Contraction decision delayed until August
On Friday, Major League Baseball’s arbitrator Shyam Das requested and received a two-week extension from management and the players’ union on his decision in the dispute over the MLB’s attempts to unilaterally eliminate two teams before baseball’s next season. The dispute stems from a November 6, 2001 vote by the owners to contract the league by disbanding the Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins, and the union’s contention that this violated the contract---now expired---between the two parties. Although both sides have insisted that the extension will not delay bargaining over a new contract, a decision that the owners must negotiate the contraction with the players would add a hotly contested issue to the bargaining process.
See "Contraction decision delayed until August", HAL BODLEY, USA Today, July 14, 2002