World Series champion John Smoltz warns MLB 'cannot afford' a work stoppage with CBA set to expire

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Major League Baseball is in a great spot right now, and World Series champion John Smoltz said the sport cannot afford a work stoppage.

The CBA between MLB and MLBPA is set to expire at the end of the season, setting up what looks to be a long and contentious period of negotiations over the winter. Smoltz said this head-on collision has been coming for a long time, and the two sides can’t afford to get it wrong.

"We know that if they don't get this worked out, baseball will suffer. They cannot afford to have a stoppage with all the good that has been done and all the great games that have played late lately with the World Series," Smoltz told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

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Hall of Famer John Smoltz is introduced during the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 27, 2025. (Gregory Fisher/Imagn Images)

MLB is pushing hard for a salary cap to be implemented, while the MLBPA is vehemently opposed to the salary cap. Smoltz recognizes there is a competitive-balance issue and disparity, but thinks a lot of the spending has been done on purpose.

"There's a competition issue in baseball and a disparity that's bigger than ever, and I think a lot of it's been on purpose to get to this point when you have the Dodgers spending beyond belief and the Mets spending beyond belief. Until recently, nothing guaranteed a championship," Smoltz said.

"The Dodgers have been back-to-back champions for the first time since the Yankees. That's the uniqueness of 162 games. You have basically eight to 10 teams that don't try to win at all."

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