As a wanna-be historian, I hesitate to ascribe inevitability to anything. That said, it is November 27th, and there is nary a whisper that a new collective bargaining agreement will be signed, sealed, and delivered in time to avert a lockout as of 11:59 pm on December 1st. The smart money is on a work stoppage, although Commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that ownership has yet to decide whether to lock the players out. It’s what could happen after the work stoppage is in place that is fraught with uncertainty.
Much of what follows in this piece could be for naught.