Phillies

BREAKING NEWS: Baseball is Back, the Lockout is Over

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 10th, 2022 · 3:28 PM EST

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Jeff Passan getting his Twitter account back to report that the lock out has ended is one of the greatest come backs of all time:

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

You realize there’s gonna be a flurry of free agent activity in the middle of all the Ben Simmons stuff tonight? We won’t be able to keep track of it all. Maybe we’ll dust off Bob Wankel and get him back to the editorial side of the company. We need baseball talk on Crossing Broad.

But for real, let’s fucking go. Let’s open the shed doors and get out the equipment. Load the truck and send it to Clearwater. It’s time for baseball and it’s time for the Phillies to go back to the playoffs for the first time in a decade-plus. This is the year they break through. You heard it here first. Everybody who wants in gets in. Everybody who wants out, get out. This team is going to the playoffs.

EDIT 1 – this is interesting:

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

EDIT 2 – I’ve been informed that Roman Quinn has injured his hamstring already

EDIT 3 – Passan writes this at ESPN:

The basic agreement governs almost all aspects of the game, but baseball’s core economics were front and center in the labor talks. In addition to the CBT move, the minimum salary governing players with less than three years of major league service will jump from $570,500 to $700,000, growing to $780,000, and a bonus pool worth $50 million will be distributed among those younger players who have yet to reach salary arbitration.

MLB had pushed for expanding the postseason to 12 teams — a plan to which the MLBPA agreed. Additionally, player uniforms will feature advertising for the first time, with patches on jerseys and decals on batting helmets.

Other elements of the deal include:

• A 45-day window for MLB to implement rules changes — among them a pitch clock, ban on shifts and larger bases in the 2023 season

• The National League adopting the designated hitter

• A draft lottery implemented with the intent of discouraging tanking

• Draft-pick inducements to discourage service-time manipulation

• Limiting the number of times a player can be optioned to the minor leagues in one season

(I’ll keep updating story with details)