MLB, Umpires Reach Agreement on New 5-Year Contract

MLB and the World Umpires Association reached agreement on a five-year contract according to several sources who wished to remain anonymous. The new CBA which will bring about five more years of labor peace must still be ratified by the umpires and league owners in January, but ratification is expected. As the MLB-Umpires deal was reached prior to the previous CBA's expiration of December 31, 2014, this can be considered outgoing Commissioner Bud Selig's last major labor contract.

Once ratified by both sides, the proposed five-year contract, set to run from January 2015 through December 2019, will replace the present five-year deal signed in 2009.

Umpires were represented by counsel Brian Lam of Washington, DC's Lam Law, PLLC and on-field umpires Joe West (President of WUA), Fieldin Culbreth (Vice President), and Jerry Layne (Secretary/Treasurer), with the governing board comprised of at-large members Phil Cuzzi, Mike Everitt, Sam Holbrook, Dan Iassogna, Jeff Kellogg and Mike Winters.

Source: USA Today/The Associated Press