When Jake Bauers gloved the final out of the Milwaukee Brewers’ first World Series triumph, it might have ended the last Major League Baseball game for a long time.
uncertain
it → glove → time
While just 148 days remain until the scheduled start of the 2027 season on March 24, owners have proposed a salary cap for the first time since their 1994 plan led to a 7 1/2-month strike and the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.
asserted
plan → remain → years
“Obviously, you’d love to see the game be in a good spot and continue to be played,” Milwaukee captain Christian Yelich said Wednesday a few hours before his team finished a five-game victory over Tampa Bay.
asserted
team → love → Bay
“I think the game’s in a great spot right now with a lot of people tuned in, a lot of popularity, a lot of great players out there.
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lot → think → players
It would obviously be a shame if we miss time, but we’ll have plenty of time this offseason to talk about it.
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we → miss → it
Baseball’s five-year labor contract, agreed to in March 2022 on the 99th day of a management lockout, expires on Dec. 1.
asserted
contract → agree → Dec.
MLB is likely to lock out players again as soon as the deal expires.
asserted
deal → lock → players
That could create another free-agent frenzy ahead of the expiration.
uncertain
That → create → expiration
On Dec. 1, 2021, clubs committed to $1.4 billion in salaries that included nine-figure contracts for Javier Báez, Byron Buxton, Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer, Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.
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that → commit → Báez
This year’s free-agent class is headed by Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta, Michael King, Seiya Suzuki and Randy Arozarena.
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class → head → Skubal
There were 144 new free agents Thursday and several dozen more can go free by Monday.
asserted
dozen → be → Monday
Players say cap proposal is a non-starter
While the sides have been negotiating since May, there is no common ground on the primary economic issues.
Management wants a cap and a floor that would cut down disparity in payrolls along with restricting a player to at most 15% of his team’s payroll.
uncertain
that → say → payroll
Players want expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum, increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs and imposing a tax on teams that fail to keep their payrolls at a certain level.
asserted
that → want → level
During bargaining that led to the 2022 agreement, the sides didn’t engage in extensive back-and-forth on economic proposals until late February, when the possibility of losing regular-season games neared.
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possibility → lead → games
Several deadlines passed before the deal was reached, and opening day was pushed back from March 31 to April 7.
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day → pass → April
“I am not, by nature or sort of intellect a deadline bargainer,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said.
asserted
Manfred → say → intellect
“I think in recent years it has become more deadline driven, which is not uncommon.”
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which → think → years
While the NBA has had a cap since 1984-85, the NFL since 1994 and the NHL since 2005-06, baseball players have said they never will agree to such a system.
asserted
they → have → system
They have been preparing for several years for a lockout and a fight on a cap proposal.
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They → prepare → proposal
“I think everybody knows where we’re headed come Dec. 1,” Tampa Bay pitcher Pete Fairbanks, a member of the union’s eight-man executive subcommittee, said last April.
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Fairbanks → think → subcommittee
Owners say they are united on their cap plan and MLB says it would benefit the majority of players who make close to the minimum.
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who → say → minimum
About 40% of the players on 40-man rosters at the end of the regular season had less than one year of major league service as of the start of the season.
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% → have → season
The union says the current system of free agency, arbitration and no hard spending limit allows players to realize their economic worth.
asserted
players → say → worth
Change in union leadership
Players forced out union head Tony Clark early this year and replaced the former All-Star first baseman with his deputy, Bruce Meyer, the lawyer who led their negotiating team for the last CBA.
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who → force → CBA
When the union agreed to the current deal, the executive subcommittee voted against it but team player representatives voted 26-4 in favor for an overall 26-12 approval.
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representatives → agree → approval
Skubal, Fairbanks, Chris Bassitt and Paul Skenes joined the executive subcommittee in December 2024 along with Jake Cronenworth and Cedric Mullins.
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Skubal → join → Cronenworth
Semien is the only holdover from the 2021-22 talks on the subcommittee, which also includes Brent Suter.
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which → include → Suter
“We have made massive, massive strides in just educating players, keeping players together,” Bassitt said.
asserted
Bassitt → make → players
“It’s not like the executive board is made up of eight guys and you follow that eight guys.
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you → ’ → guys
Now it’s all 30 teams pulling from the same rope, so to speak and it’s every player under that umbrella.”
asserted
it → ’ → umbrella
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This story has been updated to correct that Tarik Skubal, Pete Fairbanks, Chris Bassitt and Paul Skenes joined the executive subcommittee in December 2024, not 2004.
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asserted
Skubal → update → December
The Aporia
