Matt Johnson
Major League Baseball is bracing for a lockout in 2027 that could jeopardize the regular season and beyond. As owners and the players union begin early negotiations on a CBA and prepare for the potential of games being missed, some are seemingly looking to the White House as a source of hope.
Reporting on a potential MLB lockout, Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote that President Donald Trump could be an “X-factor” with at least one team owner suggesting how it could happen.
“If we miss spring training, I could see Donald Trump getting involved,. He could say, ‘Gentlemen, enough is enough. I want a deal. And I want it by the end of the week. Or else.'”
Anonymous team owner on President Donald Trump potentially getting involved in an MLB lockout
Related: Why an MLB Salary Cap Could Work, With a Catch
It’s not exactly clear how that would work, but MLB might look toward what happened with college sports. President Trump held a “Saving College Sports” roundtable earlier this year, with the likes of Tim Tebow, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Mack Brown all involved.
The discussions were held to address the future of college sports amid growing frustration and confusion regarding player eligibility, the transfer portal, and NIL deals. Trump later signed an executive order intended to limit NCAA athletes to five years of eligibility and limit them to one transfer without having to sit out a season.
However, executive orders aren’t automatically enforced and don’t have to be followed by the NCAA or its schools. Months since the roundtable and two months after the executive order was signed, nothing has changed. While there is still time, the NCAA has been very slow-moving, and schools do not seem inclined to adopt any changes that would put them at a disadvantage against other programs in states that would not abide by the executive order.
Related: MLB Owners Have Staggering War Chest for a Lockout
As for a potential MLB lockout, owners are adamant about implementing a salary cap moving forward, with the goal of forcing teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees to significantly reduce their payrolls. Meanwhile, the MLB Players Association is adamantly opposed to a salary cap and is willing to go through with a lockout to avoid it.
President Trump does not have the authority to force MLB to adopt a salary cap, nor can he make both sides sign a new collective bargaining agreement. Trump and the White House could go after MLB’s antitrust exemption, which currently protects the league from federal antitrust laws and allows it to effectively operate as a monopoly, but that would hurt owners.
Many MLB owners might be Trump donors and encourage him to weigh in on the matter, but there is realistically very little that can be done. The only avenue in an MLB lockout might be the clubs’ billionaire owners encouraging Trump to publicly blame the work stoppage on the players, with the hope that it impacts the public’s perspective and the lost support from baseball fans then compels the MLBPA to cave in negotiations.
