GLENDALE, Ariz. — Play ball!
On the 99th day of an owners lockout, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association reached a tentative agreement on a new labor deal Thursday that will get spring training up and running this weekend and start the regular season on April 7, only one week late.
The full 162-game season was saved.
Though not official, the White Sox would tentatively open the season in Detroit on April 8, a Friday, against the AL Central Division rival Tigers. The Cubs would open against the NL Central rival Brewers at Wrigley Field on April 7.
Spring training games in Arizona and Florida are expected to start March 17 or 18. The Cubs are scheduled to play the White Sox at Camelback Ranch on March 18.
Both sides need to ratify the deal, but that is the expected outcome.
Talks intensified this week when the league proposed to bridged a sizable gap in the competitive-balance tax, perhaps the biggest issue in the talks. On Wednesday, the sides appeared close to a deal but an agreement wasn’t reached because of dispute over an international draft. After that resolved Thursday morning, the league made a full proposal to the union, which voted to accept.
The players executive board voted 26-12 in favor of the latest proposal.
It was baseball’s second longest work stoppage.
The deal also re-opens free agency and the freedom for teams to make trades in a market that figures to be hectic. Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Kris Bryant and Carlos Rodon are among 139 free agents. Free agency will begin as soon as owners ratify the deal.
The new collective bargaining agreement will expand the playoffs to 12 teams and introduce incentives to limit so-called “tanking.” The minimum salary will rise from $570,500 to about $700,000 and the luxury tax threshold will increase from $210 million to around $230 million this year, a slight loosening for the biggest spenders such as the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers and Red Sox. A new bonus pool was established for players not yet eligible for arbitration, a way to boost salaries for young stars.
Contributing: Associated Press
