r/Cardinals • u/TheAthletic • 7d ago
MLB memo reveals lockout plans: League will scrub website, ban contact with trainers
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7670102/2026/10/07/mlb-memo-lockout-plans-teams-players-ban-contact/?unlocked_article_code=1.HFE.MLAw.oo5FFHGPAPWs&source=emp_shared_article&smid=re-share-ta52
u/Defiant-Good-6206 7d ago
This is the EXACT same thing that happened during the 2022 lockout. This is not big news or an earth shaker AT ALL.
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u/Jacoblaue 7d ago
I’m sorry can someone explain this to me like I’m 5 I’m really dumb and don’t know why the league would care about a website or team trainers
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u/mrbmi513 7d ago
Essentially the players all become "unemployed" for the duration of the lockout. The league doesn't want to promote the players, nor give them access to league employees like trainers until an agreement is reached.
Like if you were furloughed from your job, you'd lose access to company resources like your email or work files.
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u/Chefmatt33 7d ago
The thing I hate about the pettiness is the fact that there is no league without players.
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u/mrbmi513 7d ago
And vice versa; without the league the players don't have jobs (unless they're willing to take pay cuts and join the Banana Ball draft or something).
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u/iontardose 7d ago
The owners are replaceable. The players are not.
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u/Midwest_Niner22 7d ago
Pretty sure both are! MiLB is full of talent itchy to steal these guys jobs. Owners could easily replace every player and the show would go on without a hitch; however, at a lower quality in the short term.
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u/lurch556 6d ago
It’s not. Players who participate as replacement players will be blacklisted from the union.
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u/Midwest_Niner22 6d ago
Well that’s completely hypothetical and I used MiLB players which the union isn’t going to blacklist them without putting itself in harms way.
90% of the league is replaceable just like any job. The 10% that aren’t are due to name recognition/ face of the brand types that take time to build.3
u/lurch556 6d ago
It’s not hypothetical. The union did it the last time replacement players were used.
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u/ATR2019 7d ago
Millions of people every year watch minor league baseball without caring who the players are or how good/bad they are. A few players like Ohtani move the needle and should be paid accordingly but the rest are replaceable.
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u/iontardose 7d ago
Because tickets are cheap. Do you really think you could get rid of the top 1200 players and the league would go on as normal? Am I the crazy one here?
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u/ATR2019 7d ago
I like baseball so I would continue to watch baseball. Millions of people are like me. It’s not that complicated.
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u/TheIllustriousWe 6d ago
It's more complicated than you think. Anyone who steps in to replace those players will be deemed a scab, and not too many are willing to wear that label. There will be fans like you who keep watching, sure, but there will be plenty who won't and there may not even be enough players to watch in the first place.
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u/cox4days Jim Hayes for President 7d ago
They don't get trainers because they're not employees during the lockout, they're scrubbing players from the website because they're going scorched earth
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u/dstnarg 7d ago
The reason individual player images are allowed to appear on any MLB website is through agreement and consent from the MLBPA. If no such agreement is in place MLB and its teams lose access to player likenes until a new agreement is reached. It's standard practice during a lockout. Same thing happened a few years ago.
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u/Professional_Two5011 7d ago
"MLB won’t stand in the way if players want to play in Japan or elsewhere during the stoppage"
Well you're damn straight you won't. If you're locking out the players, you're also giving up all ability to tell the players shit about shit. If you lock them out and treat them like they're not your employees anymore, then they can go work for whomever they want
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u/lurch556 6d ago
It won’t stand in the way because on some level that breaks ranks within the union
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u/edsmith726 I miss So Taguchi 7d ago
MiLB will still be playing.
the Frontier League and all the MLB partner leagues will still be playing.
NCAA will still be playing.
NPB and KBO will be playing.
Hell, a women’s pro-baseball league got off to a running start up in Springfield, IL just this summer.
If the owners and the union’s executive committee want to spend the summer arguing, I say let them.
The summer of 2027 can be the year Baseball gets back to its roots.
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u/tearsonurcheek 6d ago
Exception: Anyone on their team's 40-man is a member of the MLBPA and cannot play in or train with any MiLB affiate during a lockout or strike.
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u/PrincessDeMissouri 6d ago
Always remember that before professionalism arrived every town in America had its own team in a league that may consist of half a county.
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u/panda3096 6d ago
St. Louis Gold just got accepted into the pro fast pitch softball league too. Plenty of options
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u/bw1979 7d ago
Let’s start the speculation about what MLB players we might see playing elsewhere…. Never too early to start planning a vacation
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u/mrbmi513 7d ago
Banana Ball is going to have one heck of an exponential growth on top of their already explosive growth when they're suddenly the biggest game around.
