Owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association reached an agreement nearly at the eleventh hour Wednesday night to extend the collective bargaining agreement through the 2021 season. There are other more technical aspects to discuss, but please, for a moment, rejoice and be glad that the All-Star Game will no longer determine home field advantage for the World Series as it has since 2003. According to the Associated Press, one of Bud Selig’s more asinine and reactionary decisions has reportedly been wiped off the books in favor of…reason. That’s right, home field advantage will now go to the League Championship winner with the better record. Hallelujah, holy shit!
Previous to 2003, when a tie in the 2002 Midsummer Classic (In Bud Selig’s Milwaukee no less) made everyone freak out and change a rule that had been in existence forever, home field advantage simply alternated between leagues. Think of how bad an idea tying home field advantage to the winning league of the All-Star Game was when even randomly switching it every year was more palatable. But it’s not a problem anymore, the option that makes the most sense is now the rule. And if you’re worried about whether or not the All-Star Game will “matter,” there’s this: players will be playing for a bonus if they win, which, for most, will mean more than home field advantage in a World Series they will never play in.
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- There will be no international draft. Owners had been pushing for this for a long time, because they are owners and consumed with money and exploiting labor, but MLBPA put it’s foot down and refused to budge. Instead, they will be tweaking the current system. Originally, teams were given an international signing pool based on record. The worse the record, the higher the pool of money. There was also a soft cap on how much teams could spend, meaning if they exceeded their pool allotment, they’d be tagged with penalty fees. Think of it like an international luxury tax. Now, however, every team will get the same bonus pool, expected to be in the $5-$6 million range, and there will be a hard cap.
- The minimum stay on the disabled list has been reduced from 15 to 10. This will be a tough adjustment since “15-day DL stint” just rolls off the tongue.
- The luxury tax will increase incrementally blah, blah, blah.
- The nitty gritty of free agent compensation is still being hashed out, but qualifying offers can now only be extended once to a player in his career. If a team loses a free agent to whom they extended a qualifying offer, they will only get a draft pick in return if the player signs elsewhere for $50 million or more. And, beginning in 2017-2018, if a team signs a “premier free agent” they will not lose a first round draft pick. Hello, New Yankees Dynasty.
I’m sure we’ll learn more as the days go by, but really, the most important thing you know is that the World Series, and baseball, will make a little bit more sense now.
