Baseball Union Votes to Wait for Contracts

Major league baseball players, protesting the owners’ salary-cap system, voted Tuesday to continue their signing freeze.

“We believe it’s appropriate that players should sign contracts only when there’s a system everybody agrees to,” union leader Donald Fehr said.

The 46 players attending the executive board meeting in Washington voted unanimously to continue the ban that has been in effect since Dec. 23.

While many agents continue to talk with clubs, the ban jeopardizes deals already negotiated.

The union and owners are scheduled to resume talks today in Washington, and President Clinton has instructed special mediator William J. Usery to consider making his own recommendation for a settlement if there’s no significant progress by Monday.