Based on the Latest CBA News, Enjoy This Braves Season While You Can

Take a moment and just reflect on what the Atlanta Braves have done this season. They have the best record in baseball (37-19), and they’ve lost two series all year.

This is a bona fide World Series contender. Last year, the season was over by mid-June. We get to have discussions about what they’ll do at the trade deadline that about adding to a good team. There will be a reason to stick around and pay attention all the way to the end, barring an insane collapse.

Here’s another angle to look at. It’s May, and there is baseball to watch and talk about. Will that be the case at this time next year? Your guess is, unfortunately, as good as mine.

How baseball will look next is up in the air. How much the average person will care is also up in the air.

Negotiations are underway between Major League Baseball and the Players Association to determine the next collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Based on the latest reports, they couldn’t be any farther apart, which doesn’t bode well for the outlook of 2027.

The players want to double the minimum salary, raise the luxury tax threshold, changes to free agency rules and toestablish a “competitive-integrity tax” for teams that don’t spend $150 million. Meanwhile, the league proposed a hard salary cap and floor. The cap would be $245.3 million, with the floor being $171.2 million. There is also reported to be a proposed 50-50 split of the revenues.

As of now, there are six teams that are above this threshold, including the Braves ($267.1 million).

It’s the first time since 1994 that the owners have proposed a cap. That battle led to a strike that, along with the first cancellation of the World Series since 1904, set the sport back decades. There is an argument that they are only truly recovering now when it comes to national relevance and popularity relative to other major sports on this continent.

These discussions are coming to a head after years of bad blood between the owners and the players. People think there may not even be a World Series next year because there may not be a season to set the stage for it.

Sure, the Dodgers winning back-to-back titles after handing out some big contracts has exacerbated the problem recently. But this is just the latest reason for tension. Much of it goes back to the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. There were some issues before that, but this is when it started to really get heated.

Remember how there were only 60 games (assuming COVID cases didn’t cancel a few) in 2020? That wasn’t just because a pandemic forced them to pause and wait until they had a plan. Owners and players fought over prorated salaries for months, and it led to the season starting a month later than it likely would have otherwise.

The players eventually said “when and where,” and the league gave them a 60-game slate. The players actually asked if it could be 70 games, but the owners then said take it or leave it. Either way, it was messy, and it didn’t set a positive outlook for the following CBA discussions.

A 99-day lockout then ensured. At one point, MLB started to cancel games, which they ultimately tacked back on. They ultimately agreed to a cold piece with various concessions that set the stage for various rule changes that have come since, among other things that are a whole story in their own right.

There was an abridged spring training, and the season started about a week late.

Apparently, the Braves know how to time out good years. They won the World Series in 2021, right before that work stoppage. Maybe they’ll squeeze another one in before everything potentially flips on its head.

We knew then it wasn’t over, but here we are now starting to feel the pressure of it getting close. This isn’t five years into the future. It’s all starting now. Buckle up. The turbulence will be intense.

It may not be unprecedented in baseball to lose a full season due to a work stoppage. But it’s happened in other major sports leagues. The NHL lost the entire 2004-05 season over the implementation of a salary cap.

While they’re finally recovering, they would have been in a much better place if that season had even been partially played.

MLB runs that same risk. Since the pandemic, attendance and ratings are up. People are taking a liking to the stars and the product. There’s no need to ruin a good thing.

I’m sure Braves Country will recover, but there will be a lot of angry fans in that group too.

The year after the strike, league-wide attendance dropped 20%. The Braves’ yearly attendance dropped from 46,168 in 1994 to 35,581 in 1995. That was leading up to a year they won a title. Nobody is safe from the fallout.

Regardless if you want a cap or don’t want a cap. There are arguments for both that I get, even if I’m personally against the implementation of one. I’ll get into my reasoning another time. That’s not the focus of the story.

The focus is on something that both sides of the argument can agree on. A major work stoppage will damage the growth the sport has been seeing.

In the current landscape, very few will be in the mood for it either. Not when many feel like they’re struggling to make ends meet. They didn’t care for it in 1994. They won’t care for it in 2027 either. That money that many set aside for baseball can easily go elsewhere or simply be hung onto.

Personally, I think the limit that most will tolerate is the season starting two months late. People eventually move on to other things. Some will take a really long time to come back, if they come back at all.

So, don’t take for granted that there are 100 games left to go. It goes by fast. When it’s over, you may not get to watch baseball again for a while. Go to some games. Bring your friends or family. If people are this concerned about when the next season will start, you might as well make memories while you can.

The generation that faced the consequences of the fallout of a serious work stoppage isn’t around anymore to make decisions, both from an owners' and players' standpoint. It doesn’t seem those lessons from the past will protect the future.

I grew up loving this game when many of my peers called it boring. Many of them have since become fans. It could all be undone, and it makes me sad to think about.

I’ll circle back on Dec. 1 when the CBA expires. Maybe we get lucky, and they figure it out. We’re not counting on it, but the odds are greater than zero, I suppose. At that time, I’ll reflect again. Until then, all I ask is that you enjoy that there is baseball being played right now.

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