MLB, union announce five-year labor deal

[ellisonz]

MLB, union announce five-year labor deal
CBA features two more Wild Cards, HGH testing, Draft luxury tax
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com | 11/22/11 7:06 PM EST

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association entered an enhanced period of cooperation on Tuesday with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on a new five-year Basic Agreement, ensuring 21 years of labor peace for the sport.

The deal will last through Dec. 1, 2016, and includes mandatory testing of blood for human growth hormone for the first time at the Major League level beginning in Spring Training; 15 teams in each league by the 2013 season; another layer of playoffs and two more Wild Card teams as early as this coming season; changes in the First-Year Player Draft that could lead to a worldwide Draft by 2014; and expansion of the use of instant replay.

The new agreement now needs to be formalized in writing and ratified independently by the players and owners.

"That process will begin today," Commissioner Bud Selig said on Tuesday during a news conference to announce the new pact at MLB's central offices on Park Avenue in Manhattan. "There's still a lot of work to be done."

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111122&content_id=26025274&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb

:woohoo:

[ellisonz]

1. Yeah baseball!