As the Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire on December 1, there is a great deal of uncertainty as to what will happen. Major League Baseball and the Player’s Association have had talks on a new CBA, but there has not been much traction towards an agreement. MLB is barrelling towards its first labor stoppage since the disastrous 1994 strike that wiped out the World Series.
The league is preparing for such actions. According to reports, the winter meetings in Orlando are being canceled with the idea that the players will be locked out once the CBA expires.
I’m hearing as a prelude to a likely lockout by the owners Dec. 1, the winter meetings in Orlando are being cancelled
— billmadden1954 (@bmadden1954) October 24, 2021
MLB getting ready for first labor stoppage since 1994
This lockout seems inevitable. Neither side feels that the other is negotiating in good faith, setting up the perfect storm for a lockout. The owners have proposed eliminating salary arbitration so that all players can become free agents at 29.5 years of age, a salary floor, and a lower luxury tax threshold.
The Player’s Union, meanwhile, is concerned about teams tanking and not even attempting to contend or sign free agents. They are, however, entirely against a salary floor as they feel it will eventually lead to a hard salary cap. The average annual salary for a major league player has dropped by approximately $300,000 since 2017, which the Union is not pleased about. They are also looking for changes to the current agreement, but have generally viewed MLB’s offers as non starters.
It is difficult to feel sympathy for either side. Inflation is soaring, people are out of work, and the pandemic is still ongoing. Watching millionaires and billionaires fight one another over a few dollars is not exactly the type of battle that will make either side sympathetic to the fans.
But no one should really be surprised. MLB has been astonishingly tone deaf over the years, and both sides only care about squeezing as much money out of the fans as possible. If this lockout happens, it will just be a reminder of that.
Major League Baseball is preparing for a lockout once the current CBA expires. Both sides are doing a great job of sabotaging the sport.