The lockout imposed by MLB team owners ended after 99 days when the league and Players Association (MLBPA) agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in March. The months of deadlock were very much in the public eye and hurt players, fans and sport as a whole.
MLB desperately needed a solution to start the 2022 regular season and preserve the full schedule of games. Upon reaching a new agreement, commissioner Rob Manfred said a priority moving forward is to have a better relationship between the players and the league.
Manfred admitted he has fallen short thus far in facilitating positive relations between himself and players.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Manfred has a plan to meet with all teams and left the door open for players to visit MLB headquarters:
“Manfred said he plans to engage with every club at some point this season, fulfilling a vow he made in a phone conversation to union head Tony Clark on March 10, the day the players and owners reached a new collective bargaining agreement.”
“Manfred said that while he plans to continue meeting with clubs, he also is extending an open invitation for players to come visit the league offices when they are in New York, pointing out that team hotels are not far away.”
MLB heard from the union on how much of a disconnect exists them, which caused the lockout to drag on for as long as it did.
After the 2020 shortened season negotiations left a stain, the lockout was fueled by finger-pointing and bad-faith negotiating that further separated the two sides.
Manfred is mindful of the need for better communication with MLB and the players to unify the league and make sure a lockout of this magnitude doesn’t happen anytime soon.
MLB changes with new CBA
All eight members of the MLBPA executive committee voted against the new CBA terms, but the 30 player representatives turned in a 26-4 tally in favor of accepting the proposal. Team owners unanimously voted to ratify the new deal.
Important issues throughout CBA negotiations were matters related to core economics of the sport: luxury tax thresholds and accompanying penalties, minimum starting salary, pre-arbitration bonus pool, and percentage of players that would qualify for Super Two status.
After exchanging several proposals and figures, the league and union agreed to a $700,000 salary for first-year players in 2022. That’s notably up from the $575,500 minimum from the 2021 season, and the 22.7% increase is the largest since a 50% change with the 2003-07 CBA.
The current CBA will see the minimum salary rise to $720,000 for the 2023 season, followed by $740,000, $760,000 and $780,000 over the lifetime of the deal.
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