APNewsBreak: Sources: Major League Baseball and umpires near agreement on new contract

APNewsBreak: Sources: MLB, umps near new deal

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball and its umpires are nearing agreement on a new contract, two people familiar with the negotiations said Monday.

The deal could be reached as soon as Tuesday, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcements were authorized.

Management has been seeking to gain increased flexibility on postseason assignments as part of the agreement, which could allow umpires to work the World Series in consecutive seasons. Following a series of missed calls during the playoffs, MLB went with an all veteran crew of six umpires in this year’s World Series.

This would mark the second straight agreement between the sides reached without acrimony. Recent deals between baseball and its umpires have run for five years.

In September 1999, 22 umpires lost their jobs as part of a failed mass resignation ahead of bargaining. Half of them were eventually rehired.