6:35pm: Tim Healey of Newsday reports (Twitter link) that the league and union also agreed to a series of games or tours in various destinations outside the United States and Canada. During the next CBA, they’ll stage events in Mexico, Asia, Puerto Rico, London, the Dominican Republic and Paris.
5:25pm: Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal reports (on Twitter) that beginning in 2023, the schedule will be adjusted such that every team plays all 29 opponents in each season. The exact format is to be determined, but those games will come attached to a decrease in the number of intra-divisional games teams will play. Previously, teams played 19 games per season against all four of their divisional opponents.
2:34pm: With the new collective bargaining agreement in place, Opening Day will be set for April 7, as first reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter links). It’ll be a 162-game season with full player pay, with the end of the season pushed back three days and doubleheaders in place to compensate for the one-week delayed start. Spring Training games will begin around March 18.
Players will be able to report to Spring Training tomorrow, tweets Jeff Passan of ESPN. The mandatory spring report date is Sunday, March 13, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.
MLB had announced yesterday it was canceling games through April 13. However, today’s progress in negotiations led the league to backtrack on that stance. Nothing has been made official on the league’s end — presumably, that’s pending this evening’s ownership ratification, which is expected to be a formality. At that point, the league figures to make a formal announcement on the schedule. Presumably, it’d reinstate the originally scheduled games it nominally wiped out yesterday, but there’s been no word on that yet.
Finally !!!!
Let’s go baseball is back.
Too bad so many people on here are “done with baseball” lol. I’m already seeing some of them act like nothing ever happened.
Great day for us all!
@lemonlyman
Crazy to watch people in these comments still feel the need to whine and cry about a slight delay of the season. They act as if someone punched their mom or something. A lot of, “Sorry, it’s too late.” and “I’m not coming back.”
Get over yourselves. BASEBALL IS BACK. REJOICE.
I was tired of reading a bunch of b.s. so I deleted app. I heard today an agreement was reached so I added app again. I did that for my sanity. 🙂
Yes and also important, next year we will FINALLY go back to a more balanced schedule. It was a necessity now that there will be as many Wild Card teams as Division Champions.
Poor Tampa …. no more 20 home games a year against the Sox/Yanks. That will take a huge bite out of an already very poor attendance.
Maybe too much of a balance. Instead of playing all 29 opponents I would have preferred more games in the same league instead of so many inter league games. No need to play the entire opposite league.
Wow, all 29 other teams. Can the AL and NL distinction be dissolved in the near future?
@DonnyDownvote, I really believe that’s Manfred’s goal. Maybe not the complete elimination, but he’s moving toward a complete restructuring of the leagues that will allow for even more regionalized divisions.
As I wrote elsewhere here, that approach is why the Universal DH was suddenly more important to ownership than even the players. With more inter-league play and more regionalized play, they need all the teams playing by the same rules.
A preamble for 8 four-team divisions, and the elimination of a “league” concept.
Just yesterday I responded to someone crying “I’ve had enough, cancel the season” by reminding them it’s only March 9th.
Sadly it’s a reflection of the “I can’t wait, I want it now” instant gratification generation, probably the same people who want the games to end as quick as possible so they can hit the bars.
I’m very happy MLB is back in business, and still having valid tix to four ST games is an added bonus. Regulars playing a lot more than usual in those ST games is a double bonus.
Perksy – They have no choice because of the increase in Wild Cards.
Can you imagine one NL Wildcard contender having to play 20 games against the AL East, while another plays 20 games against the AL Central. That would be totally unfair to the team having to play the AL East.
As a Jays fan I’m thrilled!
So, the Super Series instead of the World Series?
I know, right? Sounds quite similar to a group of people that said they’d leave the country if someone was somewhere doing something.
Steve “Heisenberg”Cohen will be the first to sign a free agent…. Say his name
Free agency starts at 6 PM tonight after ratification by owners
Rule five draft is canceled for this year
Get ready for rapid-fire free agent signings and trades. It’s going to feel like Christmas all over again.
so I need to worry about my drunk uncle trying to stay the night on my couch sometime soon?
