Baseball players say they've reached agreement on a new labor deal. Management negotiator Randy Levine says his work is done.
But as free agents started filing Sunday, acting commissioner Bud Selig still refused to acknowledge the proposed agreement and hadn't scheduled an owners' meeting to consider ratification.Meanwhile, a management source said owners probably would allow the players who need service time from the strike to become eligible for free agency to file provisionally and assume there will be a labor agreement that grants them the service time.
Several management sources said it was unlikely owners would meet this week, but they said owners may gather next week for a vote on the deal, which requires approval from at least 21 of the 28 clubs.
Union head Donald Fehr spoke briefly with Selig after Saturday night's Game 6 of the World Series and remained dismayed.
"As far as I can tell, he announced we still had a lot of negotiating to do, which was news to everyone involved in the negotiating process," Fehr said Sunday. "Maybe he has a lot of negotiating left to do with his own side.
"I'm going to Japan in the morning. There's nothing left for me to do."
Union officials have said the deal will collapse unless it's approved and finalized by Nov. 10, the end of the free-agent filing period. Fehr, who will accompany the major league all-star team to Japan, said he didn't plan to return for about two weeks, near the filing deadline.
Selig, according to several sources, will not recommend the deal to owners but will tell teams they should determine how to vote on their own.
"I'll schedule a meeting very shortly," he said Sunday from his home in Milwaukee. "Beyond that, there's really not much to say."
Five players filed Sunday, the first day of the 21st free agent season: Baltimore pitcher Jesse Orosco and third baseman Todd Zeile, Cleveland outfielder Mark Carreon, and Texas infielder Mark McLemore and pitcher Mike Stanton.
McLemore and Orosco filed provisionally because they are covered by the restriction against repeat free agency in a five-year span. Under the rules of the expired agreement, they would become eligible for free agency only if their teams failed to offer salary arbitration by Thursday.
Assuming that the new deal will take effect and the repeater-rights restriction will be eliminated, the players' association decided to file their names on the first possible day.
A deal would create 12 additional players eligible for free agency, including Chicago White Sox pitcher Alex Fernandez, Montreal outfielder Moises Alou and Expos pitcher Mel Rojas.