Gradually, then suddenly. That’s how the new CBA came together, ensuring there will be baseball in 2022 and beyond. It concluded Thursday with the the players voting to accept the owners’ latest proposal, and it concluded in time for this all eventually to feel like a bad dream.

What I mean by that is we’re still getting a full 162 games. For all the talk of canceled series, the league agreed to rearrange the schedule to fit everything in. Opening Day is now set for April 7, which isn’t so out of line with the typical baseball calendar. Casual fans won’t even know the difference.

But you’re no casual fan, of course. You play Fantasy Baseball, and you’re used to following certain rhythms. And it’s probably not lost on you that April 7 is only four weeks away.

So what do you need to know to get your own league off the ground? What can you expect to happen and when? First, a quick rundown of some rule changes that likely won’t have a huge impact on our game:

• Beginning in 2023, MLB has a 45-day window to implement rule changes without player approval. If you’ve heard talk of eliminating shifts or implementing pitch clocks and larger bases, that’s where those fit in. We’ll worry about them next year.
• Also beginning in 2023, teams will player fewer divisional games and face each of the other 29 teams at least once.
• Playoffs will expand to 12 teams. The top two teams in each league will get a bye, with the other four playing in a best-of-three wild card round.
• The top six draft picks will now be determined by a lottery system.
• Players can be optioned to minors a maximum of five times in a given season.
• Doubleheaders are back to normal (each game being nine innings).
• Extra innings are back to normal (no more free runner on second base).
• Draft pick forfeiture for free agents is suspended for now and will be eliminated entirely if the two sides can agree to an international draft by July 25.

Now,…