Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association made a collective bargaining agreement Thursday, potentially ending the 99-day lockout and paving the way for the 2022 season to begin April 7, according to an MLB press release.
The MLB had postponed Opening Day until April 14 and removed games from the schedule because an agreement had not yet been reached, according to the press release. (RELATED: MLB Owners Lock Out Players After Failed Contract Negotiations)
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With Opening Day on April 7, the 162-game season has been saved and spring training will start Sunday. Exhibition games begin March 17 or 18. Owners signed off on the five-year contract with a 30-0 vote, The Associated Press reported.
The new agreement includes increased minimum salaries, a new pre-arbitration bonus pool that rewards top young players, a raise in tax thresholds, a universal designated hitter, an expanded postseason, the widest-ranging Draft lottery in pro sports and steps to discourage “tanking,” according to the press release.
“The deal pushes the game forward,” Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, a member of the union’s executive subcommittee, told the AP. “It addresses a lot of the things that the players in the game should be focused on: the competitive integrity aspect of it.”