Doubtful. Any team that signs a marquee name this week is definitely getting investigated. They have to wait a bit to not make it too obvious.
Motel 6s were built for just such an occasion.
The cost of the current roster just went up. There will be transactions just don’t expect the same dollars to be spent, as money was just pulled from revenue sharing to cover the cost of the new bonus pool. Small markets took a hit. Less to spend.
Or your drunk aunt on ours.
Josh Harrison
I correctly voted March 10 as settlement day … was that contest here?
yes, you win an all expenses paid trip to see the Pirates in the World Series should they reach it before the expiration of this CBA
Question: in order to make up a few dates, will the All Star game still be played?
Arnold – I heard the 6 or 7 games per team will be made up two ways, playing 3-4 DH’s sometime during the season and adding 3 more days to the end of the regular season.
We need baseball! Ahhh deep breath!
So lol free agency is active now?
Nice.
Can’t believe they did. Let’s play some baseball!
Sheeeeeeet is about to get wild
go braves
LETS GOOO! Good job MLBPA getting that 162!!!
yesssssss
Hoooo boy. Gimme an Old Style baby.
FIRST
no…
Beisbol.
Spring has sprung! The world is back in balance. Still kind of pissed at both parties but more happy than angry now.
Cripes. Have some perspective. The world is pretty f’d up right now. Inflation is crazy pretty much everywhere. Europe is at war in a manner not seen in 80 or so years. Lebanon is still a total disaster. Syria the same. Afghanistan. Whatever it is China has planned for Hong Kong. I could find more, those are just off the top of my head.
But hey baseball is back.
I love the sport but come on.
it’s about time
That’s it, I’m done. Never watching baseball again.
Ok bye
You do you, sunshine.
Byeeeee!
Lol loser
Yup.
See you tomorrow, @whyhazee.
I am not watching baseball either not until ST games start.
I’m not sure people are getting the sarcasm. Ha.
Not at all, nuke. Their instinct is to immediately go full bore jackass.
Yeah, same. I’m not gonna watch any baseball for like a week. That’ll show ’em.
Exactly.
I immediately fall into the “all is forgiven, guys” category. Both sides pissed me off so much. But I’m over it already.
True: Fandumb.
“During the next CBA, they’ll stage events in Mexico, Asia, Puerto Rico, London, the Dominican Republic and Paris.”
I HATE this crap. I’m not watching those stupid games.
“hate” is such a strong & oft overused word. & all caps, too? Bro. They figured it out. Spring training games in a week.
Save your hatred for the Yanks while your mets limp to a 4th place finish. Man, we don’t have to hear about CBA negotiations for 5 more years! Just *that* is worth having a couple cold one’s over. (if need be, I will drink yours)
You have an issue with more fans getting to see games in person?
Bless your heart.
I just need to get the sarcasm out of my system. Then I’m all good. Bring on the baseball.
Anthony–Delayed or extended by 3 Days???
Baseball is for cool guys like us.
Finally.
The truth at last.
Welcome news on a dreary day, I’m so glad that they figured this out, I hate the business side of baseball
Bryant to the Phillies first signing
Stop
Woohoo! Great job, MLBPA! Let’s play ball!
So does that mean the second week of games that were cancelled yesterday are back into play?
yes
Bring on the signing frenzy !!!
Sure was an ugly process to get here, but I’ll take it!
Start announcing deals or we riot.
Make it April 7th of 2024.
Dark day for you…thankfully.
Time to go away now.
Greatest troll account ever.
I liked how he got meeker and meeker as the agreement neared
Nah, he couldn’t hold MetsFan22’s jock.
Boohoo nothing to complain about anymore. Your owners gave in.
Indeed. The players took back the championship belt with a 12th round knockout in the rematch. Now they have to resoundingly defend their title in a few years.
Now write one that says how the owners wiped the floor with the players in these negotiations. See how many thumbs up it gets.
Well that just proves they’re a lot of delusional people in this world. These “thumbs up” would undoubtedly come from all those people who said the players wouldn’t see a better offer than $220M CBT or $20M pre arb.
