What’s the Deal Between MLB and MLBPA?
March 12, 2022
Spring may be near, but is the collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) coming soon too? One can only hope that MLB will be able to have a semi-normal season this year. Starting with the shortened 2020 season due to COVID-19, followed by a limited amount of fans allowed in the stadiums, and many game postponements because of team COVID-19 outbreaks, it’s been two years since MLB has experienced a normal season. Just when fans thought there would be a normal season, MLB and the MLBPA have had difficulties coming to an agreement in terms of how much players are making and changes to certain rules regarding both players and the game.
Due to the two organizations being unable to come to a final decision on multiple deadlines, MLB has been on a quite lengthy lockout. Even more importantly though, the regular season has recently been postponed. The first two series for every team in the league have been canceled, and the start to spring training has also been delayed to start no earlier than March 12th. If you are unaware of how pre-season works in baseball, pitchers, and catchers typically report to training facilities in Florida in the middle of February, and all other players report a few days after. However, the lockout has prevented teams from being able to report at the originally determined date. The delay in spring training also doesn’t allow for the start of the regular season until at least April 12th. This is because the organizations have stated that they would like to have at least four weeks of training due to the number of injuries that occurred in the 2021 season.
Other terms and conditions between MLB and the MLBPA would include increasing the size of the bases, adjusting players’ salaries, creating an option limit, and standardizing the usage of a designated hitter (DH) throughout the entire league. So what is the purpose of these proposed changes? To start off, the change in the size of the bases was proposed to reduce the number of player collisions and reduce the number of possible injuries from running to the base. Bigger bags would help create more space for both the fielder and runner to make a play. Another provision involves players’ salaries which would be set to a minimum of $700,000 and would increase by $10,000 for every year in the deal. The proposal regarding an option limit is directed towards how many times a player is optioned to their team’s minor league teams. This limit would not allow a player to be optioned down more than five times per season. Finally, the universal usage of a designated hitter. This has been a debate sitting on the table for a few years now, and even baseball fans have mixed opinions on this topic. A designated hitter is a player who will bat for their team’s pitcher when their team is up to bat. Although they play offensively, they do not go on the field to play defensively. Although a “universal” rule regarding DHs would be new, DHs have been used in the American League in Major League Baseball 1973. There are many pros and cons to the usage of a DH which is why it is such a controversial topic in baseball.
Many other proposals have been made during the negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA that were not listed. Although both organizations have not agreed on anything so far, it is anticipated that they will come to an agreement soon. However, if they remain to disagree and are unable to negotiate, the MLB season may not start until the summer, and teams will only get to play half a season. If you would like to read more about the proposals being made to form the final negotiation, you can read the article linked below from MLB’s website.
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mlbpa-cba-negotiations-update
*This article was written prior to the MLB and the MLBPA organizations agreeing to a collective bargaining agreement. All MLB teams will report to spring training Sunday, March 12, and the regular season will begin on April 7. More information can be found using the link below.
