Ballparks across Florida and Arizona have come to life in the past two days. The sound of leather baseballs into leather gloves is echoing throughout bullpens and ballparks. The crack of a maple bat meeting a center-cut, four-seam fastball cuts through the silence that these ballparks endured for four weeks. The wait is finally over, to the delight of sports fans across the country, our nation’s pastime has returned.
Spring training was originally scheduled to begin on February 15, 2022. Due to the failure to negotiate by the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and Major League Baseball (MLB), a lockout was initiated in December 2021 and continued up until last week. On March 10, 2022, The MLB and MLBPA announced that they had reached an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the new season. The new CBA will run up until 2027. A CBA outlines the financial rules and regulations for the game of baseball.
There are several key components to the 2022-2027 CBA. Primarily, there are new increases to minimum salaries, there is now a universal Designated Hitter in both leagues, an expanded postseason, and a $50M bonus pool to reward players who are not eligible for arbitration. Also included in the new CBA are service credit for the top finalists for rookie of the year, enhanced revenue through jersey and helmet sponsorship agreements, pension benefits, medical benefits, and limits on the amount of time a player can be sent to the minor leagues.
Two other goals are the Competitive Balance Tax threshold set at $230 Million and a penalty tier if a team exceeds that threshold by $60 million. A Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) is a tax on teams that exceed the $230 Million threshold in total salary. The goal in doing this is to make the game more competitive. Teams from bigger cities bring in more revenue and can afford higher salaries, however, the CBT prevents such teams from spending exorbitant amounts of cash on players. In spite of the salaried incentives, if teams decide to exceed the CBT threshold, the MLB enforces a tax and redistributes that tax to other smaller teams that do not bring in as much revenue as the larger teams. The goal in doing this is to make the game more fair and competitive by leveling the playing field for all teams.
The goal of the MLBPA was to increase the rights of players. “Our union endured the second-longest work stoppage in its history to achieve significant progress in key areas that will improve not just current players’ rights and benefits, but those of generations to come. Players remained engaged and unified from beginning to end, and in the process reenergized our fraternity,” Tony Clark, Executive Director of the MLBPA, said.
The MLB and MLBPA have leveled the playing field, they have increased the rights of players, particularly younger players, and they have brought back the sport that so many love. Opening Day is now set for April 7, and fans could not be more excited.