The second-longest work stoppage in baseball history is finally over at 99 days.
On Thursday, Major League Baseball owners and the MLB Players Association came to a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. There will be baseball in 2022 — 162 games of it, according to reports.
Serious negotiating all week centered on the implementation of an international draft. The two sides reached compromises on the other core economic issues, leaving that as the last major hurdle.
But the union and owners agreed to kick that issue down the road, setting July 25 as a deadline to reach a deal on a format that would begin in 2024.
Players are expected to report to spring training as early as tomorrow, March 11, per reports. All league transactions are expected to resume imminently. Opening Day, according to Passan, is expected to be April 7.
If the schedule reverts back to its original form, the Giants would open their season on April 8 at home against the Miami Marlins.
The MLBPA accepted the league’s proposal, 26 votes to 12, that included a $230 million competitive balance tax threshold, a pre-arbitration pool of $50 million, and a minimum salary starting at $700,000.
Also in the deal: the universal designated hitter, an expanded 12-team playoff field, the ability to implement major rule changes as soon as 2023, and advertisement patches on jerseys.
MLB moved the goalposts several times during negotiations, consistently implementing “deadlines” and apparently making last-minute asks when deals grew closer. The league had removed the first four series of the season — amounting to two weeks — but now plans to re-install them.
For weeks, it’s been clear that the stakes at play weren’t totally sport-altering. The union dropped its asks for players to reach free agency sooner and for major revenue sharing changes, making the playing field about less revolutionary items. Negotiations came down to “core economics,” with the MLBPA wanting players to earn more money earlier in their careers and for the league to reform the competitive balance tax that has acted as a de facto salary cap.
The players accomplished those goals with increases in the minimum salary, the implementation of a pre-arbitration bonus pool and a raised CBT system. But make no mistake: the owners still maintained much of the status quo of a system that’s helped enrich them and the sport over the years.
A flurry of transactions will likely commence tonight, as players scramble to find a home before the season. There are also likely several deals that were close to being finalized before the lockout in December which can now be pushed through.
The new CBA will last five years. Until then, baseball is back.