Spring Training 2027 in either Florida or Arizona could be on the bubble as MLB and the Players Assocation are far apart regarding the salary cap (image from MLB)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary:

MLB 2027 Spring Training schedule.  -Optimistic or Ironic?

Amaury Pi-González

This is the time of the year when teams release their Spring Training schedules for the next season. But this time, we all know the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between players and owners is set to expire on Tuesday, December 1 at 11:59 p.m. EST. One thing Insiders on both sides agree is that they believe the owners will impose a lockout by this deadline.

There is precedent from the labor dispute leading up to the 2022 season: the owners’ lockout freezes the off-season, and players do not strike; they are not permitted to work until an agreement is reached. In other words, the 2026 season will end (as it should) after the World Series, but (as explained before) that December 1 day is the key as of today to which way baseball is headed. Many analysts and fans expect an owners’ lockout this winter that could delay or disrupt spring training, much like the lockout did just a few years ago in 2022.

A delay or disruption to spring training next year would not be good. Baseball spring training in Arizona’s Cactus League generates an economic impact of nearly $ 1 billion for the state. In Florida, the economic impact is almost the same.

For many years I have visited Spring Training, mostly in Arizona. For most fans, as well as the baseball media, it is a regular yearly event (to visit and see their favorite teams getting ready for the season, where media can get access to the players much more easily than during the regular season, not only media but fans with mostly a relaxed, vacation feel; wherever is in the desert or by the beach, nevertheless it is work as most teams broadcast some of their games from Arizona and Florida, this is an integral part of baseball, a very difficult game of repetition and practice, where Spring Training is paramount during the preseason.

It would be unfortunate for baseball if this Spring Training is disrupted, as most teams have already released their schedules. So for us, with no decision to make on this salary cap fight between players and owners, let’s hope for the best outcome for the best of the game; after all, this is not 1856 when baseball was called “The National Pastime, today, with social media and all other things going on,it is like we are living in another galaxy.

My favorite Spring Training quote (below) comes from a gentleman who played his whole 19-year career with the Chicago Cubs, as he is known as “Mr Cub“. Inducted into the HOF at Cooperstown in 1977.

Quote:”Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism, and baseball. Spring training is a time to think about being young again.  -Ernie (Let’s Play Two) Banks.

Happy Labor Day weekend, and may your team win.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

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