MLB owners and
players agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement last night, and I’m
reminded of an African proverb: When elephants fight, only the grass
suffers. But fans don’t appear to have
been trampled too much.
The ceiling on
the luxury tax got raised, so there’s no danger of a hard salary cap for the
length of the five-year agreement. The
team with the best record will host the World Series, which should satisfy all
those cranks who’ve complained about home-field advantage being decided by an
exhibition game, aka the All-Star Game.
Compensation for signing a free agent has been loosened up, so teams
won’t have to worry about losing their first-round draft choice should they
sign somebody. There was discussion of
increasing the roster size to 26 players, but nothing happened. Just think, teams would’ve been able to carry
thirteen or fourteen pitchers.
For fans, there
are two changes of note, starting with more afternoon games on travel days;
this should fill the blooper reels with ever more players losing balls in the
sun. And the season is going to start a
few days earlier, to allow for more off-days, only it won’t unless all the
warm-weather and dome teams are scheduled to play at home the first two weeks
of the season. Put another way, try
playing in Chicago or Detroit or Cleveland at the end of March.
I know a certain
former softball player who could tell you how hard that is.
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