In the end, baseball’s labor talks yielded to the moral of a fable: Don’t get too greedy, lest you kill the golden goose.
With three hours before the collective bargaining agreement expired, and with the threat of a lockout in the absence of a new one, Major League Baseball players and owners agreed Wednesday night to a new five-year deal.
The pact would extend through 2021, which would mark 26 years without a strike or lockout. In the previous 24 years, MLB had eight work stoppages.
The off-season can now begin in earnest, starting with next week’s winter meetings.