MLB: New labor agreement reached.

Owners, players reach 5-year deal

Major League Baseball and the players union, knowing there was far too much at stake for an impasse, agreed to a fiveyear collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday night — less than four hours before their current deal expired.

The agreement, which still needs to be ratified by the owners and players, means there will be 26 consecutive years without a work stoppage since the 1994-’95 players’ strike that resulted in cancellation of the 1994 World Series.

Commissioner Rob Manfred voiced optimism all along a labor deal would be consummated before the deadline, and the two sides agreed to the structure of a deal with only details to be finalized. The owners have been told they will be briefed Thursday on the deal.

The last obstacle was agreeing to a new luxury tax payroll threshold, with penalties that remain the same unless teams grossly exceed the limit.

The tax will start with payrolls exceeding $195 million in 2017, up from $189 million this year, and increase to $197 million in 2018, $206 million in 2019, $208 million in 2020 and $210 million in 2021. It still leaves the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers over the limit in 2017.

The new deal, which appears not to have any major changes from the previous agreement, still will not have an international draft but instead a cap on what teams can spend in the international market.

There also will be no increase to the 25-man roster, with teams permitted to have a 40-man playing roster in September.

There will be subtle changes to free agency, however, in that players will be virtually unrestricted.

Teams will no longer have to forfeit a firstround draft pick when signing free agents. If a team is under the luxury tax, it would lose a thirdround draft pick when signing a player who rejects the qualifying offer, according to ESPN.

If a team is over the tax, it would lose a secondand fifth-round pick. Those changes won’t come into effect until the free agent class of 2017.

Despite the posturing and veiled threats, there really was no chance of a stalemate, not with an industry expected to generate $10 billion this year and with Game 7 of the Series the highest rated baseball game in 25 years.

Once the agreement is ratified by both parties, baseball’s off-season can continue just as it was scheduled to swing into high gear.

The game’s off-season carnival — the winter meetings — begin Monday.

Negotiations went slower than anticipated. In fairness, this was a new gig for union chief Tony Clark, negotiating his first collective bargaining agreement. This was also the first CBA with Manfred as commissioner instead of lead negotiator, now charged with appeasing 30 owners.

There still are details remaining, but surely the minimum salary will rise from $507,500. There will be earlier start times for teams on travel days with day games the next day.

These details will surface in coming days, or weeks, but for now, there is one certainty.

Baseball will have labor peace, 26 consecutive years and counting.