Baseball
Related: About this forumA lockout is looming over MLB in December 2026, with a salary cap fight possibly at the center
ATLANTA (AP) Looming over baseball is a likely lockout in December 2026, a possible management push for a salary cap and perhaps lost regular-season games for the first time since 1995.
No ones talking about it, but we all know that theyre going to lock us out for it, and then were going to miss time, New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso said Monday at the All-Star Game. Were definitely going to fight to not have a salary cap and the leagues obviously not going to like that.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and some owners have cited payroll disparity as a problem, while at the same time MLB is working to address a revenue decline from regional sports networks. Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has never had a salary cap because its players staunchly oppose one.
SNIP
After signing outfielder Juan Soto to a record $765 million contract, New York opened this season with an industry-high $326 million payroll, nearly five times Miamis $69 million, according to Major League Baseballs figures. Using luxury tax payrolls, based on average annual values that account for future commitments and include benefits, the Dodgers were first at $400 million and on track to owe a record luxury tax of about $151 million shattering the previous tax record of $103 million set by Los Angeles last year.
MORE: https://apnews.com/article/mlb-lockout-salary-cap-b2abf5a48833dac97d65dc92ce32d0bb
Highlights, from the link:
Quote, Rob Manfred: "When I talk to the players, I dont try to convince them that a salary cap system would be a good thing. I identify a problem in the media business and explain to them that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together and that is that there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem.
Manfred said 10% of players earn 72% of salaries.
Baseballs collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, 2026.
Management lockouts have become the norm, which shifts the start of a stoppage to the offseason.
During the last negotiations, the sides reached a five-year deal on March 10 after a 99-day lockout, salvaging a 162-game 2022 season.
----------------
Let them strike. Restore competitive balance, especially now that all franchises must play each other. There's little to no pennant hope for fans in Cleveland, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Baltimore, etc.
The last small-market MLB club to win a World Series was the Kansas City Royals in 2015.

Xavier Breath
(5,850 posts)It works in other sports and the mlb players can just get over themselves already.
displacedvermoter
(3,875 posts)Jeezus, Joe Hill and Cesar Chavez would be proud of your efforts on the behalf of the working man!
Sneederbunk
(16,310 posts)Xavier Breath
(5,850 posts)Wounded Bear
(62,532 posts)and frankly, it has always been off in baseball, since the early days 100 years ago.
Unbridled capitalism ruins sports.