MLBPA expecting a work stoppage

With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire after the 2026 season, the league and players’ union appear to be expecting the worst.

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark confirmed as much to reporters, including Sportico’s Barry Bloom, on Friday:

The comments were in direct reference to statements made by Commissioner Rob Manfred to The Athletic in January, including the absurd suggestion that a lockout is “actually a positive.”

As Bloom notes, if historical tendencies continue, the two sides won’t even begin discussing a new CBA until next spring. Clark expects there will be a work stoppage if an agreement is not reached by December 1.

It has already become clear that a key sticking point in negotiations will be a salary cap. Spending in recent offseasons by the Dodgers and Mets has scared other owners and the gap between the highest and lowest payrolls has grown only larger. Spotrac’s projected payrolls this season (for CBT tax purposes) has the Dodgers at $392.5M. The Mets, at $321.4M, are the only other team above $300M. The Marlins sit at the bottom of the list, at just $64.8M.

The MLBPA has long been against a salary cap and that stance is unlikely to change. Teams are already treating the $241 luxury tax threshold as a de facto cap. Clark even highlighted this point to reporters, noting that the third of the league that’s gone over the threshold “are the ones most interested in being the last team standing.”

Owners locked the players out during the last round of CBA negotiations, during the 2021-22 offseason. The lockout lasted 99 days, the longest work stoppage in league history. The season began a week late but no games were lost thanks to some creative scheduling (skipping off days and schedule double-headers).

We may be two years away from the next work stoppage, but early indications are it could be worse this time around.

WBC roster commitments start

Eighteen of the 20 participants in next year’s World Baseball Classic are set. The final two spots will be determined beginning Sunday with the final qualifier pool. Naturally, roster news has started to become public in preparation for the tournament.

ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports that the Dominican Republic team will be managed by Albert Pujols, fresh off his final managerial experience leading the Leones del Escogido to the LIDOM championship this winter league season. Leones then went on to win the Caribbean Series.

Rays bench coach Rodney Linares managed the DR team during the last WBC in 2023. The team went 2-2 in group play and failed to advance.

The Dominican roster already looks loaded with talent. Mets outfielder Juan Soto and third baseman Mark Vientos both committed this week to join a group that already includes Ketel Marte, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Rafael Devers, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Astros outfielder Mauricio Dubon has declined an invitation to join the team from Nicaragua, according to Fernando Rayo of TN8 Venezuela (via worldbaseball.com). Dubon was born in Honduras but moved to the US for high school as a foreign exchange student before being selected in the 26th round of the 2013 Draft. Dubon is one of just two Honduras-born players in league history, but stated a desire to only play in the WBC if it could be for Honduras.

Meanwhile, Nicaragua outfielder Chase Dawson turned a strong performance in the qualifier pool into a contract for the 2025 season. The 27-year-old from Indiana spent four years in the independent leagues after going undrafted out of college before playing in Nicaragua in 2024 (how he was eligible for their WBC roster), where he hit .353/422/.491 over 42 games. Now he’ll join the Bravos de Leon of the Mexican League for the coming season.