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2022 Major League Baseball season

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This article is about the 2022 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2022 in baseball.
2022 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 7 – October 5, 2022[1]
Number of games162
Number of teams30
TV partner(s)Fox/FS1, TBS, ESPN/ABC, MLB Network, Apple TV+, YouTube
Draft
Top draft pickTBD
Picked byBaltimore Orioles
Regular season
World Series
MLB seasons
← 2021
2023 →

The 2022 Major League Baseball season is expected to begin by April 7 with the regular season ending on October 5.

The start of the season has been delayed by a lockout of players, which commenced on December 2, 2021 following the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).[2] On March 10, 2022, MLB and the MLBPA reached a deal on a 5-year CBA, with Opening Day scheduled for April 7 (delayed from its originally-planned March 31, 2022), and a full 162-game schedule. Under the new CBA, there will be a universal designated hitter, and the postseason will also be expanded to 12 teams.

In November 2021, the Cleveland Indians announced their new team name, the Cleveland Guardians.[3] The 2022 MLB All-Star Game is scheduled to be hosted by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.[4]

Lockout

Main article: 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout

On December 2, 2021, MLB owners voted unanimously to enact a lockout upon the expiration of the 2016 collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union. Issues raised between the league and union involved compensation for young players, as well as limitations on tanking to receive higher selections in the MLB draft.

The 2021–22 lockout was the first MLB work stoppage since the 1994–95 strike. It instituted a transaction freeze, including the postponement of the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft. It would be the first year since 1920 to not have a major league phase of the Rule 5 draft, though the minor league phase will still go ahead as scheduled.[5]

On March 10, 2022, almost 100 days after the beginning of the lockout, MLB and the MLBPA reached a deal on a new, five-year CBA.[6] Players will begin reporting to training camps on March 11, with spring training beginning on March 17, and Opening Day scheduled for April 7.[6] The league plans to play a full, 162-game season, and games displaced by the delayed start will be rescheduled.[7][6]

Changes in the new CBA include a pre-arbitration bonus pool for eligible young players, increased minimum salaries (increasing from $700,000 to $780,000 over the length of the deal), a draft lottery to determine the top six selections in the draft, the establishment of an international draft, and the establishment of a Joint Competition Committee that, in 2023, will oversee the adoption of future rule changes (including base sizes and pitch clocks among others). The National League will adopt the designated hitter on a permanent basis, after having previously used it on a temporary basis during the shortened 2020 season, while the postseason will be expanded to 12 teams.[6][8]

Schedule

Major League Baseball released their 2022 regular season schedule on August 4, 2021. As has been the case since 2013, all teams play their four division opponents 19 times each for a total of 76 games, play six or seven games against each of the other ten same-league opponents for a total of 66 games, and 20 interleague games. Interleague play will feature AL East vs. NL Central, AL Central vs. NL West, and AL West vs. NL East.[9][10]

The MLB at Field of Dreams game is planned to return for a second year, featuring the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds at the purpose built ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa on August 11.[11]

The annual MLB Little League Classic is scheduled to feature the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on August 21.[12]

Rule changes

On March 10, Major League Baseball announced the following rule changes for the 2022 season:[13]

  • The temporary rules for the 2020 and 2021 seasons that put a runner on second base in extra innings, and had doubleheaders played as seven-inning games, have been repealed.
  • The National League will adopt the designated hitter full-time. The NL previously adopted the rule temporarily in 2020 before reverting back for the 2021 season.
  • The playoff system has been changed:
    • Twelve teams will qualify for the postseason, with the division winners seeded 1 through 3, and three wild cards seeded 4 through 6 in their respective leagues.
    • The top two seeds in each league will receive a bye into the Division Series.
    • The lowest-seeded division winner and three wild card teams, each seeded according to regular season record, will play a best-of-three Wild Card round, with the higher seed hosting all three games. The 3 seed will play the 6 seed, and the 4 seed will play the 5 seed.
    • There is no re-seeding of the bracket. The 1 seed will play the winner of the 4 versus 5 seed series, and the 2 seed will play the winner of the 3 versus 6 seed series in the divisional round.
    • Tie-breaker games at the end of the season have been eliminated and replaced with statistical tiebreakers.