I think both sides did well.
Losers (through no fault of their own):
Businesses that cater to spring training.
Third year in a row that they are taking a hit.
@vtbaseball
So all 8 of the players executive committee voted against the agreement, and the owners ratified it unanimously, and you feel the owners gave in. That’s a nice perspective. If it makes you happy…
The_V0ice-Why don’t you do the same.
Monday, April 8, 2024 is the next total solar eclipse in the U.S.
Remember August 2017. I saw it in Tennessee.
Imagine taking in an afternoon ball game in Arlington or Cleveland after the eclipse. They are in the path of totality.
Yes!!! A giant FU to Manfred for making this an issue
And Tony Clark and Scott Boras and Scherzer and the other players on the exec committee who voted no and also already make hundreds of millions of dollars.
They probably rightly voted no. Who cares if you’re losing another 10-20 games now to get a better deal for the long-term. The season was never at-risk and we’re not losing any games right now there was probably a better deal to be had.
God, you people… always obsessively scraping and clawing for more and more money. “who cares”…
People like you care more about players getting $55 million rather than $53 million contracts more than you even care about the game.
What a life
what’s really weird Carl is that people like you seem to be more concerned about the owners lining their pockets and dragging their feet during negotiations which lead to the delay in the first place. What a life indeed.
I thought I be more excited. Baseball is my fave sport by far and I thought I care but i kinda really don’t.I’m hoping I get more hyped when more signing happen. I’m glad for the fans though. I feel really bad for feeling like this too. I thought the moment they agreed, I be up in arms. Like I said, maybe it take a little time to get back in baseball groove cause I sure love the game.
you didn’t take your meds that’s why you’re feeling that way
Schizophrenia must be terrible.
How many push-ups can you do without stopping?
Hallelujah!
Hell, yes.
Just got in from goose hunting & this is the first article I see! We made it fellas. I for one have grown weary of the constant sniping; with the owners, MLBPA, & right here on the board.
Let’s get back to ripping on the red sox or whatever.
Wow you’re having a great day so far.
Absolutely.
I’m tired, dog is exhausted, & baseball is back. Calls for a celebratory ale. Well…a second celebratory ale at this point.
Cheers, @Catuli.
I’m cracking one with you 😀
It’s a good day, man. A relief. We all knew they’d settle (too much money). Just glad it’s finally over & we won’t really miss anything.
I haven’t even checked the details. Don’t care much about which side “won” or whatever. All I care about is we have baseball again.
(I am fine perfectly with an accusation of shallow.)
It took u going goose hunting to turn the tide
Let’s all keep that in mind, @Brew.
Oh. Hey. Cheers to you as well, man.
Goose hunt the end of Ukraine war while you’re at it. And cheers back @ ya.
Go Dodgers! Screw the Giants! Baseball is back.
Atta boy. Feel the burn.
The dodgers shot at winning the west this year and a real World Series for the first time since 1988, just ended
This will truly be” MARCH MADNESS ” Can’t wait for free agency to start.
This will be bittersweet if it comes with a 14 team playoff…but I’ll take it.
it’s 12 teams not 14
I’m not a fan of expanded playoffs either, but at this point I just care a lot less about that. I’m jacked to be getting baseball back. Let the signing frenzy begin!
If I am going to be honest with you, without being sentimental of course, in my own humble opinion, without offending anyone who thinks differently from my own point of view, but also by looking into this particular matter with a distinct perspective, i would like to say, play ball!
Free Agency is going to be like a free for all. I expect a lot of hastily signed 1-yr deals.
Omg all you frickin Eeyores still complaining and whining. Keep your mopey negativity out of here. BASEBALL IS BACK BABY
Agreed.
Told you bitches that this wouldn’t be delayed too long.
Watch out. Ducky is coming for you.
Seems like a pretty tight timeframe for spring and the pitchers to ramp up, but whatever.
Agreed. Injuries will be off the charts in April and May probably.
for those players who are out of shape yes
Slightly better than 2020.
