Baseball Officially Returns After MLB Owners and Players Agree to New Labor Deal

Baseball is back. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement Thursday, ending the lockout that lasted 99 days. CBS Sports confirmed the news, and Opening Day is set for April 7. And despite the first two weeks of the season being canceled, all 30 teams are expected to play a full 162-game season. Opening Day was originally scheduled for March 31.

An agreement was reached after talks increased this week. Spring training for all teams will open Sunday, and free agency could start as early as Thursday night. The players and owners were able to iron out some obstacles that were preventing a new labor deal from being done, including the competitive-balance tax and a proposed international draft. One big change is the minimum salary governing players with less than three years of major league service will jump from $570,000 to $700,000 and a bonus boll worth $50 million will be distributed among the young players who have yet to reach arbitration.

ESPN says the owners and players agreed to expand the playoffs to 12 games, Also, player uniforms will feature advertising for the first time with patches on jerseys and decals on batting helmets. Other parts of the deal include the National League adding the designated hitter, a draft lottery and limiting the number of times a player can be optioned to the minor leagues in one season. According to MLB.com, the new CBA will last for five years, and once it's finalized, teams will focus on signing players on the free-agent market. Some of the top free agents are shortstop Carlos Correa, first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Trevor Story, pitcher Clayton Kershaw, and third baseman Kris Bryant. 

The lockout began on Dec. 2 and it's MLB's first work stoppage since the 1994-95 strike which lasted for nearly eight months. That led to the 1994 World Series being canceled and the 1995 season being delayed. The last lockout was in 1990 but that work stoppage only for 32 days. And in the 1980s, MLB had three different work stoppages, the 1980 strike, the 1981 strike and the 1985 strike.