Passan: Some MLB owners reportedly expect a lockout to cancel the entire 2027 season

[Magneto2.0]

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-o ... 40120.html

jeffpassan
1d
The trade deadline is a week from today. Fire away with questions. I'll be in and out all day answering them.
paulmatthewanderson
1d
How do you think the potential for a lockout affects the dealing? Will it be way down given the uncertainty of next season?
jeffpassan
1d
Great question. It's absolutely affecting some teams' approaches. There are owners that believe there won't be a single game next season, so they're telling their GMs to price that into their trade deliberations. Will it have a significant effect? I won't go that far. But does that possibility exist? Absolutely.

[booger71]

Won't the owners still have to still pay those enormous contracts?

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Won't the owners still have to still pay those enormous contracts?

AI says no - they only get paid as games are played. I didn't know that either. MLBPA has over half a billion in a lockout fund to pay players during work stoppage.

[Magneto2.0]

Won't the owners still have to still pay those enormous contracts?

Apparently not.

This is what I found:

No, MLB owners do not have to pay players their regular salaries during a lockout.

Key Financial Rules During an MLB Lockout

Salaries Halted: Owners stop paying base salaries as soon as a lockout begins.

No Work, No Pay: Because a lockout is an owner-initiated work stoppage, players lose 1/172nd of their annual salary for every day of the regular season that is canceled.

Signing Bonuses: Players generally still receive their signing bonuses, as these are typically structured as guaranteed upfront money independent of active play.

Health Insurance: Teams usually stop paying for player health insurance, forcing the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to step in and fund COBRA or alternative coverage.

Per Diems and Spring Training: Players do not receive spring training per diems or stipend money while locked out.

How Players Survive Financially

Because regular paychecks stop, the MLBPA builds up a dedicated "war chest" or dispute fund over several years leading up to collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expirations. This fund provides licensing checks and emergency stipends to help players cover living expenses while they are not being paid by their teams.

[Famous Mortimer]

Maybe 30 billionaires aren't the best people to be in charge of an entire sport

[ghostrunner]

Maybe 30 billionaires aren't the best people to be in charge of an entire sport

It really is ludicrous.

Late stage capitalism is kind of a generalization and a cliche, but it does seem to me like we're reaching a point where so many tricks and loopholes are being exploited and with greater and greater efficiency that barriers and protections that used to exist are either gone or useless.

I'd like a real commission, vs the owners and a commissioner they picked themselves. Owners, players, and ideally some kind of fan rep but not sure how that would work. Maybe others too, like a college/high school/little league rep. Maybe foreign reps too since players are coming from there. That could get unwieldy but you don't necessarily need unanimity. Just someone there to speak for everyone involved.

[ghostrunner]

Minor leaguers also keep on playing if they're not on the 40 man by the end of the season, so that's going to impact some decisions.

[heyzeus]

Very excited to see the owners [expletive] the sport back into post-94 lockout levels of popularity, only with no steroid fueled home run race to save it this time around.

[CardsofSTL]

Very excited to see the owners [expletive] the sport back into post-94 lockout levels of popularity, only with no steroid fueled home run race to save it this time around.

They can always bring back steroids

[booger71]

Maybe 30 billionaires aren't the best people to be in charge of an entire sport

I don't know. Imagine if a bunch of regular Joe's owned a team. Do you think they would want to pay players huge contracts? First thing I would do would be to enact a salary cap which I guess the players are balking at.