After 99 days, the MLB lockout has come to an end.  MLB and the MLBPA have come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, leading to a mad rush to get spring training up and running and a 162-game regular season in the books.  Free agency is set to start back up again tonight at 5 PM CT.  Players will be allowed to report to spring training as soon as tomorrow, with games starting next week.  Opening Day is likely to be April 7th, with double headers and a few days tacked to the end of the season to get to 162 games.

So where do we stand?  The CBT threshold has been raised to $230 million, a 9% increase, before penalties start being applied.  The minimum salary has been raised to $700,000, a 23% rise from the last deal.  The qualifying offer for free agents will go away if the two sides agree on an international draft by this summer.  A draft lottery will be implemented to help combat tanking.  Rookie of the Year winners will get credited with a full season of service time, regardless of how much time they spent in the major leagues, in a bid to do away with service time

On the field, the DH will be coming to the NL, ending the practice of pitchers hitting.  Double headers are returning back to 9 innings.  Extra innings will also revert to their normal rules, doing away with ghost runners.  The playoffs will be expanded to 12 teams.

The full extent of changes will trickle out over the days to come, but, for right now, the important thing is that baseball is back.  Time to play ball.