Major League Baseball's thrilling postseason isn't preventing the league from bracing for a potential work stoppage starting Dec. 2.
MLB sent all 30 teams a 34-page memo last Thursday that explained what club officials should expect during a lockout, including the rules for interactions between teams and players, reports The Athletic's Evan Drellich.
"Our commitment has been and remains to exhaust every realistic option to achieve our goal of reaching an agreement with the (MLBPA)," deputy commissioner Dan Halem wrote in the confidential memo, which Drellich obtained.
"However, clubs need to be prepared for the possibility that an agreement will not be reached by then and the clubs are left with no realistic alternative but to implement a lockout of major-league players."
The memo states that no business can be conducted between clubs and players on 40-man rosters, which means no trades or signings. It also stipulates that images and videos of players will be removed from team and league websites (as was the case during the 2021-22 lockout). Major leaguers will be allowed to play in other leagues, such as Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
Team officials are supposed to avoid players "to the greatest extent possible," the document said. Staffers are permitted to attend a player's wedding if invited but can't talk about the lockout.
Clubs also can't send players holiday cards or gifts unless they do so before Dec. 2.
Team stores can still sell merchandise with players' names because that's not impacted by the collective bargaining agreement.
The current CBA expires Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The most contentious issue during negotiations has been the implementation of a hard salary cap and floor, which the league and owners support and the MLBPA vehemently opposes.
