Major League Baseball has struck an agreement with the players union on a new CBA deal. MLB Network and Fox Sports Reporter Ken Rosenthal reports that the deal is done and an announcement will be Monday. The new agreement is for five years and will give Major League Baseball 21 years of uninterrupted labor peace. This is great news.
This was great work by both sides. While the NFL had a lockout earlier and the NBA is currently locked out with the union threatening to decertify, baseball just quietly negotiated and got it done. There was no posturing or grandstanding by either side. They worked on this deal for a long time and the Winter meetings can now focus on players instead of lockouts.
There is said to be some changes to type A and B free agents and some changes to the playoffs. The biggest change is that the Houston Astros will be sold and will move from the National League Central Division to the American League West Division. This will give each league 15 teams apiece and will create an interleague game everyday. It will also give MLB the chance to add one more wild-card to each league in 2013.
Bud Selig has taken a lot of criticism for the lockout and cancellation of the World Series in the 90’s but baseball seems to be on the right track now and if next year is indeed Selig’s last year as the Commissioner of baseball then I will have to say that overall it was successful. He will be leaving the game in good shape.
Hopefully in ten years the NFL and NBA will look back and see how a real negotiation should be run and will not have the same black eye that both encountered this year. The NFL has rebounded nicely from its lockout, but the NBA is not even being missed right now.