SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) – With baseball’s collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1, trade talk and free-agent signings could go slowly this offseason.
Major league general managers gathered Monday for the start of their annual meeting, in the shadow of Camelback Mountain, with guitar music playing over speakers and the smell of mesquite in the hotel courtyard.
There is an extra level of uncertainty.
“We don’t know what rules we’re playing yet under,” Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Monday. “Knowing some of that’s important, because I don’t really know what we’re dealing with, and you wouldn’t want something thrust upon you that surprised you – that there were penalties attached that you may not like or you may like.”
Negotiators for owners and players have been meeting since spring training, and talks were set to continue this week in Arizona, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.