We're Definitely Headed Towards a Lockout: Last Week Bryce Harper Went Nose To Nose With Rob Manfred And Told Him To Get The Fuck Out Of The Phillies Clubhouse If He Wanted To Talk About a Salary Cap

It's been the worst kept secret in sports that Major League Baseball is headed full speed towards a lockout at the end of the 2026 season. A group of owners are pushing for a salary cap to be installed to 1) create more of a balance in the sport in terms of payrolls 2) give themselves more of an excuse to not spend as much money while they continue the roll around in cash. As you may suspect, the players despise the idea of a salary cap. Why would they agree to it? There is no incentive you can supply them that counters the blow they'd take with a capped payroll. All of that together screams we're headed towards a work stoppage. 

Last week Commissioner Rob Manfred strolled into the Phillies clubhouse to conduct a meeting with the intention of improving his relationship with the players. He started doing these after the last CBA when he realized the players absolutely hate his guts. I get the vibe that none of that has changed. As he began talking about the economics of the sport he alluded to a potential salary cap on the horizon. That was enough for Bryce Harper to stand up and blow a gasket in legendary fashion. 

I need a video of this more than I need air to breathe. 

Quiet for the majority of the meeting, Harper, sitting in a chair and holding a bat, eventually grew frustrated and said if MLB were to propose a cap and hold firm to it, players "are not scared to lose 162 games," sources in the meeting told ESPN. Harper stood up, walked toward the middle of the room, faced up to Manfred and said: "If you want to speak about that, you can get the f--- out of our clubhouse."

Manfred, sources said, responded that he was "not going to get the f--- out of here," saying it was important to talk about threats to MLB's business and ways to grow the game.

Before the situation further intensified, veteran outfielder Nick Castellanos tried to defuse the tension, saying: "I have more questions." The meeting continued, and Harper and Manfred eventually shook hands, sources said, though Harper declined to answer phone calls from Manfred the next day.

"It was pretty intense, definitely passionate," Castellanos told ESPN. "Both of 'em. The commissioner giving it back to Bryce and Bryce giving it back to the commissioner. That's Harp. He's been doing this since he was 15 years old. It's just another day. I wasn't surprised."

Bryce Harper truly seems like the man. May I remind you this is a guy who has already made his money and is set with his contract until he retires. Yet there he is standing up for the rest of the players and going nose to nose with the commissioner of the sport like we're filming a scene in a movie. What a legend. 

The idea of a salary floor sounds better than it actually is. If the end result of that was to increase spending throughout the league then I don't think owners would be going for it. From what reports and rumors have implied, the floor the teams are offering wouldn't be high enough to change much besides cutting spending from the top. If the floor got high enough then owners of teams like the Pirates wouldn't want anything to do with it unless you're re-working the rev sharing agreement and pissing off the rich teams. Players would not end up benefitting from it. Don't get me wrong, something needs to change and it will when it comes to how payrolls are handled in baseball. I don't think a true salary cap is created, but baseball's economics will look different in a few years no question about it. 

It'd be nice if rich people bought teams and ran them like Steve Cohen where it's viewed to them as a toy, not a business where you're solely worried about making a profit. That's the problem and I'm not sure how they'll fix it. You gotta dodge doing whatever the hell the NBA just did with the aprons because that's fucked the players in a massive way. 

But yeah TLDR, there's definitely going to be a lockout folks. Enjoy your baseball for the next season and a half because we might not have anything in 2027.