With its contract set to expire on November 7, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association has tied negotiations over Major League Baseball's bid to buy out and fold two teams to negotiations for a new general contract. Although MLB could eliminate the two teams without the approval of players association if negotiations fall through, this could only be done if the two sides had first bargained to impasse in good faith. The MLB attempted this course of action in 1995 after a strike that lasted almost 8 months and caused the cancellation of the World Series, but failed when the NLRB won an injunction against the MLB's unilateral action in a U.S. District Court.
See "Players Union Sets Stage for Legal Clash", MARK ASHER and DAVE SHEININ, The Washington Post, October 25, 2001