MLB enters first lockout in decades

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Truist Park, home field of the World Series champion Atlanta Braves Associated Press/Photo by Brynn Anderson

Major League Baseball team owners locked out players at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday after they failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. This is the first work stoppage for the organization in 26 years. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he knew the lockout would not be good for the game, but the owners could not agree to the players’ terms, which included salary increases and changes to free agency eligibility.

What happens next? Spring training is set to start on Feb. 16, with the first game scheduled for March 31. The last time contract negotiations halted the game, in 1994, players went on strike for nearly eight months, canceling that year’s World Series. Just hours before the lockout started, big league teams emptied their coffers of a one-day record $1.4 billion in salaries. Teams are not allowed to communicate with their players during the lockout.

Dig deeper: Read Ray Hacke’s take on baseball players’ salaries amid minor league cuts.

Leigh Jones

Leigh is features editor for WORLD. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate who spent six years as a newspaper reporter in Texas before joining WORLD News Group. Leigh also co-wrote Infinite Monster: Courage, Hope, and Resurrection in the Face of One of America's Largest Hurricanes. She resides with her husband and daughter in Houston, Texas.