CLEVELAND — Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado doesn’t know when the collective-bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ association expires. Giants reliever Will Smith doesn’t know who his team’s union representative is. Cubs shortstop Javier Báez says he has never heard of the CBA. These are the best players in the world, selected to represent their sport at this week’s All-Star Game, and they are hopelessly overmatched.
Whether players know it or not, their future is at stake: The current CBA runs out in December 2021, and negotiations are expected to get so complicated that, for the first time in the 53-year history of the union, they have begun two years ahead of time.