THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- Baseball umpires and Major Leage Baseball management signed an agreement today that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field.

The deal was signed by lawyers for the commissioner's office and the World Umpires Association one day after a WUA spokesman went public with complaints over negotiations.

After haggling over final details, the sides exchanged proposals last night.

"We reached an agreement. Final decision with respect to moving ahead has not been made yet, but we have an agreement with the umpires," said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations.

Finalization of the agreement was first reported by murraychass.com.

WUA spokesman Lamell McMorris, who criticized management yesterday, also confirmed the deal.

"We're going to move forward with the understanding the sides will come to the table later and iron out some of the remaining issues," he said. "Instant replay will be a work in progress."