Report: Universal DH not likely until 2022 season

Major League Baseball isn't planning to adopt a universal DH before the 2022 season, two officials with direct knowledge of the decision told Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports.

"It’s not happening during this CBA,’’ one official said following meetings between the owners and the league in Orlando on Friday.

According to reports, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the league recently exchanged proposals about how to speed up the game.

The union requested the addition of a National League DH, partially in response to the league wanting a three-batter minimum for pitchers and a pitch clock.

Commissioner Rob Manfred is pleased that the union came back with a counterproposal. However, he said the rule changes are too complicated to be implemented for the 2019 season.

“Some of these items need to be part of broader discussions that certainly will continue after opening day, and I hope we can focus on some of the issues that need to get resolved quickly in the interim,” Manfred said to reporters, including Ronald Blum of the Associated Press.

In addition to the universal DH, the union reportedly wants an earlier trade deadline, an increase in service time for young stars called up early in the season, and rewarding or penalizing teams in the draft based on win-loss totals.

"Those are significant economic issues. They are different in kind than the type of playing-rule changes that that we have out there,” Manfred said. “I think that there are pieces of their response on the on-field proposal that were very encouraging. I think what needs to be sorted out is how closely the two agendas are tied, in other words, the on-field stuff and the economic stuff.”

Players recently shared their thoughts about the potential rule changes on Twitter. Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets isn't a fan.

Meanwhile, Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is in favor of having a universal DH.

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in December 2021.