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Major League Baseball and the Players Association announced the two sides have agreed on a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA was set to expire on December 11, but the new deal now gives baseball twenty-one years of labor peace.
There are going to be many changes in the CBA that will affect the players, owners, and the fans. The changes included in the basic agreement can be viewed here; or just look below!
Scheduling, Realignment, and Postseason Play
- Postseason play will be expanded to two wild cards in each league by no later than 2013.
- The Houston Astros will move to AL West by no later than 2013.
- Inter-league games will be played throughout the new schedule.
- 25-man rosters will be expanded to 26 for certain regular or split doubleheaders.
Draft Pick Compensation
- The Elias ranking system will be eliminated; no more "Type A" or "Type B" free agents.
- To receive compensation: a team must offer the player a guaranteed one-year contract with a salary equal to the average salary of the 125-highest paid players from the prior season. The offer must be made by five-day "quiet period" after the World Series and the player will have seven days to accept or decline.
- A club that signs a player whom declined compensation, forfeits their first-round selection unless it is a top 10 pick. In which case the team forfeits their next highest pick.
- The club that loses their free agent, will receive a sandwich-round pick (between rounds 1 and 2). The clubs will select based on reverse order of winning percentage from the year prior.
Arbitration Eligibility
- The "Super-Two", players with two-years of service time who will be arbitration eligible, will expand from the top 17% to the top 22% in terms of service time.
Minimum Salaries
- Major League minimum salary will increase from $414,000 this year to $480,000 in 2012; and will reach $500,000 in 2014.
- Minor League minimum salary will increase from $67,300 this year to $78,250 in 2012; and will reach $81,500 in 2014.
Rule 4/Amateur Draft
- Drafted players can only sign Minor League contracts.
- An aggregated signing bonus will be put in place prior to each draft. Teams that go over will receive a 75% tax on overage. Any team that goes over by 15% or more face the harshest penalty: 100% tax on overage and loss of first-round picks in next two drafts. We will have more on this later, but the new system will certainly prevent high-school athletes from choosing baseball over football and basketball.
- Six draft picks immediately after the completion of the first-round will be given out through a lottery system for the ten lowest revenue, smallest market teams.
- The four teams not awarded a draft pick will be placed into another lottery pool for all teams; again, six draft picks will be up for grabs.
- A club’s odds of winning the lottery will be based on its prior season’s winning percentage.
More to come later.