IRVING, Texas (AP) — Baseball players and owners reached a tentative agreement on a five-year labor contract Wednesday night, a deal that extends the sport’s industrial peace to 26 years since the ruinous fights in the first two decades of free agency.
After days of near round-the-clock talks, negotiators reached a verbal agreement about 3 1/2 hours before the expiration of the current pact. Then they worked to draft a memorandum of understanding, which must be ratified by both sides.
As part of the deal, the luxury tax threshold rises from $189 million to $195 million next year, $197 million in 2018, $206 million in 2019, $209 million in 2020 and $210 million in 2021, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been signed.
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