Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA) have reached a tentative five-year labor agreement through the 2024 regular season that could be the first step towards the implementation of an Automated Balls and Strike (ABS) system – much like the pitch-tracking systems seen during television broadcasts and often referred to as “Robo Umps” – at baseball’s highest level.

Before you run out to celebrate what was certainly an inevitability, there is still an exceptionally good chance that the use of an ABS system is still at least one (or more) seasons away from fruition. Additionally, the “tentative five-year labor agreement through the 2024 regular season” must still be ratified by all 30 MLB teams and by the umpires themselves, which is expected to take place in January.

According to a tweet by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman on Saturday afternoon, the umpires “agreed to cooperate” with the league in the continued testing and development of an ABS. Heyman’s tweet was corroborated in an Associated Press article by Ben Walker and Ronald Blum.

Last season saw the implementation of computerized strike zones in lower levels of professional baseball. The independent Atlantic League became the first American pro league to let a computer call balls and strikes at its All-Star Game on July 10, 2019. The system utilized an iPhone, a Trackman computer system and Doppler radar to relay proper calls to home plate umps. The system was also utilized during this year’s popular Arizona Fall League. MLB had already been discussing its use in the Class-A Florida State League in 2020.

“This idea has been around for a long time and it’s the first time it’s been brought to life in a comprehensive way,” said MLB’s senior vice president of economics and operations Morgan Sword, as noted in the AP story.

In addition to talks of an Automated Balls and Strike system, the MLB and MLBUA also agreed to increases in compensation and retirement benefits, along with provisions to allow earlier retirement.

The current MLB – MLBUA collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is currently scheduled to expire in less than two years. With Saturday’s announcement, there is every indication that the two sides now have a mutually beneficial labor accord in place, pending ratification by the umpire’s union and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on behalf of all 30 MLB teams.

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