After an extended lockout nearing 100 days and ranking as the second-longest stoppage in baseball history, the MLB and the MLB Players’ Association (MLBPA) has reportedly reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

The new CBA will reportedly see the minimum salary for athletes with less than three years’ experience in the MLB increase from $570,500 to $700,000 and a bonus pool worth US$50 million to be distributed among younger players who haven’t reached salary arbitration.

The competitive-balance tax in the league, which was labelled a key issue in the end of the lockout, has increased from $230 million to $244 million over the next five years.

The league’s last proposal to the Players’ Association resulted in a final vote 26-12 in favour of the agreement from the executive subcommittee and 30 athlete representatives.

After the agreement was reached, the league has confirmed it will hold a 162-game season beginning 7 April, with spring training camps to open this weekend, and free-agent signings to begin Thursday.

The resolution follows recent news the league was forced to remove multiple series from the season schedule due to the delays caused by the lockout.

Among the reported approved aspects of the new CBA include the MLB expanding its postseason to 12 teams, team uniforms to feature advertising for the first-time including patches on jerseys and decals on batting helmets, a 45-day window for the MLB to implement new rule changes, a draft lottery to discourage ‘tanking’, draft-pick inducements, and limits to the number of times an athlete can be optioned to the minor leagues in one season.

While the league and the Players’ Association failed to reach an agreement in time for the scheduled 31 March opening game, the 7 April start date will see both athletes and the league attempt to recoup the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the league able to hold a full-scale season with 162 games.

The lockout, which began on 2 December after the parties were unable to agree to a new CBA in time for the 1 December date originally agreed, had been filled with day-long meetings between the MLB and MLBPA throughout the three months, with both sides taking actions to encourage the other to back down.

MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred’s decisions to announcement the cancellation of the first two weeks of the season in the latter stages of the lockout ultimately proved to influence league owners and the athlete union to reach an agreement.