The wage dispute in Major League Baseball (MLB) is over. After unsuccessful negotiations with the MLBPA players’ union, the breakthrough came on Thursday, and according to the league, the season is scheduled to begin on April 7th. The agreement of both sides to the new collective agreement should only be a matter of form, and the three-month lockout would be over.
The new paper has a term of five years. Despite the late agreement, a full season with 162 games per team is to be carried out. The canceled games will be rescheduled as “double headers”. The training camps could start as early as Sunday.
The day before, nothing had indicated a solution. The meeting ended after 16 hours without any results, Commissioner Rob Manfred then announced that the start of the season would be postponed until at least April 14th. Actually, the season should start on March 31st.
“We worked hard to reach an agreement and offered a fair deal with significant improvements for the players and our fans,” Manfred said. “I am saddened by the ongoing impact of this situation on our game and everyone involved, especially ours loyal fans.”
As of December 1, MLB has been in its first lockout since 1994-95. At that time, the entire playoffs including the World Series were canceled for the first and only time in the more than 100-year history of the MLB due to the wage dispute, and almost 1000 games were canceled during the two affected seasons of 1994 and 1995.