Managerial changes

General managers

Off-season

Team Former GM Reason For Leaving New GM Notes
Chicago Cubs Jed Hoyer Promoted Carter Hawkins On October 18, 2021, the team announced that Hawkins would be new general manager, filing the spot that has been vacant for nearly a year. He was a long-time part of the Cleveland Indians front office for the last 14 years.[14]
New York Mets Zack Scott Mutual agreement Billy Eppler On November 1, 2021, after a year as acting GM of the team, Scott agreed to resign because of his arrest for DUI.[15] On November 18, former Los Angeles Angels GM Billy Eppler was named GM of the team, signing a four year deal.[16]

Field managers

Off-season

Team Former Manager Reason For Leaving New Manager Notes
New York Mets Luis Rojas Option not picked up Buck Showalter On October 4, 2021, the team announced that they would not pick up Luis Rojas’ option for the 2022 season. Rojas went 103–119 (.464) in his two seasons with the team.[17]

On December 18, Showalter was hired as their new manager. In 20 seasons as the manager of the New York Yankees (1992–1995), Arizona Diamondbacks (1998–2000), Texas Rangers (2003–2006), and Baltimore Orioles (2010–2018), Showalter compiled a 1551–1517 (.506) record, with two division titles, five playoff appearances with a playoff record of 9–14 (.391), only advancing past the division series once in 2014.[18]

Oakland Athletics Bob Melvin Mutual agreement Mark Kotsay Melvin was granted permission by the Athletics to become the Padres' manager on October 28, 2021. In eleven seasons with Oakland, Melvin was 853–764 (.528), reaching the playoffs six times, including three AL West titles, and a playoff record of 7–13 (.350), never advancing past the ALDS.[19]

Kotsay, the Athletic's third base coach since 2016, was named the manager of the team on December 20.[20] This will be his first manager position.

San Diego Padres Jayce Tingler Fired Bob Melvin On October 6, 2021, the team announced that they have dismissed Tingler with one year remaining in his contract. Tingler was hired in 2020 and led the Padres to a postseason appearance during the pandemic shortened season. He finished his tenure going 116–106 (.523) in his two seasons with the team.[21]

Melvin was hired on November 1. He was previously the manager of the Seattle Mariners (2003–2004), Arizona Diamondbacks (2005–2009), and the Oakland Athletics (2011–2021), with a combined record of 1346–1272 (.514), with seven playoff appearances, a playoff record of 10–17 (.370), never advancing past the League Championship Series.[19]

St. Louis Cardinals Mike Shildt Fired Oliver Marmol On October 14, 2021, Shildt was fired as manager of the Cardinals due to "philosophical differences" according to team president John Mozeliak. With a record of 252–199 (.559) in his three-plus seasons, Shildt led the Cardinals to the playoffs in his three full seasons and finished with a 4–9 (.308) post-season record. He was voted National League Manager of the Year after the 2019 season.[22]

On October 25, former bench coach Oliver Marmol, was named the new manager. With the hiring, Marmol becomes the youngest manager currently in the Major Leagues.[23]

Uniforms

Wholesale changes

  • The renamed Cleveland Guardians will use a new "Guardians" wordmark logo, a "diamond C" logo on the caps, and an alternate "winged G" logo on the right sleeve of the home uniforms. The players' names and numbers will also be printed in a new font that the team states "represents the unique characteristics of Cleveland with angular letters and numbers that mimic the architecture" of the Hope Memorial Bridge and its Guardians of Traffic statues. Other than that, the red, white and blue color schemes on the regular home and road uniforms, the red alternate home uniform, and the blue alternate road uniform basically remain unchanged.[24]
  • The Royals have made some stylistic changes, including using "Kansas City" in block letters on the road uniforms.[25]

Anniversaries and special events

  • All dates as scheduled and subject to change
Team Special occasion[citation needed]
All teams #42 patch for Jackie Robinson Day (April 15)
Pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness (May 8, Mother's Day)
Patch for Armed Forces Day (May 15)
Poppy for Memorial Day (May 30)
"4-ALS" patch for Lou Gehrig Day (June 2)
"Play Ball" patch in partnership with USA Baseball and USA Softball (June 4–6)
Blue ribbons for prostate cancer (June 19, Father's Day)
Gold ribbons for childhood cancer (August 26)
Atlanta Braves 2021 World Series championship (TBA)
Baltimore Orioles 30th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards[26]
Boston Red Sox 15th anniversary of 2007 World Series championship
Houston Astros 60th anniversary season[27]
Los Angeles Angels 20th anniversary of 2002 World Series championship
Los Angeles Dodgers 2022 All-Star Game, 60th Anniversary at Dodger Stadium
Miami Marlins 25th anniversary of 1997 World Series championship
Minnesota Twins 35th anniversary of 1987 World Series championship
New York Mets 60th anniversary season
New York Yankees 45th anniversary of 1977 World Series championship
Oakland Athletics 50th anniversary of 1972 World Series championship
San Francisco Giants 10th anniversary of 2012 World Series championship
St. Louis Cardinals 40th anniversary of 1982 World Series championship
Texas Rangers 50th anniversary season
Toronto Blue Jays 30th anniversary of 1992 World Series championship

