NEW YORK (AP) — There will be a Major League Baseball season.
Players have voted to accept management’s latest offer for a new labor deal, paving the way to end a 99-day lockout and salvage a 162-game regular season.
Owners were unanimous in their approval of the package, which still needs ratification by all players.
MLB sent the players an offer Thursday and gave them until 3 p.m. to accept in order to play a full season.
The agreement calls for the luxury tax threshold to rise from $210 million last year to $230 million this season and gradually to $242 million in 2026. The minimum salary will increase from $570,500 to about $700,000 this year, with $20,000 annual increases. A new $50 million bonus pool was established for players not yet eligible for arbitration, a way to boost salaries for young stars.
The agreement will allow training camps to open this week in Florida and Arizona, more than three weeks after they were scheduled to on Feb. 16. Opening day is being planned for April 7, a little more than a week behind the original date on March 31.
The deal will also set off a rapid-fire round of free agency. Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman and Kris Bryant are among 139 big leaguers still without a team, including some who might benefit from the adoption of a universal designated hitter.