A New CBA Has Been Made as the MLB Lockout Comes to an End

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Avisail Garcia leads off from second as Mike Minor checks back
2021 Kansas City Royals pitcher Mike Minor checks 2021 Milwaukee Brewer Avisail Garcia back to second base. Photo credit Ryan Pollak

After 99 days of negotiations, extending deadlines and cancelling games, a new competitive balance agreement (CBA) has been approved by the MLBPA and players can prepare for the 2022 MLB season. Once the agreement is ratified, the MLB lockout is over and baseball is back according to ESPN insider Jeff Passan.

According to tweets by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of the Athletic, the vote of 26-12 was more than the two thirds needed to approve of the new CBA. The deal still needs to be ratified by both parties.

 “I’m excited right now,” said Jose Fonseca, a Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves fan. “Now my brother and I can go to Atlanta for the Braves vs Brewers. We didn’t want to cancel our trip.”

With the new CBA, there will be different rules in place. According to a tweet by MLB Network Insider Mark Feinsand seen below, the details of the new CBA include a 700,000 minimum salary, a new pre-arbitration pool of $50 million, universal DH, an expanded playoff format and a competitive balance tax that rises annually.

A universal DH means pitchers will no longer have to bat in the National League. More teams can make the playoffs. There can be future rule changes as well. As soon as next year, a committee mixed with players, members of the MLB and an umpire will get together to potentially adopt new rules and regulations according to Mark Feisand.

Even after Rob Manfred announced the cancellation of Opening Day last week, MLB extended their deadline for the players to play 162 games. The original deadline was by Feb. 28 at midnight ET. The newest deadline was by 3 P.M. ET today to get a deal done.

There was potential that a deal could’ve been made Wednesday morning. The hold up was due to uncertainties of an international draft. MLB offered they would remove the Qualifying Offer the MLBPA were hoping to get rid of in exchange for this draft. The players were against it.

At around 11:30 E.T. on March 10, the MLB and the MLBPA came to an agreement on a solution to the international draft. The players have until July 25 to agree on a potential international draft. If they make a deal, the qualifying offer is removed, and the draft can start as early as 2024. Should it not be agreed upon, the qualifying offer remains.

As soon as the CBA is approved, the MLB Lockout will cease to exist. Players can report to Spring Training as early as next week. Free agency will reopen right away, and arbitration dates will be set and finalized in the middle of the season according to Rosenthal.

Opening Day is expected to be April 7 and will be expected to run 162 games. There will be many double headers and fewer days off from here on out.