This is my 28th edition of Out of Left Field. I have officially written more columns than the New York Yankees have won World Series. If they could catch up with me in the near future, I would appreciate it.
However, they might not have the opportunity anytime soon.
Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires Dec. 1, 2026. The CBA is an agreement between the 30 MLB teams and the Players Association (MLBPA), the union representing players, that governs major and minor league baseball contracts, team salary minimums and maximums and revenue sharing between teams. Without a CBA in effect, the league can legally enter a work stoppage: Either the players could strike or the owners could enact a lockout, halting all league operations until a new agreement is reached.
The current five-year agreement took effect on March 10, 2022, after a league-induced lockout that spanned the entire offseason. Teams could not sign free agents or make trades for three months, and offseason practice facilities were entirely unavailable to players.
After an agreement was reached, MLB delayed the beginning of the 2022 season from March 31 to April 7, just barely managing to keep the regulation 162-game schedule intact.
In 2027, baseball might not be so lucky.
A CBA is a delicate balance — between owners and players, small-market teams and large-market teams and major leaguers and minor leaguers. Pessimistically, the next CBA negotiations might just be a fight between the Dodgers, the team who has coasted to consecutive World Series victories through astronomical spending, and the other 29 teams, who are left wondering what else they could have done.
Still, as much as I enjoy complaining about the Dodgers and their disrespectful propensity to ruin baseball, MLB’s current problems are far broader than one team’s greed.
League parity is somehow at its highest high and its lowest low. On one hand, the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners — who have the 23rd- and 16th-largest payrolls in the league, respectively — made it to each league’s championship series.
On the other hand, the team with the highest payroll ever in North American professional sports won the World Series. This is the same team that scooped up every single Japanese free agent and then some other top free agents for good measure — just because they could.
At the same time, working conditions for players are likely to be a sticking point in negotiations. The annual salary minimum for minor league players ranges from $36,590 to as low as $20,430 — barely above the poverty line.
If those minor-leaguers reach the majors, they still must wait six years before reaching free agency. Often, players reach or pass their prime by the time they are able to negotiate their contract on the open market. Further, pitchers are frequently overworked, with teams valuing velocity and innings over player safety.
To top it all off, according to court documents unsealed Nov. 9, two players on the Cleveland Guardians were indicted for “pitch-rigging.” Federal prosecutors allege, in multiple instances, pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz took bribes to throw balls instead of strikes as part of a wide-ranging gambling conspiracy. Each pitcher, if convicted, faces up to 65 years in prison for various fraud charges.
Evidently, MLB needs a changeup — perhaps in the form of a salary cap and floor, a less ridiculous playoff structure, restrictions on sports betting, increased attention to the rights of minor leaguers or an adjusted free agency system. This is not to mention the need for improved protections for player health and safety, limits on deferred contracts and a rocket launching the Dodgers to Mars.
But there is not a single party who would benefit from a strike or a lockout.
MLB’s national and international viewership is at an all time high. Despite ruining my life, Game 7 of the 2025 World Series averaged 51 million viewers between the United States, Canada and Japan. It was the most-watched MLB game since Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Viewership during the regular season and playoffs was also higher than usual. This attention to the game draws in fans, drives up ticket sales and media revenue for teams and opens doors to sponsorship deals for players.
Nothing would put a damper on MLB’s recent success like a work stoppage or a contentious negotiation period. Baseball has not been this popular in years — but without a productive CBA renegotiation, the league risks pulling an Aaron Judge: striking out when it matters most.
