It's finally here. While owners and players can't seem to agree on much these days – the collective bargaining agreement that guarantees any baseball at all in 2022 still needs to be ratified – the two parties seem to have agreed on implementing the universal designated hitter on a permanent basis.
The league introduced it briefly during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign but rescinded it for the following season seemingly as a bargaining token for the forthcoming CBA negotiations. Well, commissioner Rob Manfred has now indicated, according to Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post, that the two sides will no longer quibble over an item that makes the sport more watchable.
So, while the biggest winners here are almost certainly the fans, here are some other beneficiaries around the league.
New York Mets
The Mets currently have a bit of a logjam of sluggers. Two of Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith, and J.D. Davis would start games on the bench. The club has reportedly been shopping McNeil and could find a deal once the CBA is ratified. However, with all 30 teams scrambling to do an entire offseason's worth of work in a few days – signing remaining free agents, filing for arbitration hearings, preparing spring facilities – McNeil might not be top of mind for either the Mets or potential suitors. So, perhaps a midseason deal makes more sense, and that's a lot easier to pull off if you let McNeil play second and third base and just allow Cano, Davis, and Smith to share DH duties.
Even further, the front office just invested $130 million in a 37-year-old pitcher. Max Scherzer has played a huge portion of his career in the National League, so he's no stranger to standing in the batter's box. However, it would be best if the Mets could protect that investment and make sure this never happens again:
The Mets will dish out nearly $80 million combined to Scherzer and Jacob deGrom next year alone. The club isn't paying them to get hits but to prevent the other team from getting hits, and now the hurlers can focus on what they do best.
Atlanta Braves
The new rule likely gives Ronald Acuna Jr. an easier path back to the Braves' lineup from the torn ACL he sustained midway through last season. He's expected back at some point during the campaign, and giving him a regular day off from the field without losing his bat would be a huge boon for the defending champions.
And once Acuna comes back, Atlanta will need to find a way to fit Marcell Ozuna, Adam Duvall, and one of Drew Waters or Cristian Pache into the lineup.