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With Major League Baseballs winter meetings scheduled to start in less than a week, sources say club officials are aware of the possibility that teams wont participate if there is not sufficient progress in the on-going collective bargaining discussions.The current agreement expires Dec. 1, and the two sides are in negotiations in Dallas. The conversations have been far from seamless, and though sources on both sides believe the unsettled issues are not of such gravity that they threaten the integrity of the upcoming season, talks have progressed slowly.If the owners take the formal step of locking out the players once the current agreement expires, teams likely would not send representatives to the winter meetings in Washington, D.C.Much of the work done at the annual winter meetings is based on the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, and without rules in place, the business of baseball would largely screech to a halt.A lot of player agents and club evaluators believe the recent slowdown in the typical offseason movement is directly related to the growing uncertainty about the outcome and possible timing of the CBA discussions.I think everybody is just waiting to see what happens, one player representative said.The strategy of both leaderships may well be revealed Tuesday or Wednesday. The owners signaled flexibility in the issue of the international draft before, and now they have reportedly backed off the request. But sources familiar with the negotiations say this shift didnt jump-start the talks in the way the management side had hoped, and as of Monday evening, there was still a lot of progress needed. Elie Okobo Suns Jersey . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Mikal Bridges Suns Jersey . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. https://www.thesunslockerroom.com/Isaiah-Canaan-City-Edition-Jersey/ . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. 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CHICAGO -- When the?Chicago Cubs?acquired controversial, flame-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees on Monday, there were sure to be repercussions beyond any baseball-related debate.After issuing a written statement to the media through the Cubs upon being traded, Chapman was introduced to the local media Tuesday in a 20-minute news conference in the visiting dugout at U.S. Cellular Field.Speaking to about 30 reporters and six television cameras through the Cubs designated Spanish translator, coach Henry Blanco, Chapman seemed to skirt around several questions about the domestic-abuse incident that led to the 30-day suspension he served at the beginning of this season.When asked what the Cubs asked him in regard to the off-the-field incident, Blanco translated for Chapman: They told him what they expected for him, welcomed him to the club and hes going to be a part of the team. Hopefully, a guy that helps us to the World Series.Variations of the response were repeated a few times to a media group that grew more impatient as the conference progressed.At one point, when asked about the precise substance of a conference call between the pitcher, agent Barry Praver, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and owner Tom Ricketts, Chapman paused for several seconds, and, after offering a brief response in Spanish, Blanco translated, He was sleeping when they had a meeting with him on the phone, so hes trying to remember what he talked about.However, after the group news conference ended, Chapman participated in a one-on-one interview with ESPNs Pedro Gomez that was conducted in Spanish. In that conversation, Chapman was more successful in offering answers to some of the same questions he had just been asked.I knew that no matter where I was traded to, this would resurface -- that the controversy is going to follow me, Chapman told Gomez. But Im with my girlfriend. Our family is together. Were working toward making things better in our lives. And really, its going to be with me.When asked what he has learned from the incident, Chapman told Gomez, Ive grown tremendously from that time. Im with my girlfriend still, with the family, and I feel that I have absolutelyy changed as a person.dddddddddddd Im working to be a better person.And now that I remember -- because they just asked me in the previous press conference what the owners asked me -- one of the things they did ask me was about being a better person and being a better neighbor to people. And thats something that I think that I am now, much more so.Those sentiments were echoed a bit later in an impromptu news conference with Epstein in the dugout.I think there is a lot to be said that he was nervous and not speaking his native language and being translated, Epstein said. Look, I was on the call. Tom was on the call. Aroldis was on the call, and Barry Praver, his agent, was on the call. It happened, and it was real. We talked to him about the incident and made sure that statement reflected his real feelings on it.Because that was important to us, and to hear it directly from him. Tom laid out the exact same standards that he lays out to everyone in spring training.Cubs manager Joe Maddon also suggested that the message of Chapmans group news conference was lost in translation.I think it shows that he may not have understood the question, Maddon sad. You have to understand, this kid comes from Cuba, doesnt speak the language very well. Its easy to misunderstand.Maddon?said that incumbent closer Hector Rondon was OK with the clubs acquisition of Chapman, whose average fastball velocity of 100 mph is the highest in the majors, according to ESPN Stats & Information.That, of course, is why the Cubs made the lightning-rod deal in the first place as the club tries to position itself for the franchises first championship in 108 years. If that happens, it could well be Chapman on the mound finishing off the historic accomplishment.I dont feel any different pressure at all, Chapman said in his interview with Gomez. I dont think that you have to put any pressure on yourself. Im still the closer. Im going to do the same job I always have.Chapman was available to pitch Tuesday, but didnt even get the chance to warm up as the Cubs were shut out 3-0?by the crosstown?White Sox.? ' ' '