MLB universal DH appears on the way, but it’s not official yet

ORLANDO, Fla. — The universal designated hitter very likely will become Major League Baseball doctrine for 2022 and beyond. Yet that bridging of the game’s long-standing league divide didn’t magically become official on Thursday.

With this collective bargaining agreement, as in any contract, nothing is done until everything is done.

Rob Manfred set off a social media storm Thursday when, kicking off his owners’ meeting news conference, he said, “We’ve agreed to a universal designated hitter,” one of many examples he offered of the owners’ attempts to find common ground.

What that means — and what has been reported for many months — is the owners’ proposal (which will be tweaked on Saturday, when the players and owners meet again in Manhattan) currently features a universal DH. It almost certainly will stay there, all the more so since, at this point, most National League owners would prioritize protecting their most prized assets, their pitchers, from the perils of hitting and running the bases over spending a few extra bucks for another bat.

Let’s say, however, for whatever fantastical reason, the owners told the players: “We’ll raise the luxury-tax threshold to $300 million, on the condition we revert to utilizing the DH only in the American League. Or shoot, we’ll let it go up to $400 million if we eradicate the DH altogether.” Then nothing that has occurred so far would preclude such a switch in policy from taking place.

Get ready to say goodbye to the double-switch, to debates over pinch hitting for the pitcher, to comically historic moments like Bartolo Colon going deep at age 42. You’ve known that for a while, though. The only news made on this front Thursday was folks misconstruing Manfred’s usage of “agree.” The universal DH will be formalized once the players and owners agree not just on this piece of the pie, but rather the entire dessert cart.