MLB News: Former GM Believes Lockout is not Inevitable
· Yahoo Sports
With the negotiations for Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement looming over the 2026 season, many believe a lockout is likely or even impossible to avoid.
Issues like a salary cap and the disparity between big-market and small-market teams seem like daunting obstacles to overcome, but longtime MLB executive Jim Bowden writes for The Athletic that he’s more optimistic.
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The gates are locked during the MLB lockout delaying spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida on February 22, 2022.Why Is There Hope a Lockout Can Be Avoided?
Bowden believes the sport is in great shape, especially after the electric 2025 World Series and thrilling World Baseball Classic.
Amid recent innovations like the pitch clock and Automated Ball-Strike System, baseball is in the midst of a revitalization of the game and growing its audience.
Per Baseball Almanac, the 2024 and 2025 World Series drew an average of about 15.8 million viewers, well above the 9.1 million viewers of 2023 and the most since the 18.7 million viewers of the 2017 Fall Classic.
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Given that momentum, Bowden noted how tough it would be to cancel games.
“Major League Baseball has never been in better shape overall and a work stoppage would be devastating to the game and the momentum it presently has,” he wrote. “Hopefully, both sides will work hard on improving the game in all aspects in this next CBA without games being cancelled.”
Bowden also highlighted Commissioner Rob Manfred’s success thus far in avoiding cancelled games.
“Keep in mind, since Manfred has been commissioner, no regular season games have been cancelled due to a work stoppage over labor disputes,” he wrote. “Hopefully, that will be the case again this time around if both sides negotiate in good faith.”
Star Power Could Be Key to Avoiding Lockout
Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain said earlier this year that not only is a lockout is avoidable, it’s unlikely to happen at all. He referenced the record-breaking 51 million Game 7 viewers in the U.S., Canada and Japan as evidence.
“If you go and you have a lockout right now, during peak Shohei Ohtani time and Aaron Judge time and coming off a World Series that had 51 million viewers at a time when the NBA has struggled with its ratings, where it’s very competitive to get eyeballs in this day and age, if Major League Baseball had a lockdown, it could set this sport back by a decade at least,” McKain said.
“Like it could be that damaging. Nobody wants to hear about millionaires arguing with billionaires no matter what the circumstances are, whether it be salary cap, salary floor, revenue sharing, the Dodgers deferring contracts as long as other teams can do that, too. It does not matter. Fans tune out. They do not care. They will find other things to watch, other things to attend, other places to go.
“And yes, it’s pretty nuanced and complicated as far as what they’re gonna be after, but as far as missing time, I just don’t think they are.”