Let the signings begin!!!
Let the TRADE RUMORS commence!
ain’t no time for rumors, just signings
Does anyone know the status of doubleheaders for the coming season? Are we sticking with 7-inning games or back to 9?
Never mind, just saw the updated text, Back to ‘normal’.
Ugh. I hope it’s not the 7 inning double headers.
I’ve heard they will be going back to 9 inning DH’s.
It’s not. Back to 9 inning doubleheaders and no stupid ghost runner!
it’s not it’s 9 inning games and here comes the DH
Shocked the owners signed a deal. They must be making out pretty good but I’m not complaining
Announce Freeman to the Braves
That ship has sailed. Freeman will be a Yankee.
He’s way too likable to be a Yankee.
Hey now.
@Catuli Carl- What you really meant to say: “It makes way too much sense for Freeman to sign with the Yankees” so it probably won’t happen. My guess is he stays in Atlanta for 5 years.
Opening day moved back only 3 days and getting a full 162. I would have bet a week of The Voice of Reasons allowance that that would never have happened. Kinda shocked actually.
I made a list of all the people who in the last month said that they’d had it with baseball and were no longer fans and would never watch another game. I had better not see any of you posting here….
What are you going to do if they’re watching it?
I will swat them
With all those teams in the playoffs now, why not just turn the regular season into an extended playoffs?
It always has been. Just now a few less teams get eliminated in the first round.
MLB Network just said owners are ratifying at 6pm ET and free agency will start right after that. Hope everyone is ready!!!
let’s go Phils! Castellanos AND Story 🙂
Who wins the Trevor Story Lottery?
Better yet, How many games does Bauer get suspended? My wife says 324!
I doubt much comes of it. Might get a partial suspension of the season.
The 29 teams that don’t sign him.
Weren’t all charges dropped? Why would he be suspended?
Time served most likely.
Fans today: Baseball is back!
Fans a month into the season: Watching baseball is a grind and I’m cancelling my mlbtv
The sad part here is the 8 80M exex. committee players all voted against the younger players and mid-level guys too!
Guys like Scherzer and Cole were never going to have the average players best interests in mind. It’s pretty sad that all 8 committee members voted against when the deal was clearly a good one in the minds of almost everyone else.
How many playoff teams? Ghost wins?
Good riddance to ghost runners and pitchers being forced to bat.
Can’t wait for DF’s to play for those fielders who are terrible on defense.
The DH is active this season….right?
Yep, universal DH is part of the new CBA.
believe it or not, the angels are winning the world series in 2022!
Their odds of getting playoffs just increased!
Back to 4 AM 15th inning homerun derbies. I’m looking forward to position players qualifying for the ERA title.
Still, it’ll all be worth it if the players catch on that agents look out for agents and nobody else, and that owners hire negotiating pros(like they did this year), then grant them authority until advanced stages and shut up(like they didn’t this year).
Most of us knew coming in what kind of guys one-percenters are., but the players did themselves no favors showing that they’re not much better.
But a special shout out to Ross Stripling, who developed a distinctive Brand Identity.
Every single player on an MLB roster is a one-percenter.
Happy to hear only 12 teams will make the postseason, not 14.
Great, now we can’t watch the pitchers strike out (sarcasm)
But we’ll never get another Jake Arrieta 3 run bomb in the playoffs either…
Finally MLB Labor Rumors can become MLB Trade Rumors once again.
Nature is healing.
Let’s go Yankees!
Fire up the stove
let’s go angels! win one sooner!
Thank F !! Was trying to be nonchalant about this but really starting to jones for some Bball !! Bring it on 🙂
Mets will now be able to blame the strike when they finish in 3rd place
Yay!
Yeehah!
He77 yeah.
I was cheering for them to cancel the season.
So why don’t you just walk away? Are you only happy when other people are miserable? I think you really need to take a good look at yourself in the mirror and decide what you want out of life.
So….with everyone so thrilled they came to an agreement, let’s discuss what actually got ‘fixed’ in the game, not just that they decided to play. Personally, I don’t really feel they fixed a damn thing.
