It’s the question on everyone’s mind heading into the MLB offseason. Is a lockout coming?In the first segment of our annual MLB player poll, we here at The Athletic asked players across 23 teams if they think there will be a lockout following the 2026 season. One hundred and one of them, who were polled between February and May and granted anonymity to speak candidly, gave us their unfiltered thoughts.The response from the players was lopsided: Eighty of the players we polled — all of whom are members of the Major League Baseball Players Association — believe there will be a lockout when MLB’s current labor deal expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1.
But should that really be a surprise? The commissioner himself has already said he sees a lockout as the new norm in baseball.
“In a bizarre way, it’s actually a positive,” Rob Manfred told The Athletic’s Evan Drellich in 2025. “There is leverage associated with an offseason lockout and the process of collective bargaining.”
Recognizing that, the players seemed to treat a potential lockout with something of a shrug.
“I think Manfred already said it,” said one National League reliever, “so I'm going to take him at his word."
