With MLB revenues and ratings strong, lockout talk is puzzling

There has been labor peace for so long in baseball that the word "lockout" hasn't surfaced for a long time. Neither has the word "strike," unless we are talking about the possible result of a pitched ball.

But yesterday afternoon, Ken Rosenthal's story on FOXSports.com had a stunning headline:

"Sources: Baseball's 21-year run of labor peace could be in jeopardy. Owners will consider voting to lock out players if they cannot reach a new CBA by Dec. 1."

What the heck is going on here? Surely this must be posturing and/or negotiating. Neither the owners nor players can possibly be thinking this way, right?

First of all, there are no games scheduled for months, so there are no players to lock out. But apparently, such a move could bring a halt to offseason trades and signings. The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. Earlier reports insisted that either a new deal would get done in time or the old one would stay in effect while the sides resolved any remaining issues.

Call me crazy, but this sounds like we've gone past that stage. Could this really happen at a time when revenues are up and the World Series ratings were terrific?

Game 7 of the World Series between the Cubs and Indians on FOX produced the largest audience for a Major League Baseball game in 25 years. The average rating for the World Series was the best in 12 years.

Game 7 was seen by 40.045 million viewers, the most to watch a major league game since 50.3 million viewed Game 7 of the 1991 World Series between Atlanta and Minnesota. The series average was 23.4 million viewers, the most since the 25.4 million for the 2004 World Series between Boston and St. Louis.

It sure seems like there is plenty of money to go around for the owners and players, and the game has perhaps never been healthier.

Rosenthal writes: "The owners will consider voting to lock out the players if the two sides cannot reach a new collective-bargaining agreement by the time the current deal expires on Dec. 1, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.

"A lockout would put baseball's business on hold, delaying free-agent signings and trades until a new agreement is reached. The winter meetings, a joint venture between the majors and minors scheduled to take place from Dec. 4 to 8 near Washington D.C., might still transpire, but without the usual frenzy of major-league activity."

The story reports that the owners agreed to drop the loss of a draft pick for a team signing a free agent getting a qualifying offer in exchange for an international draft, but the players rejected that.

The two sides also disagreed over potential changes to the competitive balance luxury tax on team payrolls and the Joint Drug Agreement.

This all is probably very difficult for the average fan to understand and process. But baseball fans just should not be hearing anything about a lockout. Certainly not the day before Thanksgiving.

Between 1972 and 1994 there were eight situations where MLB went through either a strike or a lockout. The strike that began on Aug. 12, 1994 led to cancellation of the World Series. Those were very dark days for baseball, no pun intended.

A sport that used to put its fans through labor squabbles often has had a long, long run of labor peace. Yesterday's news was stunning and disconcerting. The game is going great right now. It's time for the sides to work this out - and pronto. The fans deserve better.