SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With baseballs collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1, trade talk and free-agent signings could go slowly this offseason.Major league general managers gathered Monday for the start of their annual meeting, in the shadow of Camelback Mountain, with guitar music playing over speakers and the smell of mesquite in the hotel courtyard.There is an extra level of uncertainty.We dont know what rules were playing yet under, Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Monday. Knowing some of thats important, because I dont really know what were dealing with, and you wouldnt want something thrust upon you that surprised you -- that there were penalties attached that you may not like or you may like.Negotiators for owners and players have been meeting since spring training, and talks were set to continue this week in Arizona, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.The sides have not reached agreement on many of the contentious issues, including managements desire for a draft of international amateur players, the threshold where the luxury tax will start next year or whether there will be changes to the draft-pick compensation system for premier free agents. Baseball has not had a work stoppage since 1994-95, and Commissioner Rob Manfred expresses confidence there will be an agreement by December.Theres certainly uncertainty until they do, agent Scott Boras said. Im sure theyre going to want to know the impact of it. Why wouldnt you?With teams operating under the rules of the old agreement, Toronto sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and second baseman Neil Walker were among 10 free agents to receive $17.2 million qualifying offers Monday.Chicago Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler, and Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen and third baseman Justin Turner also received the offers, as did major league home run leader Mark Trumbo of Baltimore. Texas outfielder Ian Desmond and Philadelphia pitcher Jeremy Hellickson got qualifying offers, too.Players have until next Monday to accept. For free agents who decline and sign elsewhere, their new team loses a high selection in next Junes amateur draft and their old club gets an extra pick after the first round. Only players who spent the entire season with one team are eligible for qualifying offers.The one aspect of the collective bargaining agreement that may not be resolved any time soon is this question of draft-choice compensation, which is probably what could change the market one way or the other, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. I dont think the new rules are going to get more onerous to the players, and its not clear whether theyll be less onerous for clubs.None of the 34 qualifying offers was accepted in the first three years of the current labor deal, but among the 20 free agents given offers last year when the price was $15.8 million, Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters, Houston outfielder Colby Rasmus and Dodgers left-hander Brett Anderson accepted.Approximately 160 major league free agents can start discussing money terms with all teams on Tuesday. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he already reached out to the agent for Aroldis Chapman, the hard-throwing closer who helped the Chicago Cubs win the World Series after a July trade from New York.Cashman met Friday with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner to discuss payroll budget.Im not going to tell what the number is, but he gave me a number, Cashman said.The luxury tax threshold was $189 million for each of the last three seasons, and a record six teams are projected to pay this year: the Yankees ($27 million), the Los Angeles Dodgers ($25 million), Boston ($6 million), Detroit ($3.9 million), the Cubs ($3.7 million) and San Francisco ($3 million each).On the last day of the so-called quiet period before free-agent negotiations start, the Los Angeles Angels exercised a $7 million option on third baseman Yunel Escobar, Texas opted to pay a $1.5 million buyout to left-hander Derek Holland rather than exercise an $11 million option, and the Seattle Mariners acquired Carlos Ruiz from the Dodgers for left-hander Vidal Nuno and exercised the catchers $4.5 million option.Left-hander Scott Kazmir decided not to opt out of the final two seasons of his contract with the Dodgers, choosing to keep $32 million in pay rather than become a free agent after going 10-6 with a 4.56 ERA in 26 starts.Right-hander James Shields kept his contract with the Chicago White Sox rather than become a free agent after tying for the big league lead with 19 losses. The 32-year-old gets $21 million in each of the next two seasons, with San Diego reimbursing Chicago for $11 million annually. Josh Reddick Jersey . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Carlos Lee Jersey . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. http://www.astrosteamproshop.com/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Brian McCann Jersey . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Charlie Morton Jersey . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. LONDON -- Venus Williams sighed at the reporters question.After getting to her first Wimbledon semifinal since 2009, and first at any Grand Slam tournament since a year later, she was asked what she learned in recent times, while dealing with an energy-sapping disease and a series of earlier-than-usual exits from majors.Its hard to say just one lesson, she began. Its easy to be afraid; you have to let fear go. Another lesson is you just have to believe in yourself. You just have to. Theres no way around it. Youve got to believe in yourself. No matter how things are stacked against you, you just have to, every time.Williams never lost that belief, the self-confidence that she still could compete at the highest level, the certainty that it made no sense to give up, to retire from the tour.The good part is, I always felt like I had the game. This is always a plus, when you know you have the game, said Williams, who owns seven Grand Slam titles, including five at the All England Club, but none since 2008. So you just have to keep working until things fall into place.At age 36, they have.On Friday at Wimbledon, Williams will meet No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany for a berth in the final. Kerber has won three of their previous five matchups.The American is the oldest woman to participate in a major semifinal since Martina Navratilova did it at Wimbledon in 1994 at age 37.Its nice to see, because she puts in the work, said David Witt, Williams coach. She hasnt been back, but not because of her play. Any given tournament, shes capable of beating anybody in the tournament. Its just a matter of winning six, seven matches in a row and keeping your level of play at a high level.Someone who knows all about that is Williams younger sister, No. 1-seeded Serena, who faces 50th-ranked Elena Vesnina in Fridays other semifinal. If VVesnina -- who has never so much as taken a set off Serena in five previous meetings -- were to pull off the upset, she would be the first unseeded woman to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open era, which began in 1968.ddddddddddddThe 29-year-old Russian had never been past the fourth round at a major before this week.Serena, meanwhile, is bidding for her seventh Wimbledon championship and, of even more significance, her 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall, which would equal Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era (Margaret Court holds the all-time mark of 24).Serena has come close to drawing even with Graf before: At the U.S. Open last September, she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals while aiming for a calendar-year Grand Slam; at the Australian Open in January, she lost to Kerber in the final; at the French Open in June, she lost to Garbine Muguruza in the final.Way back in 1999, the Williams sisters both reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Now here they are, almost 17 full years later, both in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the 11th time. On all 10 previous occasions, one or the other took home the trophy.If both win Thursday, they would play each other on Saturday in what would be the siblings ninth meeting in a Grand Slam final and fifth at Wimbledon.For Serena, it would mean shes participated in the last three major title matches, seven of the past eight.For Venus, it would be her first Grand Slam final since 2009, when she lost at Wimbledon to -- guess who? -- Serena.With everything shes been through, I think its built a ton of character in her, Serena said, and in me, just by being around her.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Discount NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL T-shirts Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online NFL Jerseys From China Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL T-shirts Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Jerseys From China China Womens NFL Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '