BEVERLY HILLS :A work stoppage stemming from a lockout or strike would damage Major League Baseball just as the sport is enjoying renewed growth in revenue and popularity, two of the game's all-time greats said.
The current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association expires Dec. 1, 2026. Some owners have floated a salary cap - MLB is the only major men's North American league without one - a proposal players oppose, raising the prospect of a labor dispute ahead of the 2027 season.
"It'd be bad, because I've been through every one of them," Dusty Baker, who managed for 26 seasons and debuted as a player in the strike-hit 1972 season, told Reuters at a charity event in Beverly Hills, California last weekend.
"Very rarely does anything good come out of a lockout or a strike. So I'm hoping that they settle it."
Sammy Sosa, who hit 609 home runs during his career, good for ninth on the all-time list, said he thought there was plenty of time for the sides to resolve their differences.
"It's all about the contract, and I think they're going to have time to set up everything," he said on the red carpet for the Harold and Carole Pump Foundation dinner, a fundraiser for cancer research and treatment.
"Both sides are talking about the dollar signs, but I believe that they're going to be able to agree at some point."
Asked whether a salary cap would be good for baseball, Sosa said he doubted it.
"I don't think so," he said.
Phillies' Bryce Harper had a heated confrontation, according to media reports, with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred inside the Phillies' clubhouse last month about a potential salary cap.
MLB's gross revenues hit a record $12.1 billion in 2024, a 4.3 per cent growth from the previous
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