MLB
Will there be a full 2022 baseball season?
MLB and the MLB Players Association have settled on a tentative collective bargaining agreement, ending over three months of an owner-implemented lockout.
Baseball fans can finally heave a sigh of relief.
After over three months of an owner-implemented lockout, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have settled on a tentative collective bargaining agreement pending ratification.
Both sides still need to sign a memorandum of understanding, which would make the CBA official. The collective bargaining agreement will be in place for five years.
End of the MLB lockout
The lockout ended a day shy of its 100th day, and it was the first in MLB history that jeopardized the regular season.
The union’s executive board voted 26-12 to approve the proposal, which will also trigger a rapid-fire round of free agency.
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With the new deal, the 2022 regular season will begin with Opening Day on April 7, while spring training camps will start in Florida and Arizona on Sunday.
The agreement restores the four series that Commissioner Rob Manfred previously cancelled; and, most importantly for baseball fans, a full 162-game season will be held. The games that had to be postponed will be reset as nine-inning doubleheaders.
The new CBA reportedly includes the following provisions.
MLB-MLBPA CBA details
- There will be an increase in minimum salaries from $570,000 to $700,000, which will rise to $780,000 by the end of the agreement.
- There will also be a raise in competitive balance tax thresholds for team payrolls, starting at $230 million this year and eventually going up to $244 million.
- A universal designated hitter will be adopted.
- A draft lottery involving only six picks will be put into place as a way to prevent tanking.
- A pre-arbitration $50,000 bonus pool will be distributed annually as an incentive for the best young players in the game.
- An international draft will be evaluated.
- Limits will be placed on how many times players can be optioned in a season.