Clubs Follow Major-League Order, Cut Replacement Baseball Players

Replacement pitcher Tim Dell of the Milwaukee Brewers thought it was a cruel April Fool’s joke. It wasn’t.

Dell and every other replacement player in the majors lost his job Saturday night as clubs heeded a directive to terminate all replacement contracts by 11:59 p.m.

Milwaukee released all 33 of its replacement players, telling them to attend a team meeting today. Some other teams released players from replacement contracts but kept them under minor-league contracts.

The action was taken so clubs wouldn’t face legal obligations to pay $22.4 million in bonuses, Milwaukee general manager Sal Bando said.

All 28 clubs received a memo from management’s lawyers stating: “Although opening day will be delayed and there will be no replacement player reserve lists, you should terminate all your temporary replacement contracts by 11:59 p.m. tonight.”

Owners will meet in Chicago on Sunday to decide whether to lock out the regulars. Baseball players ended their 232-day strike Friday when a federal judge in New York ruled against the owners in the nearly eight-month-long labor dispute.

Players were to get $5,000 for making the opening-day roster today and a $20,000 severance. All they’ll get now, if they don’t return, is a $5,000 signing bonus on April 15.