruz dies at age 67
SEATTLE (AP) — Former major league infielder Julio Cruz has died at 67.
Cruz was an original Seattle Mariners player from their inaugural season who later became a Spanish-language broadcaster for the franchise. The switch-hitting second baseman played 10 seasons total in the majors, including parts of seven with the Mariners.
Cruz was traded to Chicago midway through the 1983 season and sparked the White Sox to the AL West title that year.
