Newz Forum: BASEBALL: Umpires approve new contract

NEW YORK -- Baseball umpires have ratified the five-year contract their union agreed to in December, the commissioner's office said Thursday.

Baseball owners approved the agreement last month.

The contract calls for 5 percent annual increases, with this year's salary scale ranging from $87,859 to $357,530.

"I am very pleased Major League Baseball has reached this agreement with the umpires," commissioner Bud Selig said. "Our umpires continue to display the dedication and professionalism that make them the best officials in the world."

The deal also resolves the grievance over management's use of a computer evaluation system with Major League Baseball retaining the right to use the QuesTec system along with other evaluation methods to review strike-zone performance.

The agreement also calls for owners to bring back three of the 22 umpires who lost their jobs in a 1999 labor dispute, raising the total of rehired umpires to 11.

A news release from the commissioner's office did not specify which three umpires will be brought back.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

ESPN