Broadcast rights

Television

National

This will be the first year of the new seven year deals with ESPN, Fox and TBS. Fox renewed its television rights for regular season games on either the main Fox broadcast network or FS1, (The Fox network will air more games than in 2021 as part of this deal) as well as the All-Star Game airing on Fox. [28] ESPN will air the national opening night games and 25 exclusive Sunday Night Baseball telecasts, but no longer any non-exclusive games throughout the week like in previous years.[29] TBS will switch from airing Sunday afternoon games to Tuesday night games.[30]

Under the new deals, ESPN networks (including ABC) hold exclusive rights to the new Wild Card rounds created by the expanded playoffs.[31] The rest of the postseason rights remain the same, with the annual league rotation among the networks. TBS will televise most of the American League postseason, including the ALDS and the ALCS. The rest of the National League postseason will then be split between Fox/FS1 and MLB Network in the NLDS and just Fox/FS1 in the NLCS. The World Series will be carried by Fox for the 23rd straight year.[28][29][30]

Streaming media

MLB shopped the mid-week games that had been abandoned by ESPN to other potential broadcasters,[32] with streaming providers such as Barstool Sports[33] Apple Inc., and NBCUniversal's Peacock reported to have been among interested parties.[34]

On March 8, 2022, Apple Inc. announced a streaming rights deal with Major League Baseball, which will include live games and other ancillary content. Apple TV+ will air exclusive Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders, which will be produced by MLB Network, and are expected to include interactive features. In addition to the United States and Canada, these games will stream in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, with other markets to be added.[35][32] Apple TV+ will also carry a streaming whiparound program, MLB Big Inning, on weekdays, and a streaming channel that will feature MLB video content.[35] The contract also includes rights to carry MLB video content within Apple News.[35][32]

Radio

National

ESPN Radio will air its 25th season of National coverage including Sunday Night Baseball, Saturday games, Opening Day and the entire Major League Baseball postseason.[citation needed]

TUDN Radio will air Spanish-language coverage of select regular season and postseason games, including the Home Run Derby, the All-Star Game and the World Series.[36]

Local

  • On September 28, 2021, Dodgers Radio announcer Jaime Jarrín announced he plans to retire after the 2022 season, his 64th as part of Dodgers Spanish Radio Broadcast team. Jarrín, who turned 86 in December, will only work Dodgers home games in 2022.[37]

Retired numbers

  • Keith Hernandez is set to have his No. 17 retired by the New York Mets on July 9. It will be the seventh number retired by the team. [38]
  • Jim Kaat is set to have his No. 36 retired by the Minnesota Twins on July 16. It will be the eighth number retired by the team.[39]
  • Will Clark is set to have his No. 22 retired by the San Francisco Giants on July 30. He will be the eleventh Giant to have his number retired.[40]
  • Lou Whitaker is set to have his No. 1 retired by the Detroit Tigers on August 6. It will be the eleventh number retired by the team. [41]
  • Paul O'Neill is set to have his No. 21 retired by the New York Yankees on August 21. It will be the twenty-third number retired by the team.[42]

