WNBA players opt out of CBA

WNBA players have exercised their right to terminate their collective bargaining agreement after the 2019 season, cutting the deal short by two years.

The current labor contract started on March 5, 2014, and had been scheduled to run through October 2021 or the day after the last playoff game, whichever was later. The move announced by the players’ union on Thursday ends the deal on Oct. 31, 2019, or the day after the postseason finale.

The move allows the sides to negotiate a new deal that would go into effect for the 2020 season during an Olympic year.

“We look forward to our upcoming discussions and negotiating a new agreement with the league,” the union said in a statement.

The league has seen growth in many areas since the current CBA went into effect in 2014. Television ratings this season were the league’s best in four years. The WNBA started live streaming games on Twitter and partnered with one-day daily fantasy sites. Players appeared in a video game for the first time.

MLB STAYING ON >>

Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward and San Francisco reliever Mark Melancon let the deadline pass for exercising optout provisions in their contracts.

Doing the same were two Cuban outfielders who have been major disappointments and spent all of this season in the minor leagues: Boston’s Rusney Castillo and Arizona’s Yasmany Tomas.

Heyward keeps the $184 million, eight-year deal that pays him $106 million in the next five seasons. The others all have two years left in their contracts: Melancon is owed $28 million, Tomas $32.5 million and Castillo $24.5 million.

TROPHY FIXED >>

The Red Sox say their brand new World Series trophy has been repaired after getting beaned by a beer can during the championship parade.

The damage occurred during Wednesday’s duck boat ride through Boston, when boisterous fans took to throwing drinks to the players. A team photographer, Jason Varitek’s wife and Alex Cora’s daughter were among those hit.

One can struck the trophy as it was being held aloft, knocking loose some of the golden pennants that rise from the base.

NFL DR. Z DEAD AT 86 >>

Paul Zimmerman, the longtime Sports Illustrated NFL writer known as “Dr. Z” for his analytical approach, died. He was 86. NBC Sports football writer Peter King confirmed Zimmerman’s death. King worked with Zimmerman at Sports Illustrated, and completed Zimmerman’s autobiography, “Dr. Z: The Lost Memoirs of an Irreverent Football Writer.”