The 2026 World Series is in the books. The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays four games to one to capture the first championship in franchise history. The Rays barely avoided a sweep by eking out a win in extra innings in game 4. Brewers catcher William Contreras won the Willie Mays World Series MVP award after hitting .381 (8-for-21) with four RBIs and throwing out four would-be base stealers. Congratulations to the Brew Crew!
Congratulations are also due to Francisco Lindor, the 2026 Roberto Clemente Award winner, which is MLB’s highest individual honor. The award recognizes players for character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions on and off the field..
In Nationals news, the team announced that all of the coaches from 2026 will be returning for the 2027 season. On the other hand, Riley Adams has departed the Nationals organization for the Boston Red Sox. The Ruiz/Ford tandem likely will man the plate next year. While Drew Millas remains with the organization, he may lose a roster spot in the shuffle to pare down to a 40-man team.
Baseball withdrawal is indeed real. And, it is somewhat heightened this year with the specter of a lockout looming. Lockout? What lockout?
The current collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) will expire at 11:59 pm ET on December 1, 2026. If the players and owners do not reach another agreement by then, the owners will “lock out” the players. This will almost surely occur. The last time MLB missed a World Series, back in 1994, was due to players going on strike. The most recent work stoppage, in the winter of 2021-22 (the last time a CBA expired), saw owners lock out the players in an effort to extract the concessions they wanted.
Labor disputes occur in many industries but baseball is a bit unique in that only one buyer (MLB owners) and only one seller (MLBPA — the players) are in the market. The big labor dispute this year is whether there should be a salary cap for the clubs.
Commissioner Rob Manfred and the owners believe popular support exists for the cap, given the recent spending by the Mets and the Dodgers, with salary totals for those teams approaching $350 million. Maybe the support would be stronger if the Dodgers had succeeded in their three-peat; however, the concern remains that small market teams cannot compete with the massive spending by these teams.
The MLB owners propose a $245.3 million hard cap at the top end (which nine teams cleared in 2026), paired with a $171.2 million floor (which 12 teams, including both the Brewers and the Rays, failed to reach). In 2026, the Washington Nationals adjusted payroll was approximately $121 million (including Stephen Strasburg’s final $35 million contract year), ranking 25th in Major League Baseball. (Even though his active $35 million annual payroll slot comes off the books after the 2026 season, Strasburg is still owed roughly $26.6 million annually (totaling around $80 million) in deferred money that will be paid out from 2027 through 2029).
Several other issues on the table in the CBA negotiations are far more amenable to compromise. The salary cap issue is binary. Either you have one or you don’t. The numbers could be adjusted up or down but that does not ameliorate the players’ concern that their earnings might be capped below the market value of their services.
Many Nationals fans might support a salary floor, since our team numbers are below the proposed floor and there have been grumblings about the Lerner’s seeming unwillingness to spend for quality players. How do you feel about it?
The two sides have until the middle of March to strike a deal before regular-season games get put on the chopping block. Pop your popcorn and stay tuned for the show.
Hope you had a great Halloween! Natty sure looked natty in his costume.
Let’s become the envy of sports!
#thenatslady #theswarm
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