Topline
Major League Baseball and its player union reached a tentative agreement Thursday afternoon on a new collective bargaining agreement, according to ESPN and the Athletic, heralding an imminent end to the owners’ three-month lockout of the players.
Major League Baseball will play a full 162-game schedule, ESPN and The Athletic report, despite MLB … [+]
Key Facts
The Major League Baseball Players Association accepted the owners’ latest labor proposal Thursday, voting 26-12 in favor of the deal, ESPN and the Athletic reported citing anonymous sources, and the deal awaits formal ratification from both sides.
The deal will raise the minimum salary for players with less than three years of Major League service from $570,500 to $700,000, with the floor rising over time to $780,000, and a $50 million bonus pool for those players will be established, according to ESPN.
The MLB agreed to raise its competitive balance tax, which serves as an unofficial salary cap for teams, from $210 million in 2021 to $230 million in 2022, gradually increasing to $244 million, ESPN reports.
The owners and players also agreed to expand the playoffs from 10 teams to 12 teams and implement a universal designated hitter, according to ESPN, formalizing changes the sides reportedly agreed to last month.
Spring training will start “imminently,” according to the Athletic, and free agency is expected to resume as soon as Thursday night, ESPN reports.
Opening Day will be April 7, one week after originally expected, according to the Athletic, and it and ESPN report teams will play a full 162-game regular season – rolling back MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s earlier cancellation of games through April 14.
Big Number
99. That’s how many days the lockout lasted after the league’s previous collective bargaining agreement expired December 2, 2021.
Key Background
The MLB lockout is the first work stoppage in major American professional sports leagues since 2013 and the MLB’s first since 1994-95, which caused the cancellation of the 1994 postseason. Negotiations between owners and players stalled multiple times, reportedly causing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to offer to assist the discussions and the MLB to seek the help of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The primary dispute was over players’ requests for higher pay to respond to rising league revenue.
Further Reading
Sources: MLB, union reach tentative agreement on new CBA, salvage 162-game season (ESPN)
As MLB Nears Likely Lockout, Here’s How Long Prior Sports Stoppages Have Lasted (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/03/10/mlb-players-and-owners-reach-new-labor-deal-season-reportedly-will-begin-april-7/