MLB and the Players Association finally approved a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that means the lockout is over.
Baseball is, officially, back.
Before the announcement that players had accepted the owners’ latest offer, we found out that the decision wasn’t unanimous.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, 26 of the 38 members of the Association voted yes, and 12 voted no.
“Union executive board vote was 8-0 against the MLB proposal but teams voted 26-4 in favor of it, carrying the day, Unusual that the general player population goes so far against player leadership,” Heyman tweeted.
Union executive board vote was 8-0 against the MLB proposal but teams voted 26-4 in favor of it, carrying the day, Unusual that the general player population goes so far against player leadership.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 10, 2022
The Players Association executive board has eight players, and each team has a representative in the union.
The Union’s Executive Board Was Against The Owners’ Last Offer
Perhaps influenced by uber-agent Scott Boras, all eight members of the union’s executive board voted against the latest owners’ offer, which came with a $700,000 minimum salary, a $50 million pre-arbitration bonus pool, and the competitive balance tax (CBT) starting at $230 million.
Boras, after all, represents most of the players in the executive board, which has Max Scherzer, Andrew Miller, Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semien, Gerrit Cole, James Paxton, Zack Britton, and Jason Castro as members.
However, 26 of the 30 team representatives voted in favor, so they, as Heyman said, carried the day for players and fans.
It’s very important to note that the executive board’s decision to vote against was honorable, and should be respected.
Most of them are financially set for life: they did it for future generations.
Most of the players, however, wanted to get back on the field as soon as possible.
As a result, baseball is fully back, with everything that comes with it.
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