Major League Baseball is just a few weeks away from the postseason as the regular season winds down, but the sport has a different feel this year than in previous years.
Why? The threat of a lockout. The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA expires in December, and the owners are all but guaranteed to lock the players out. Legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg said this is the “murkiest” environment the sport has had since before the turn of the century.
“This is the murkiest environment that baseball’s had since they had the strike back in 1994. Owners seem determined to put in place a salary cap,” Steinberg told OutKick in a recent interview.
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Steinberg pointed to two major signings by the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers as the straws that broke the camel’s back and outraged owners to the point of wanting a salary cap.
“If you think about it, the contract that signaled all the outrage and incentivized owners to fight for a salary cap was the signing of Kyle Tucker and the thought that who’s not playing that well this year, but it was the signing of Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz said to people, well, they’re doing what the Rams just did,” Steinberg said.
As Steinberg said, Tucker has struggled mightily in his first season after signing a four-year, $260 million contract. In 136 games this season, Tucker is hitting just .221 with 12 home runs and 59 RBI with an OPS of just .672.
Those numbers are well below the four-time All-Star’s career batting average of .265 and career OPS of .836.
The Dodgers signed Díaz to a three-year, $69 million contract to become the team’s closer, but the former New York Mets star has been hampered by injuries and has disappointed when on the mound.
Díaz, who has been limited to just 16 games because of elbow and neck injuries, has a startling 11.85 ERA in 13 2/3 innings pitched with seven saves. Like Tucker, those numbers are out of the ordinary for him, as he has a career ERA of 3.06 across his 10 seasons in the major leagues.
Yet despite those signings not panning out, the owners are hell-bent on a salary cap, while the players are vehemently opposed. Steinberg warns of dire consequences if the two sides can’t come to an agreement soon.
“[A lockout] would be so self-destructive for baseball. The last time they did that was in 1994. The next year, the gross receipts went down 40%. Fans were angry. They didn’t want to come to the games. And it took the steroid-fueled home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and then later Barry Bonds to bring the sport back,” Steinberg said.
“It would be remarkably self-destructive.”
Steinberg pointed out that revenue has been strong for owners as baseball has seen a resurgence.
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“What happens is you need to be able to put yourself in the heart and mind of the other side to negotiate a contract. So, are owners claiming economic turmoil and difficulty?” Steinberg said.
“And the answer is no, because the TV money and attendance and merchandising and fantasy and gambling now. The revenue streams are huge and baseball’s had a resurgence.”
The famed agent warned of the dire consequences the sport could suffer if both sides lose sight of what is at stake.
“When you get powerful billionaires owning teams locked in with wealthy players, you know, millionaires against billionaires, if you don’t have someone able to see the larger picture, you can get deadlocked,” Steinberg said.
Both sides have made proposals, but it doesn’t appear that any serious progress has been made in the preliminary talks. In March 2022, the two sides ended a 99-day lockout when MLB and the MLBPA ratified the new collective bargaining agreement.
With owners seemingly more dug in on a salary cap now than they were in 2022, there is concern that both sides would be willing to sacrifice games to get what they want.
Which, as Steinberg said, would be “incredibly self-destructive.”
Steinberg, who was inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, has had many high-profile clients throughout his impressive career. Across football and baseball, Steinberg’s clients include Steve Bartkowski, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Kordell Stewart, Jeff George, Ben Roethlisberger, Myron Rolle, Matt Leinart, Mark Brunell, Ricky Williams, Howie Long, Eric Karros and Dusty Baker, among others.
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