Maury Brown has a post up which has the details of the new five year collective bargaining agreement entered into by MLBA and the MLBPA.
I'd encourage you to read the whole thing, but here are some highlights:
* Second Wild Card added no later than 2013
* Astros move to the A.L. West
* Rosters will be 26, rather than 25, for "certain" doubleheaders
* Type A/Type B free agent compensation and the Elias rankings are out
* Only free agents whose previous club tenders them a guaranteed one-year contract with a salary equal to the average salary of the 125 highest paid players the previous season generate compensation. The tender must be made within five days of the end of the World Series, and players have seven days to accept or reject.
* Only free agents who spent the entire season with their team can generate a compensatory pick. No trading for a player on July 31, then collecting picks when he walks after the season.
* Only the top 10 picks, rather than the top 15 picks, of a draft are protected from compensation.
* Major and minor league minimum salaries are increased
* Signing deadline for the amateur draft will be between July 12 and July 18
* If you go above aggregate slot for the draft by more than 5%, you lose your next year's 1st rounder. If you go over by more than 10%, you lose your next year's 1st and 2nd rounders. If you go over by more than 15%, you lose your first round picks in each of the next two seasons.
* That's incredibly harsh. Its not a hard slotting system, but it might as well be.
* The ten clubs with the lowest revenues will be put in a lottery for six additional picks at the end of the first round and six picks at the end of the second round.
* Teams will be allocated a certain amount that they can spend on the international amateur market, inversely related to their previous year's winning percentage. If you go over that, you lose your rights to sign certain players the next season. Teams can trade dollar amounts from their pools.
* That's complicated and incredibly harsh. And bad for the Rangers.