MLB Owners Ratify Labor Contract
NEW YORK (AP) -- Major League Baseball owners have ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement, sealing 21 consecutive seasons of labor peace through 2016.
Owners voted unanimously to approve the deal during a telephone conference call Thursday. The players' association announced Dec. 1 that its executive board had ratified the agreement, which was signed Nov. 22.
Lawyers for the sides are drafting the full labor contract from the memorandum of understanding.
The deal starts blood testing for human growth hormone and institutes restraints on signing bonuses for amateur draft picks and international players coming to the big leagues.
