There it is!
After a long, frustrating process, Major League Baseball and the Players’ Association have tentatively agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will cover 2022 through 2026…
BREAKING: Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor deal, sources tell ESPN. While it still needs to be ratified by both parties, that is expected to be a formality, and when it is:
Baseball is back.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 10, 2022
I’ll update this with information as it comes in…
- The off-season will resume tonight at 6 PM ET as the trade and free-agent signing freeze will be lifted once the deal is officially ratified.
- Spring Training games will start between March 18 and March 20, with players heading down to report to Florida and Arizona immediately.
- Opening Day will be on April 7, which, as Mike Wilner points out, is the 45-year anniversary of the Blue Jays’ first-ever game. All 162 games will be played as the season will be extended by three days and the rest of the games will be made up with double-headers.
- MLB will have the right in 2023 to implement a pitch clock, a restrictive shift forcing all four infielders to be on the dirt when the pitch is thrown, and enlarged bases. We’ll also see a return to nine-inning doubleheaders and regular extra-inning rules as the man on second is a thing of the past.
- As expected, the post-season will expand to a 12-team format, thought the details on how that’ll specifically work aren’t yet known.