The MLB offseason has hit a major stop after only a few days of free agency.  This is the first stoppage in professional baseball since the players went on strike in 1994-95, leading to the cancellation of over 900 games and the entire postseason.  It has been 32 years since the last lockout, which resulted in the full season eventually being played, after missing all of spring training and pushing the schedule back by a week.  Historically, there had only been eight lockouts and strikes, with less than half leading to missed games.  

The difference between lockouts and strikes is that lockouts are started by the owners or the employers, while strikes are started by players.  In baseball, when a lockout occurs, all major transactions are halted, including trades, signings, and any negotiations with players.  For players, they are not allowed to be involved in team activities, use team facilities, or sign contracts.

“The lockout is annoying because it means there won’t be the free agency action that there once was.  Hopefully, the lockout will not mess with the season start and there won’t be any missed games,” said freshman Jacob Spence.

On Dec. 2, the MLB went into its ninth stoppage and fourth lockout.  According to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, the league had decided to enact a lockout to encourage urgency for a deal.  During a lockout, the League and Players Association can still negotiate, but without the players being able to talk to clubs and vice-versa.  

The owners felt they needed to lock out the players because they think the players already have the best collective bargaining agreement (CBA) of any American sport; it includes no salary cap, no maximum dollar amount, and no maximum contract length.  The players, on the other hand, feel that although the best players have been getting paid, the average player has been getting the least salary among major sports.  They also want younger players to be paid faster, get to arbitration and free agency faster, raise the luxury tax starting point by $35 million, put rules in place to end service time manipulation, and try to end tanking through various measures.  

Owners have offered some counters to the Players Association, including a lottery system for the amateur draft, similar to that of the NBA, to end tanking.  They have also offered to change the free agency system to be dependent on age instead of the current system, where it depends on service time.

“As the CBA expired, the MLB went into a lockout.  This ordeal might eventually lead to the season being delayed because little to nothing has been accomplished,” said freshman Jacob Green.

Some of the most severe implications of the CBA not being renewed could be the cancellation of games, or even the playoffs.  As the season gets closer, the players gain leverage, because owners need income from both spring training and the start of the regular season, especially due to their losses throughout COVID-19.  

Although the possibility of canceling games could happen, in the three previous owner-produced lockouts, there has not been a game canceled.  The MLB could play the season without a CBA, but that would probably not happen.  

Manfred has called this a “defensive” lockout after starting the 1994-95 season without a CBA, leading to a strike in August when the MLB tried to impose a salary cap.  When that happened, the union did keep the league from adding a salary cap but had the battle between them play out publicly.

“The lockout is a disgrace to the MLB and should be ended very soon so that there can be more free agency and the season can start on time,” said freshman Dylan Saunders.

The situation now is quite similar: players want the luxury tax cap to increase, which would encourage higher payment for all players, among other demands, and the owners want to create a cap on team’s spending.  Until the two can reach an agreement, the lockout will continue and no free agents will be signed, no trades will be made, and no games will be played.