Alex Rodriguez shares worrisome update about potential MLB lockout

The biggest story that continues to hover over MLB in the early days of September has nothing to do with which team will win the World Series this coming fall.

Instead, pockets of baseball fans around the country are already wondering if some or all of the 2027 season will be impacted by what many feel is an inevitable lockout. During a recent appearance on "The Traina Thoughts Podcast," former superstar player and current MLB analyst Alex Rodriguez revealed an update that won't make fans feel any better about the sport's short-term future. 

Both sides "dug in" amid pending lockout

"I think there is a chance," Rodriguez said about the MLB Players Association and MLB agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement before Opening Day 2027, per Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing. "I’m hopeful that there’s not (games missed). But I’ve spoken to dozens of people from both sides, and they’re both dug in like I’ve never seen before in 35 years of being around the game of baseball at the major leagues."

The current CBA expires on Dec. 1, 2026.

This past February, Jeff Passan of ESPN shared that owners were "ready to burn the f---ing house down" and jeopardize the entire 2027 season to get a "hard" salary cap, similar to what is used in the NHL, with competitive balance in mind. The union has a long history of fighting against a salary cap, and a recent story suggested there is "zero chance" the players will be open to accepting any kind of cap this coming winter. 

MLB, MLBPA can't afford a lengthy work stoppage? 

Much has been said and written about how Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa attempting to set a new single-season home run record in 1998 brought people back to MLB after the 1994 World Series was canceled due to a work stoppage. During the podcast episode, Rodriguez noted that the world is much different today than it was 32 years ago. 

"No matter how good the deal is for either side, if there is a work stoppage, it’s not going to be better than if they get a deal with no stoppage," Rodriguez added. "I remember being there Aug. 12, 1994, in Oakland. But there was no Netflix, there was no YouTube, there was no Prime, Apple TV. There’s so much competition for our eyeballs now that we cannot afford to have any games missed."

During the ESPN broadcast of this year's Little League Classic game in late August, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred insisted that "we’re planning on playing baseball next year." Rodriguez's update could lead one to believe that no legitimate evidence exists to back Manfred's claim.