The Major League Baseball lockout has ended, as the MLB Players Association has finally reached an agreement with the league.
Players voted to accept the latest collective bargaining agreement proposal from team owners on Thursday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported. MLB announced this week that Opening Day was pushed back to April 14 with no agreement in place, but the season will now begin on April 7.
The vote was 26-12 in favor of the new labor agreement.
MLB now needs 23 of 30 owners to vote “yes” to ratify the agreement, but that is expected. Free agency will officially resume when that happens, and players can report to spring training as early as Friday.
A full 162-game season will be played, which means full pay for the players. The four series that were previously nixed will be rescheduled as nine-inning doubleheaders.
The new CBA is a five-year agreement. It will include increased minimum salaries and a new bonus pool to reward the top players in the game before they become arbitration eligible. There will also be increases in the luxury tax threshold each year. Negotiations will continue on the international draft issue.
MLB and the MLBPA agreed that they have until July 25 to reach a deal on an international draft that would start in 2024, a source tells ESPN. If a deal is reached, the qualifying offer will vanish. If no deal, the QO will return and the international system will remain the same.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 10, 2022
Owners put pressure on the players this week by cancelling more games, which would have meant less play. That likely created the urgency that was needed to get a deal done. In any event, baseball is back.
Photo: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
