UPDATE: With the CBA now agreed to and a perfunctory owner vote to follow, we know that Offseason Part Two is about to begin. That includes a whole bunch of stuff, but the things that will get the biggest headlines right away are the transactions. They’ve been pent up for three and a half months.
And it sounds like free agency could open IMMEDIATELY after the owners ratify the new CBA:
Sources: Owners call to ratify CBA is scheduled for 6pm. Free agency will begin immediate after. Holy crap, buckle up
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) March 10, 2022
I expect that there will be some transactions announced almost immediately, a flurry of very serious rumors, and then a whole lot of feverish phone calling and texting. I’m prepared to go all night.
Original post follows.
I will do it. I will chug all the coffee I can find if I have to. But I cannot make any plans to do that until something actually happens today.
Here’s the report:
Free agency could open by *tonight* if there is a CBA agreement today, Tom Verducci just reported on @MLBNetwork.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 10, 2022
With a deal on the international draft in place, the sides can actually get back to trying to finalize the economic terms in the Collective Bargaining Agreement today. And reports indicate that, yes, 162 games are back on the table if a deal gets done today. The REPORTED financial positions of the respective parties are not so far apart that a deal SHOULDN’T get done today. That’s an objective read. But so many things that shouldn’t have happened in this process have happened, so it’s not like you could feign surprise if some new and surprising roadblock comes up today and kills this thing yet again.
But if that doesn’t happen, and if a CBA does get done today, then it’s possible MLB will lift the lockout before tonight. And if that happens … well, it’ll be chaos. Immediately. There will not only be a flurry of texts and phone calls, but also, let’s be honest, the finalization/announcement of deals that *wink wink* came together during the lockout. Players are going to be expected to report to Spring Training within literal days, so I think we could see just an overwhelming deluge of signings from tonight through tomorrow night.
If a deal gets done today. Which no one should be counting on. Carry on. (Brett goes to buy emergency caffeine supplies just in case … )