Article Content:<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCompromise or collapse: 2027 MLB season in jeopardy as lockout looms<\/p>\n
Ethan Holtzinger, Cronkite News
\nMay 12, 2026<\/p>\n
PHOENIX \u2013 When Jerry Colangelo built the 2001 World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks, he did so with an $85 million payroll that was just $26 million short of the league-leading New York Yankees ($111 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Colangelo doesn\u2019t think the same achievement would be possible today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had never been done before in the history of baseball, and probably never will be again in today’s economic structure,\u201d Colangelo said. \u201cThose with the real money, I’m talking about maybe three or four teams \u2013 the L.A. Dodgers, the Mets, the Yankees \u2013 there’s only a handful of teams really that can compete financially.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor everyone else, it’s a long shot. I mean, big-time long shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Major League Baseball\u2019s collective bargaining agreement approaches its Dec. 1 expiration date, Colangelo\u2019s opinion is shared by numerous owners, who are aggressively pushing for a strict salary cap in negotiations for the next CBA. Driven by high-spending teams such as the Dodgers and Mets, owners argue that a cap will ensure competitive balance, while players and agents view it as a thinly veiled attempt to limit salaries.<\/p>\n
The impasse is casting a pall over the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
The chances of a compromise being reached before the current agreement expires are considered slim by many. In February, MLB Players Association Interim Executive Director Bruce Meyer told ESPN a lockout is \u201call but guaranteed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Similar to 2021, a lockout would mean no free agency or trades, but this time regular season games could be lost as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think both sides have baseball\u2019s best interest in mind and in the end they\u2019re going to work it out,\u201d said Padres manager Craig Stammen, who is also a former player and coach. \u201cI\u2019m not too worried about a potential lockout honestly. It\u2019s not anything that I can control. I spent a lot of time on it as a player rep the last time it went around and I\u2019m happy not being a part of it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
This situation isn\u2019t anything new for the league or those involved. The ninth work stoppage in MLB history, and the most recent, was put into effect on Dec. 2, 2021, immediately after the previous agreement expired. Back then, the disagreement between the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association focused on compensation for younger players and solutions to prevent teams from purposefully tanking to improve their position in the draft.<\/p>\n
More than three months later, the league and the union finally agreed on a new five-year contract. As a result of the temporary lockout, Opening Day was delayed.<\/p>\n
This time around, the question itself is singular, but the implications are anything but.<\/p>\n
Given the payroll disparity throughout the league, owners believe a salary cap is necessary for the game\u2019s future. For obvious reasons, players strongly oppose the idea, despite the fact that over 90% of the World Series champions in the past two decades were in the top half of the league\u2019s payroll.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If a cap is to be instituted, players have countered with the possibility of a salary floor to ensure teams like the Marlins are forced to spend more.<\/p>\n
“Teams spending money is never bad for baseball and never bad for players, ever, in any situation,” the Athletics’ Brent Rooker told ESPN.<\/p>\n
Last season, the Los Angeles Dodgers shattered MLB spending records with a total expenditure of approximately $514.6 million, which includes both player payroll and luxury tax payments. The actual player payroll component was roughly $345.3 million, alongside a record tax of $169.4 million. The Dodgers’ 2025 total spending was roughly seven times the $68.7 million payroll of the lowest-spending team, the Miami Marlins, highlighting the league\u2019s spending disparity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps not surprisingly, L.A. won its second straight World Series title.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time MLB owners have pushed for a salary cap, but history doesn\u2019t suggest that this dispute will have a simple resolution. The same debate resulted in a work stoppage back in 1994 \u2013 the longest in the league\u2019s history. It spanned 232 days, from Aug. 12 to April 2, 1995, and led to the cancellation of the remainder of the regular season, the postseason and the World Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite the entrenched viewpoints, Angels general manager Perry Minasian isn\u2019t as concerned about a lack of parity in the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen teams with big payrolls have success and we\u2019ve seen teams with small payrolls have success,\u201d Minasian said. \u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019re worried about now. We’re worried about this season and we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
The threat of a lockout and its potential implications will loom over the league this season, but ultimately both sides want to see the game continue to flourish.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s all about trying to grow the game and do what\u2019s better for the game,\u201d Padres general manager A.J. Preller said. \u201cIt\u2019s always better when you\u2019re on the field playing. I\u2019m sure the labor situation is gonna be there in the background this season, but most of the time over the last 20 years they\u2019ve been able to find a way to get it worked out in a way that\u2019s positive for baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n
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