I don’t think it was broken. All the talk of competitive balance was just a code for ways for the MLBPA to make teams spend more or the owners to help teams spend less.
The rules tweaks, well, meh. At least 7 inning double headers are gone and they didn’t mess up anything new too badly.
Better late than never. At least everyone is happy for now. That said, Summer without Baseball is like a hotdog with no bun or condiments. Still good, but… LOL OK, let the Arbitrations, Trades, Pick-ups and crazy fast Spring Training begin. Keep your fingers crossed regarding injuries. No Covid restrictions, either!!!
Summer without baseball is like a hot dog with ketchup.
Hot dog on hand.
I’m genuinely surprised that they got this done this fast.
I was one of the ones that said I would walk away forever, but only if the schedule was altered. A 162 game season starting on April 7th is basically like no lockout at all. Yeah, it was kind of boring not having daily transactions to look at for the past three months, but who cares? They finally got their S___ together. Let’s play ball!
“…beginning in 2023, the schedule will be adjusted such that every team plays all 29 opponents in each season. The exact format is to be determined, but those games will come attached to a decrease in the number of intra-divisional games teams will play. Previously, teams played 19 games per season against all four of their divisional opponents.”
Halle-freakin’-lujah! An unexpected bonus!! I was really tired of that overly-heavy emphasis on intra-divisional play. Every MLB team will face every other MLB team at least once a year … I’m completely down with that!
goob – Me too, I already posted my pleasure with it! Bad news for Tampa, they will lose a TON of revenue without the usual 20 home games a year against Sox/Yanks.
Will be interesting to see how they divide up the non-division games. I’m guessing at least 3 games against each interleague opponent and six games against each non-divisional league opponent, leaving 15 games against each divisional opponent.
Fever, seems reasonable, but that’s 165 games. Some minor tweaks to get to 162.
gbs – I was ballparking it, pun intended. LOL
I’m sure there will still be the “natural rivalry” thing where the Mets play six against the Yanks, Cubs play six against the White Sox, etc.
And some of the interleague matchups might be just a two game series instead of three. But I really do think each team should play six games against every other non-divisional team in their league.
“ballparking it” deserves a rim shot.
Ba-dump-bump!
Get off of Tampa Bay’s dk already, Sapingo
I’m so tired of playing the same inter-divisional teams so many times. It gets to be redundant, so I’m happy for the greater diversity.
The extra wrinkle of each team playing all 29 opponents confirms that the Universal DH was actually more important to ownership than it was to the MLBPA. They need to get all teams playing by the same rules.
Also, the news that Jacob deGrom might have injured his arm swinging the baseball bat is a further reminder of why pitchers “hitting” not the best idea. Owners are paying a lot of money for top pitchers. They don’t want them hitting.
This will all change when the cost of fuel doubles, in which case all travel will be limited to teams in adjoining states.
Not sure how those 2023 numbers are going to work out. I assume the reduction in divisional games will be lowered to 12, That will slice 28 games off the schedule for more interleague games but one would assume teams would probably play at least 2 games per trip to the opposition city, so other matchups will be adjusted somehow. More travel, that is for sure!
I’m actually happy that the gap between players arriving at camp, the first games of ST, and the start of the regular season have all been compressed into under 30 days.
I find it interesting that this deal came together less than 24 hours after the players started getting torn apart universally by all the fans across social media after this last deadline
It took me over 15 years to see the Yanks play at every MLB park except for one and now they decide that every team will play all 29 teams each year???
Ha!
No changes to the most pressing need of all: roster size
I don’t know that it was – “the most pressing need of all” 🙂 – but I’d prefer to see the active roster at 27 and the 40-man at 42.
Where and when will Carlos Correa sign?
His comments towards Jeter leads me to believe the Yankees are off the table for his list of potential teams to sign with
That works for me! That was probably his bitterness showing when they rebuffed his advances.
