MLB Is Back! The Details...

Okay, everyone, so we've got great news. As you probably know by now, Major League Baseball is officially back. So after 99 days of a lockout, finally we have an agreement between the Players Association and Major League Baseball on a new collective bargaining agreement. So according to my boy, Jeff Pass, and owners have ratified the new collective bargaining agreement, a source tells ESPN. Baseball is officially back. So players will be required to report to their spring training destinations by Sunday. And then we will have games four to five days later. So we're going pretty quick right now. Now opening day is scheduled for April 7th, which is about a week later than originally anticipated before this whole lockout happened. But we're still gonna play 162 games. So that is good. We'll be playing some doubleheaders to make up some of those games where we'll make a few up at the end of the season as well. So what are some of the big changes that allowed this deal to finally get done? Let's talk about that. So the first thing, minimum salary for the 2022 season will be $700,000, which is a 23% increase from last year. So a big increase to the minimum salary. And it's gonna go all the way up to $780,000 in 2026. So a lot more money for those players that are receiving league minimum, which are mostly players that are gonna be in their first two to three years of playing in the major leagues. Next is the competitive balance threshold. So this is basically a way that taxes teams if they go over that max number. And so this year it's going to be $230,000,000, which is a 10% increase from last year's number. And it's gonna go all the way up to $244,000,000 for the 2026 season. And then you're gonna have a $50,000,000 player pool. So this money is gonna be given to players that are pre-arbitration eligible, but do really, really cool things. Like some of the better players in the league, $50,000,000, the pool of money that's gonna be handed out to these players. Okay, so let's go over some other rule changes that will be incorporated in the new CBA. So the first thing is a 12-team post-season instead of a 10-team post-season. And you're gonna have the top two division winners each receiving first round buys. You've got a universal DH. I know a lot of people get triggered by this. I'm actually a fan of the universal DH. You're gonna have a six-team draft lottery. So that's gonna try to curtail teams from tanking. There's also a provision that prevents teams from optioning eligible players more than five times in a season. Then there's two measures aimed at limiting service time manipulation. This was a big deal. First thing is a full year of service time will be awarded to players who finish within the top two in respective rookie of the year voting. And draft picks awarded to teams that promote players on opening day who finish among the top vote getters for major awards. There will be advertising with patches on jerseys and also some decals on helmets. So we'll have to see what that looks like. And lastly, we'll have nine inning games and double headers. And we will no longer start extra innings with a runner on second base. So there's the breakdown. The big news is baseball is back. They finally came together. I was getting really, really pessimistic about this whole thing. I thought we were going to end up missing a lot of April and I was really scared. So to only miss about a week but still make up those games, we're still going to play 162. So we're still going to get our full season and spring training is happening like right away. We're getting right into it. So I'm super pumped. Let me know what you think in the comment section below. It's going to be crazy here in the next few days because there's still a lot of really big free agents out there that don't have teams. And players are reporting literally the spring training in a couple of days. And so we're going to have some big news. Freddie Freeman, I'm sure we're going to hear about soon. There's a lot of other players that are unsigned. And so really interested to see what happens. I'll keep you guys posted. Let me know what you think in the comment section below. Subscribe to the channel. Hit the notification bell. Give it a thumbs up. All that good stuff. We'll talk to you later. If you've got hitters that you're looking to improve before the start of next season, this is essential for you. Matt Antonelli here, former major league player, first round pick and college coach. With this course, we're going to show you exactly step by step how to generate power, develop bat speed and enhance swing mechanics. Regardless of your hitter's age, this course is going to deliver advanced hitting techniques that will allow any hitter to get better and make an impact at the plate this spring. We have a full catalog of training content that you can access from anywhere at any time. 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