MLB lockout ends as owners approve 5-year labour deal with unanimous vote

Major League Baseball's acrimonious lockout ended Thursday when a divided players' association voted to accept management's offer to salvage a 162-game season that will start April 7.

Owners approved the five-year labor contract with a 30-0 vote, and MLB formally lifted the lockout at 7 p.m. ET on its 99th day.

"I am genuinely thrilled to say Major League Baseball is back and we're going to play 162 games," commissioner Rob Manfred said. "I want to start by apologizing to our fans. I know the last few months have been difficult."

MLB's roster freeze, imposed when the work stoppage began on Dec. 2, was to dissolve immediately, allowing Freddie Freeman, Carlos Correa and more than 100 other free agents to sign contracts.

Training camps in Florida and Arizona will open Friday, and the mandatory reporting date is Sunday. Exhibition games will begin March 17 or 18.

Fans can start making plans to be at Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium and Camden Yards next month. Opening day is being planned a little more than a week behind the original date on March 31.

The deal brings several major changes to the sport — a universal designated hitter, an expanded postseason and measures to disincentivize so-called "tanking." Most of the labour fight centred on the game's core economics.

The 184 games cancelled by Manfred were instead postponed, with the regular season extended by three days to Oct. 5. Approximately three games per team will be made up as part of doubleheaders.

With pitchers Max Scherzer and Andrew Miller taking prominent roles as union spokesmen, players twice allowed management deadlines pass to salvage the original March 31 opening day, then let this Tuesday's deadline for a 162-game schedule go by.

Teams moved toward middle ground between themselves and the players. The union's executive board approved the offer on a 26-12 vote. a person familiar with the balloting said, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no announcement was authorized.

"The deal pushes the game forward," Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, a member of the union's executive subcommittee, said in an telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It addresses a lot of the things that the players in the game should be focused on: the competitive integrity aspect of it."

Playoffs will expand from 10 to 12 teams, with two division winners receiving first-round byes and the remaining four teams in a best-of-three wild card round in each league.

The deal allows teams to have advertising on uniforms and helmets for the first time and could lead to a pitch clock and limits on defensive shifts in 2023.

"I love our game," Manfred said. "Having said that, since I've been commissioner, I've talked about the need to make changes in some of our rules to enhance the entertainment value of our product for the benefit of our fans. And I think the new agreement opens up an opportunity that we can work with the players to make sure that we can make good rule changes that work for our fans."