There will be baseball in 2022.
After a lockout of 99 days, MLB and the Players Association finally struck a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement on Thursday afternoon, sources confirmed.
The deal still needs to be ratified by the league, but the MLBPA voted to accept MLB’s latest proposal. The owners are scheduled to vote at 6 p.m.
The transaction freeze that began when MLB locked out the players on Dec. 2 will be lifted when the CBA is ratified, which will lead to a wild free-agent period since many top players — including shortstop Carlos Correa — remain unsigned.
Players can report to spring training camps as early as Friday.
Opening Day is now scheduled for Apr. 7, with the Yankees slated to open the season in The Bronx against the Red Sox and the Mets in Washington the same day.
There will be a full 162-game season, with the season extended and other games made up with doubleheaders and on previously scheduled off-days.
While the competitive balance tax thresholds appeared to be the biggest hurdle for most of the negotiations, the hang-up on Wednesday — leading to commissioner Rob Manfred announcing that two more series (making it four total) had been “removed from the schedule” — was over the league’s proposal to introduce an international draft in 2024 in exchange for eliminating the qualifying offer, which the union declined.
The sides agreed on Thursday to hold off on a deadline on the decision until July 25 and reopened the rest of the CBA, leading to the final agreement.
The player vote was 26-12 among the 30 team representatives, but all eight members of the executive subcommittee voted against the deal.
Among the details of the new deal are a CBT starting at $230 million this year, rising to $233 million, $237 million, $241 million and $244 million. The pre-arbitration pool landed at $50 million, the minimum salary bumped to $700,000, going up to $780,000. There will also be a universal DH, a 12-team postseason, nine-inning doubleheaders, no extra runner in extra innings, players can only be optioned five times in a season and a six-pick draft lottery.
As for rule changes like a pitch clock, base size and the defensive shift, there will be a joint committee made up of six MLB representatives, four active players and one umpire that will vote starting in 2023.