Report: MLB and MLBPA Agree to New CBA, Ending Lockout

Baseball is back!

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

After the debacle that was Wednesday's meetings, MLB and the MLBPA have negotiated a new CBA, ending the 99-day lockout.

The two sides went into Thursday's meetings blocked by the international draft. It had been one of the main talking points during Wednesday night's meetings, with minor, yet notable, differences on the luxury tax, pre-arbitration pool, and minimum salary.

The largest gap then became the arbitration pool. MLB's proposal ended with a total of $40 million, while the player's proposal ended with a total of $85 million.

Per Bob Nightengale, prior meetings saw the gap in the luxury tax drop to $8 million and the minimum salary drop to $10,000 by the end of the agreement.

Current MLB-MLBA economic proposals:
LUXURY TAX
MLB:$230M,$232M,$236M,$240M,$242M
MLBPA:$232M,$235M,$240M,$245M,$250M
NON-ARB POOL
MLB:$40M,$40M,$40M,$40M,$40M
MLBPA:$65M,$70M,$75M,$80M,$85M
MINIMUM SALARY
MLB:$700K, $715K, $730K, $750K,$770K
MLBPA:$710K,$725K,$740K,$760K,$780K
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 10, 2022

The latest offer given by the league was an even closer deal. Their luxury tax offer rose by $2 million, their pre-arbitration offer rose by $10 million and their minimum salary offer rose by $10,000 at the end of the agreement.

Latest MLB proposal, per source:

Luxury-tax thresholds - $230M to $244M over course of five-year deal. (increase of $2M in final year from last offer)

Pre-arb pool: $50M (increase of $10M)

Minimum salaries, $700K to $780K. (increase of $10K in final year)

3 p.m. “deadline.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 10, 2022

Though the Union executive board voted against MLB's proposal, the 30 team representatives were enough to make e-board votes null, according to Jon Heyman of Audacy Sports.

The agreement comes with an arrangement for a full 162 game season. This wasn't guaranteed after the league canceled another week of games following Wednesday's meeting.

The rescheduled games would be nine-inning doubleheaders according to Nightengale, with the season being extended by three days.

According to Heyman, the date for players to report to their spring training camps would be March 13, with Opening Day being moved from March 31 to April 7.

The free-agent market could open at midnight on Friday morning, opening the whole industry to deals and negotiations which froze during the lockout.

Update: Players vote was 26-12 in favor of deal.

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