After slow offseason last year, MLB union head hints work stoppage possible

SHARE After slow offseason last year, MLB union head hints work stoppage possible
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Fireworks are displayed before the MLB Home Run Derby, at Nationals Park, Monday, July 16, 2018 in Washington. The 89th MLB baseball All-Star Game will be played Tuesday. | Susan Walsh/Associated Press

Players consider teams’ reluctance to sign free agents last offseason “a direct attack” on their rights, according to union head Tony Clark. He hinted that the sport’s quarter-century of labor peace could end if concerns are not addressed.

More than 100 free agents remained unsigned when spring training began. Many signed at a fraction of the price they thought they were worth and many received shorter deals than they expected.

Baseball had eight work stoppages from 1966-95 but has had labor peace since. The current labor contract runs through the 2021 season.

Asked whether he thought there could be a work stoppage at the end of the deal if players’ concerns are not addressed, Clark says that, “to the extent there are challenges to those rights, historically I would suggest those have manifested themselves in a particular way.”

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