MLB Work Stoppage

The GIST: With no new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in sight, the MLB appears to be heading for its ninth work stoppage in its nearly 150-year history.

The context: The league’s current CBA expires tonight at 11:59 p.m. ET (major Cinderella vibes), at which point a lockout — during which workouts and payments are halted by management — will begin, unless a new deal is reached in these final hours.

• We detailed what a stoppage entails as well as what the two sides (the league and the MLB Players Association) disagree on in yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, but the main issue at hand is money, of course.

The latest: Despite both sides meeting twice yesterday, there’s no new progress to report (though a last-ditch effort meeting is set for this morning, too). Meanwhile, teams have been scrambling to make moves before all transactions potentially freeze as a result of the lockout.

• The NY Mets signed three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, the Detroit Tigers signed two-time All-Star shortstop Javy Báez and the Texas Rangers set some cash (and Twitter) on fire by spending half a billion dollars in one day. Casual.

• Stay tuned to the latest deals, and keep your fingers crossed this CBA battle is resolved before 2022 Spring Training starts in February.