(James Paterson is a lawyer and contributor to BackPageLead. He can be followed on Twitter: @patersonlaw or http://twitter.com/patersonlaw)

While much of the North American media focus has been on the NBA labour dispute and our local labour eyes have been trained of the AFLPA's claims - and the grounding of planes - last week Major League Baseball announced a five-year agreement with the player's union. The agreement, lasting until the end of the 2016 season, guarantees uninterrupted play for at least 21 years, the longest period of labor peace for the sport since collective bargaining was introduced.

In an outcome akin to Seinfeld's ‘bizzaro world', MLB has become sport's market leader in engaging with its player union and amicably determining a pathway for stability, and the introduction of new strategic initiatives with broad-based player support. When you cast your mind back to 1994 season (back near Constanza's heyday as the Yankees' Assistant to the Travel Secretary) and think of the animosity existing between league and union, and the public ambivalence to the sport that followed for numerous years, it is clear this is quite a significant achievement.

I'll highlight some key structural issues, the impact on Australian players, and a note or two on the increasing regulation of player conduct contained within the pact.

The agreement results in substantial change in league structure. The Houston Astros move across from the National to the American League (West) in 2013 - meaning each league now has 15 teams - and includes the introduction of a second wild card for each league for post season play. These two wild card teams are to play an end of season one game ‘play-in' to reach the post season proper, and then play one of the 3 Division winners in its league (beforehand the one wild card entry played the ‘winning-est' Division leader in a best of 5 game series).

Previously, the only advantage the Division winners obtained over wild card entries achieved was home field in the event a series went all 5 games. The recent spate of wild card entry World Series winners is perhaps evidence that Division winners did not receive enough of a post-season advantage. Now, Division winners will be able to rest and arrange (read: stack) their pitching rotations to then face the eventual wild card entrant.

Players also receive a pay boost, with the minimum wage for ranks and file members being raised to half a million dollars by 2014. Players are also now required to participate in the All-Star Game unless genuinely injured (last year's game was plagued by mystery ailments and players excusing themselves through fatigue - although presumably pocketing the contractual bonus for being named in the first instance). The use of television instant replay is also expanded, to now include fair/foul home run determinations.

The key issue from an Australian standpoint is the new CBA flags changes to the way in which teams acquire international players - that is, players not recruited through the amateur draft of US collegiate players. By the end of this year the MLB and the Player's Association will have established an ‘International Talent Committee', tasked with formalising a drafting process incorporate international talent into the league.

Many players of Australian origin initially try to make their way through the US collegiate system (and thus the current amateur draft). Some of these players, still working their way through the MLB's minor league farm system are ‘loaned' back to regional leagues during the US off-season in order to continue their development. However, those players that are simply showcasing their talents in the local ABL to try and secure a US deal will, in the future, be required to register with the MLB's ‘Scouting Bureau' to be eligible to sign with an MLB team. Depending on the structure determined by the MLB's ‘International Talent Committee', this appears to require the players to enter into an international draft, rather than negotiating directly with clubs to sign as a free agent.

Under proposals released to date, in this international draft each MLB club will be allocated a notional ‘signing bonus pool' of money, and each numbered pick has a notional ‘slot' guideline signing amount recommended by the MLB. This notional bonus pool is then set off against the actual monies spent by clubs in signing the international talent to determine whether clubs have acted reasonably in securing that talent. Similar to the current payroll ‘luxury' tax, teams that exceed their allocated notional pool will be ‘taxed' as a penalty, and may also be restricted in the bonus amounts it can use to sign players in the next draft. For example, exceed the MLB's bonus singing pool by between 10-15%, and you can't sign a player with a bonus exceeding $500,000 in the next year's international draft - exceed by more than 15% and that amount is reduced to no greater than $250,000. (Simply provisions are also being introduced to the amateur collegiate draft.)

The MLB seeks to level the playing field by giving poorer performing teams (likely with lower revenues) a greater notional signing bonus pool as well as first access to that talent through the typical draft (reverse order based on performance records from the previous year). On its face, these restrictions appear to impose some financial restrictions on the Yankees and Red Sox of the MLB world who might otherwise spend over the ‘slot' recommendations. However, as noted by Jonah Keri (author of The Extra 2%, a review of the rise of the Tampa Bay Rays) a key competitive platform for small market teams was - perhaps counter intuitively - overspending in the draft (see here). These revenue poor teams could allocate greater payroll dollars to secure young collegiate talent for a longer term, rather than competing in the hyper-inflationary free market for a Cliff Lee or an Albert Pujols type.

One certainty? Japanese clubs won't be pleased. Under the previous structure the team holding the rights to the international player was paid a posting fee, which in return provided the highest bidding MLB team an exclusive period to negotiate terms and sign the player. And yes, we are talking sheepstations here - to obtain an exclusive negotiating period for Japanese star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K), the Boston Red Sox paid the Seibu Lions an over $51 million posting fee. (Dice-K then signed with the Red Sox for $52 million over six years.)

Speaking of sheepstations, much is made of baseball not having a salary cap and the sky-high payroll figures of large market teams. For a number of years MLB has used a luxury tax as a disincentive to its higher spending teams increasing payroll without impunity. Among other revenue and drafting related initiatives, under the CBA clubs that exceed the threshold for more than four years in a row (read: the Yankees) will now be slugged a tax of 50%. (This luxury tax threshold remains at $178 million of payroll, increasing to $189 million in later years of the agreement.)

Other initiatives include the MLB being permitted to introduce a policy governing the players use of social media, the scope of which is yet to be made public. Other American sports leagues, in particular the NFL, have relied on strong commissioner powers in actively using player conduct policies to discipline athletes for off-field conduct. No doubt the social media policy will turn on the somewhat vague notion of ‘bringing the game into disrepute', but it will be interesting to first see the scope of the policy, and in turn, see whether it is zealously enforced.

The agreement also paves the way to introduce a number of significant drug testing and player conduct initiatives that, were the MLB seek to implement without CBA protection, would typically lead to legal challenges. These include:

* Players, managers, and coaches will be prohibited from using smokeless tobacco during televised interviews and Club appearances, and must conceal tobacco packages, tins and products while fans are in the ballpark. While it is unlikely you'll see Manny Ramirez in 2012 in any event, you certainly won't see a circular tin like the one he carried in the back pocket of his uniform on any player while playing.

* All players will be subject to hGH blood testing at any time during the year, including Spring Training, if the MLB considers there is reasonable cause. This testing regime will eventually graduate to random unannounced testing for hGH from the 2012/13 season onwards.

This CBA has been viewed in some media circles as an attempt for Commissioner Bud Selig to correct his legacy as he heads towards retirement - that being the Commissioner when the World Series was cancelled due to a labour strike, and also when the league adopted a laissez-faire attitude to testing for performance-enhancing drug use. The CBA appears to take major steps towards balancing that ledger for Selig, although it remains to be seen whether the new drafting procedures assist in creating a lasting competitive balance akin to that of the NFL.