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u/Vanilla_Villainy They just...won't...go...away 7d ago
I, for one, cannot WAIT to find out which players discover a 2% lineage from Moldova and decide to play over there
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u/ILikeOatmealMore 7d ago
There are a few independent leagues still operating. E.g. the Kansas City Monarchs are part of American Association of Professional Baseball. Matt Adams was playing for them for a time between playing for the Rockies and then signing a minor league contract with the Nationals.
It is an 'MLB Partner League', but from what I gather, since the teams aren't actually affiliated with any MLB organizations, the 'partnership' is just some agreements to help MLB scouting and data/video capture, MLBPA members could sign contracts with these teams if they wanted.
IANAL so maybe I am wrong on that, but that's what my amateur reading of the rules would imply.
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u/Afilthyweeb 7d ago
Lol we finally start building towards something worth a fuck and we lose an entire year of developing our young players.
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u/ILikeOatmealMore 7d ago
If you do want some good news on that front, the MiLBPA is a different organization than MLBPA, and have their own CBA. So players not on teams 40-player MLB roster still participate in minor league ball. It is the players who will be added from the minors to the 40-player roster to protect them from Rule 5 draft that will be boned as those guys haven't even made it to MLB yet, but would be locked out.
The MiLBPA CBA runs through the 2027 season so there would be a year of MiLB that should still happen. And hence at least a good number of our developing prospects should still develop.
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u/missourifan_81 6d ago
The 2021 Rule 5 Draft was postponed due to the lockout and cancelled after it ended. If the same happens here, do they really need to add them to the 40-man roster beforehand?
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u/ILikeOatmealMore 6d ago
The draft was cancelled, yes, but the 40-player rosters re-set days after the world series ends. This is in preparation for free agency starting. All players have to be on the 40-player roster proper, there is no Injury List in the offseason. And the by-product of that is the 40-player roster being set by a certain date so that other teams know who is and isn't Rule 5 eligible.
So, while the draft was cancelled, the roster moves were still required as that all happened mid-Nov. And the lockout didn't commence until 2 Dec, like this coming one may as well.
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u/Afilthyweeb 7d ago
Man. I want to be a big baby and just say "nuh uh" but thats actually good news.
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u/Winn_Streak 6d ago
All the players should go snowboarding and jet skiing and box competitively. Its their chance to have some fun without those pesky no injury clauses. I know I would tune in for Herrera competing in the UFC...
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u/TrebierdSpeech 7d ago
Our commitment has been and remains to exhaust every realistic option to achieve our goal of resuming normal business with our favorite team’s advertisers. However, owners and MLB need to be prepared for the possibility that an agreement will not be reached by then and the fans are left with no realistic alternative but to implement a lockout of those advertisers.
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u/ILikeOatmealMore 7d ago edited 7d ago
Honestly, and I know I get downvoted for writing this, too. But if the billionaires and millionaires can't agree how to split up their giant pot of money, then they don't need my money and attention anymore at all. If they haven't come to some kind of agreement by opening day 2027, then I will just not watch MLB anymore. I frigging love baseball, but I can find other things to do with my time, really.
I was a kid when the strike of 94 and 95 cancelled games. I knew several adults who swore off the game then and haven't ever came back. I didn't understand it at the time, but I get it now.
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u/paulbc23 6d ago
I was one of those who swore off in 94-95. Haven't been back and frankly won't ever go back. Not getting a penny of my entertainment $$$.
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u/himynameisdan123 6d ago
You didn’t go once to see Pujols live?
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u/paulbc23 6d ago
No I never saw him play though that one was sometimes difficult. I've never been to the current Busch Stadium either. I follow a bit on here and some on Facebook. Mostly Facebook for the throwback posts of Bob Gibson's heroics.
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u/himynameisdan123 6d ago
I can appreciate someone sticking to their principles but man you definitely missed out.
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u/frodo2you 64wasaverygoodyear 5d ago
I remember watching Legion Ball in the Midwest. The hot dogs were better and they were affordable. It was baseball and the ladies were just as good looking.
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u/bohallreddit 6d ago
IDC because my team, St. Louis Cardinals, suck anyways so no baseball in 2027 wouldn't matter to me, hell until the owners sell the team (not likely in my life time) or at least fire Marmol (More likely) I don't even pay much attention to them these days let alone go to any games 🤷♂️
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u/jbuck_24 6d ago
Sounds like baseball in 2026 didnt matter to you either. You missed some exciting young players coming into their own. But I agree it is easier to be a fan only when they win, I think theres a term for that.
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u/arendo 7d ago
Oh no, not the website