Biggio hopes tension doesn’t lead to work stoppage

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. — Hall of Famer Craig Biggio hopes increased labour tension doesn’t lead to Major League Baseball’s first work stoppage in a quarter century.

“Hopefully ownership knows and players know that nothing good’s going to come of it,” Biggio said Tuesday at Houston Astros training camp, where he will serve as a guest instructor for the next week.

Baseball’s labour contract runs through 2021.

Players have increasingly complained about the second straight slow free-agent market, and their union has proposed major economic changes mid-agreement.

Stars Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel remain unsigned with spring training now underway.

During his 20-year career with the Astros, Biggio was part of the 32-day lockout during spring training in 1990 that led to the season starting a week late and the 7½-month strike in 1994-95 that caused the first cancellation of the World Series in nine decades.

“Hopefully calmer heads prevail when they get into these conversations and negotiations and you don’t ever have something like what happened to us when we lost the World Series, because that was probably the worst thing that could ever happen,” Biggio said.

Among former Astros, utility man Marwin Gonzalez and designated hitter Evan Gattis also remain unsigned.

They teamed with Keuchel to help Houston win its first World Series title in 2017.