I’d still prefer Correa on the Yankees over Judge. Correa would be the better option longterm
@Yanks2- hopefully he signs with the Red Sox. Hopefully the Yankees are smart enough to not chase this dope. You never know though? He’s disrespectful in regards to his comments toward Derek Jeter, who is a legend. No need for him here in NY.
cool they are gonna have games in Japan… or China… or India…. or Russia… way to nail it down to half the world by just “Asia”
They’re only going to potential major league cities, which means no Florida tours.
The Mets will start their 2022 camping on the road against the Nationals in D.C. on April 7 and end at home against the same Nats in Queens on October 9.
Doubleheaders 7 innings?
No. Doubleheaders are back to 9 innings, and the ghost runner has been killed. Can killing a ghost create another ghost?
A politician, I think.
Come on already! Somebody sign somebody!
First free agent signing announced here? I’m guessing Kershaw resigning with the Dodgers. Anyone else?
Here is a thought to rally the fans… On opening day April 7th, honor Ukraine.. all home teams wear Yellow, Blue and White uniforms and the away teams, Yellow, Blue and Grey… organize a fan/player/owner/sponsor/MLB matching for donations to various charities that will help Ukraine… get it done MLB!!
Unnnnhhhh… no
I pray?
This is a great idea! Sign me up.
Yeah cause nothing says baseball like the Ukraine. Here is one, on opening day let’s all wear baseball jerseys of our favorite players and leave the politics outside the stadium. And I am not anti Ukraine, I just want one place where I don’t have to worry about politics and can hate the dodgers and all things dodgers in peace. Though if they want to send the dodgers to Ukraine for spring training I might be ok with that show of solidarity.
Jeff Passan is a hack.
When do spring training games start?
Debubba-I believe I heard a week from tomorrow.
Yea. Baseball is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait…all 29 teams during the year? So Yanks-Red Sox 5 games!? Twice as many west coast games for eastern teams!?
I’m guessing 12 games or so against division rivals. I’ve personally always thought 18-19 games was insane. So almost half your games are against four measly teams. This is one of the things they got right IMO. No doubt in large part due to the DH rule making it more amenable.
The more balanced schedule is a necessity because half the playoff teams are Wild Cards. You can’t have two teams with vastly different strength-of-schedules competing for the same Wild Card spot.
I imagine you’ll see most teams for just one series (so not even home and away). They’ll reduce the intra-division games some (19 was ridiculous anyway) but nowhere near 5. Something like 15 games with each team in division (60 games total) and the other 102 divided among the other 25, so four games each, or maybe 6 for each nondivisional team in your league and 3 vs each team in other league. That almost works. Rest is details.
They’re also going to realign though, so I doubt the 6 divisions of 5 each is going to last.
Happy we are back in biz. Not thrilled at playing all 29 teams every year. Idiotic and boring.
On the contrary, seeing the same freakin’ teams every single day week after week just sucks. My local team sees Trout/Ohtani once every 3 years, which is worse. The current situation is horribly unfair too. The difference in schedule strength from team to team can be extremely high.
That’s fine I just think all 29 teams every season is a bit extreme. It takes the novelty out of it.
I personally not only like the variety, but I like the fact that the WS contenders are guaranteed to have seen each other, not that it really matters much.
So Joe Biagini.
The big move of the day
Just as I predicted
Play all 29 teams? So much for rivalries. Never been a fan of inter-league play outside of the World Series. This change is catering to the casual fan, but will not work. Not a fan of either the Yankees or the Red Sox (not even a fan of the American League), but that was a great rivalry now made virtually irrelevant. Well, the change makes it easier to go camping in the boondocks where there is no reception.
Now let’s boycott the 1st 99 games
I kind of of like the idea of not so many division games….. but playing all the teams from the other league might be a bit much
THE 2022 MLB SEASON IS DEAD!
LONG LIVE THE 2022 MLB SEASON!
Baseball in Paris? C’est bon! I think most of the French will hate it or simply not care.
Playball …!!!
Finally they gonna play in DR …!!! The country is happy !!
I seriously thought it would be July. I hope the players Union didn’t shoot them selves in the foot here. Nothing about service time manipulation