Let’s play ball. There will indeed be baseball in 2022. Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association finally came to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement late Thursday afternoon. The deal ended a 99-day lockout.
While I could get into the revised financial terms of minimum salaries, the competitive tax threshold and pre-arbitration money, all you need to know is there are plenty of dollars to go around for everyone.
Here are other items which are of more interest to the fans:
There will be a 162-game schedule. Despite previous announcements by the league which said it was cancelling the first two weeks of the season, teams will play a traditional full schedule. The season will start a week later and be extended by a few days at the end of the year.
The postseason has been expanded from 10 to 12 teams. That will add a layer to the postseason with a best-of-three games for the four verses five seeds and the three versus six seeds. The top two-of-three division champs in each league will get a first-round bye.
The universal DH will go into effect so, yes, both the American and National Leagues will be playing with the DH.
The seven-inning doubleheader goes away. Games within a doubleheader will be nine innings.
The rule of putting a runner on second base in extra innings has been eliminated.
New rules for 2023 will include a pitch clock, the elimination of the defensive shift and larger bases from 15 to 18 inches square.
The international draft, which was a major point of contention between the two sides, has effectively been tabled. The two sides have agreed to a new deadline of July 25 regarding the possibility of an international draft for 2024. Otherwise, the current system will remain unchanged.
So what’s next? The first thing is free agency has officially started. As of Thursday, there were 300 players without a team.
Players must report to spring training by Sunday. The first spring training games will be Friday, March 18.
Opening Day is now Thursday, April 7. The Reds will begin the season with a four-game series in Atlanta. Their home opener will be Tuesday, April 12 as part of a two-game set against Cleveland.
We thank various online reports for contributions to this article.