Major League Baseball Lockout Begins

IRVING, Texas -- Major League Baseball locked out its players early Thursday morning, certifying the game's first work stoppage in more than a quarter-century after months of talks yielded little progress toward a new labor contract.

The long-anticipated lockout, which the league told the players' union it would initiate once the previous collective bargaining agreement expired after 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday, ends the transaction frenzy that led up to its imposition and sends the industry into a dark period with scant light insight.

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expressed disappointment in the lockout but said he believes it is "the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season."

"Despite the league's best efforts to make a deal with the Players Association, we were unable to extend our 26 year-long history of labor peace and come to an agreement with the MLBPA before the current CBA expired," Manfred wrote in a prepared statement. "Therefore, we have been forced to commence a lockout of Major League players, effective at 12:01 AM ET on December 2."

During a lockout, which is a labor-relations tool used by management to keep employees from working until a deal is agreed upon, team officials and players cannot communicate in any way. Major league free agency and trades of players on 40-man rosters end immediately.

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