See also

  • 2022 in baseball

References

  1. ^ "Baseball Schedule". Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  2. ^ Manfred, Robert D. (December 2, 2021). "A letter to baseball fans". MLB.com (Press release). Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  3. ^ Bell, Mandy (November 19, 2021). "Guardians era officially arrives in Cleveland". MLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Shaikin, Bill (July 3, 2020). "Dodgers awarded the 2022 All-Star game after this year's event is canceled". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  5. ^ Glaser, Kyle (December 2, 2021). "Major League Rule 5 Draft Postponed, Minor League Phase Will Still Take Place". Baseball America. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "When do games start? When will free agents sign? Everything you need to know as MLB lockout ends". ESPN.com. March 10, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  7. ^ Anderson, R.J. (March 10, 2022). "MLB lockout ends as MLBPA, owners reach agreement: Live updates, reaction to baseball's return". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  8. ^ "MLB and MLBPA agree to new CBA pending ratification". MLB.com. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  9. ^ "2022 MLB schedule: All teams will start season March 31 if there's no work stoppage". ESPN. Associated Press. August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  10. ^ "How The MLB Schedule Is Made". closeseats.com. August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  11. ^ "Cubs Reds To Play 2022 Field Of Dreams Game Aug 11". NBCchicago. August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  12. ^ "Red Sox Orioles To Play 2022 Little League Classic". NBCSports.com. August 22, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  13. ^ Castrovince, Anthony (March 10, 2022). "Everything you need to know about '22 season". MLB.com. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  14. ^ Bastian, Jordan (October 18, 2021). "Cubs name Carter Hawkins next GM". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  15. ^ "Mets To Part Ways With Acting GM Zach Scott As Search For A New Executives Continues Per Report". CBSSports.com. November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  16. ^ DiComo, Anthony (November 18, 2021). "Mets make Eppler new GM on 4-year deal". MLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  17. ^ DiComo, Anthony; Simon, Andrew (October 4, 2021). "Rojas will not manage Mets in 2022". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  18. ^ DiComo, Anthony (December 18, 2021). "Mets announce Showalter as new manager". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  19. ^ a b Cassavell, AJ (November 1, 2021). "Padres make Bob Melvin next skipper". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  20. ^ Gallegos, Martín (December 21, 2021). "'Obsession with Mark': Kotsay A's manager". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  21. ^ Cassavell, AJ (October 6, 2021). "Padres dismiss manager Jayce Tingler". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  22. ^ Silver, Zachary (October 14, 2021). "Shildt out as Cardinals manager". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  23. ^ Silver, Zachary (October 25, 2021). "Cards make Marmol MLB's youngest skipper". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  24. ^ "Cleveland Guardians". CLEGuardians.com. MLB Advanced Media. July 23, 2021. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  25. ^ "Royals unveil uniform update for 2022". Kansas City Royals. MLB Advanced Media. November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  26. ^ "Orioles to celebrate 30th anniversary season of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 2022". MLB.com. January 4, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  27. ^ "Astros to don 60th anniversary patch during 2022 season". MLB.com. February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  28. ^ a b "MLB, FOX complete multiyear agreement". mlb.com. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  29. ^ a b "ESPN's 7 Year 392 Billion Renewal With MLB Starts In 2022". Forbes.com. May 14, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  30. ^ a b "TBS And MLB Reach TV Rights Extension For 2022-28 Reportedly Worth $3.75 Billion". Forbes.com. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  31. ^ "ESPN extends deal to air MLB games through '28". ESPN.com. May 13, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  32. ^ a b c Crupi, Anthony (March 8, 2022). "Apple Goes Yard With New MLB 'Friday Night Baseball' Streaming Package". Sportico.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  33. ^ Spangler, Todd (August 9, 2021). "Barstool Sports in Talks With MLB on Deal to Livestream Games". Variety. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  34. ^ "Throw Peacock in the mix for MLB's midweek package of games". Awful Announcing. February 28, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  35. ^ a b c "MLB, Apple link up for "Friday Night Baseball"". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  36. ^ "TUDN Adds National Spanish Language Rights To MLB". RadioInsight. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  37. ^ "Jamie Jarrin Dodgers Broadcaster To Retire After 2022 Season". MLB.com. September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  38. ^ New York Mets (January 11, 2022). "METS TO RETIRE KEITH HERNANDEZ'S UNIFORM #17". Medium. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  39. ^ Merkin, Scott (January 13, 2022). "Jim Kaat's No. 36 to be retired by Twins". MLB.com. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  40. ^ "Giants to retire Will Clark's No. 22 on July 30". MLB.com.
  41. ^ Paul, Tony (February 8, 2022). "'As it should be': Tigers finally will retire Lou Whitaker's No. 1 on Aug. 6". Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  42. ^ Anderson, R.J. (February 22, 2022). "Yankees to retire Paul O'Neill's No. 21 jersey in August at Yankee Stadium's Monument Park". CBS Sports. Retrieved February 22, 2022.

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