MLB and the Players Association have finally come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will run in the 2022-2026 period, per several reports.
The old CBA expired on December 1, and owners implemented a lockout on December 2, a measure aimed to put some pressure into players to negotiate a new one.
That didn’t quite work because the two sides didn’t speak for over 40 days, and negotiations turned impossible to watch for several weeks after that… until today.
Now, spring training can start, and the season will be 162 games long and will start, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, on April 7.
Mark April 7 In Your Calendars
“Players can report to spring-training camps as early as tomorrow. Opening Day is expected to be April 7, as @JesseRogersESPN first reported. Transactions unfreeze upon ratification, which is expected to come as early as today, meaning free agents can sign and trades can occur,” Passan tweeted.
Players can report to spring-training camps as early as tomorrow. Opening Day is expected to be April 7, as @JesseRogersESPN first reported. Transactions unfreeze upon ratification, which is expected to come as early as today, meaning free agents can sign and trades can occur.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 10, 2022
As Jesse Rogers explained, fans now know when official baseball games will start: mark your calendars, fans!
As for the second free agency and the re-opening of the trade market, it is expected to come in the next few hours, and it will be a crazy time for the sport.
High-profile stars such as Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Rodon, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa, Kris Bryant, and Nick Castellanos will likely fly off the market as soon as the league gives the green light to teams to negotiate.
The lockout is a thing of the past, and baseball is finally a part of our immediate future.
We can almost hear the sounds of bats impacting baseballs.
Not all players were happy about the owners’ last offer, but the majority of them thought it was time to get on the field.
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