Major League Baseball (MLB) appears to be headed for a lockout after the 2026 season, with the league’s owners reportedly already 75% of the way there.
While MLB’s owners and players union theoretically have plenty of time to discuss and reach an agreement before the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires in December 2026, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that a significant number of owners are already prepared to lock out the players if necessary.
“It’s [sic] remains unknown how firm MLB’s stance will be seeking a salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement, but one owner believes they have 75% of the votes needed to call for a lockout if the current system isn’t changed after the 2026 season,” according to Nightengale.
“While the players union insists it would never approve a salary cap , several club executives believe a potential viable alternative would be to strip teams of valuable draft picks instead of simply penalizing teams monetarily.”
MLB is still the only major North American sports league without a salary cap; the other four leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS) have all had salary caps in place for at least 20 years. In its place, MLB implements a competitive balance tax, which, like the NBA, effectively taxes high-spending teams.
Still, it has not been enough to deter some of the large-market clubs from overspending, as the Dodgers’ total payroll, including taxes, exceeds $550 million, according to Spotrac. The figure is more than 6.5 times that of the Miami Marlins, who, along with the Chicago White Sox, are the only MLB teams with a payroll of less than $90 million.
MLB players were last locked out for three months, from December 2021 to March 2022. While MLB was able to maintain its 162-game schedule for the 2022 season, it had to shorten spring training and postpone Opening Day by about a week.
Prior to that, MLB experienced a nearly eight-month lockout in 1994 and 1995, which ended the 1994 season, forced the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, shortened the 1995 season, and sparked widespread resentment among fans who remained bitter toward the players and owners for the longest work stoppage in MLB history.
In addition to a salary cap, the two sides face an uncertain future in terms of regional sports networks (RSNs) and MLB’s national television coverage, as longtime broadcast partner ESPN opts out of the final three years of its contract with MLB after this season.
In addition to a salary cap, the two sides face an uncertain future in terms of regional sports networks (RSNs) and MLB’s national television coverage, as longtime broadcast partner ESPN opts out of the final three years of its contract with MLB after this season.
