Cubs’ Ian Happ on failed international draft, qualifying offer talks: ‘It’s unfortunate’

Cubs outfielder Ian Happ also serves as the MLBPA team rep. File photo.During collective-bargaining talks last winter, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association left a pair of connected issues unresolved. They set a deadline of July 25 to conclude further negotiations on implementing an international draft, which they tied to the removal of the qualifying-offer system.

That deadline passed Monday, and the players’ union rejected MLB’s ‘‘final’’ proposal, saying in a statement that the owners’ response to the its offers ‘‘fell well short of anything Players could consider a fair deal.’’

‘‘It’s unfortunate,’’ said outfielderIan Happ, the Cubs’ player representative. ‘‘Unfortunate…