The highest-ranking official in the MLB Players Association didn’t pull any punches when addressing the state of negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement.

“A lockout is all but guaranteed at the end of the agreement,” Bruce Meyer said, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “The league has pretty much said that. Their strategy in bargaining has always been to put as much pressure on players as they can to try and create divisions and cracks among our membership. It’s never worked. I don’t think it ever will work.”

Meyer is the MLBPA’s deputy executive director but having to fill the vacuum left by the sudden resignation of executive director Tony Clark. Players have yet to hold a vote to name Clark’s replacement.

Negotiations between team owners and the MLBPA rarely go smoothly. The last time around, a new CBA wasn’t hammered out until March 10, less than a month from Opening Day.

Even with that context in mind, a few signs have pointed toward a divide between the two sides that’s big enough to jeopardize the start of the 2027 season.

The slow demise of regional sports networks is hitting MLB particularly hard. For example, St. Louis Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III estimated the team could lose up to $20 million after having had to strike a TV distribution deal with MLB itself.

This is exacerbating the growing gulf between the highest-spending teams and everyone else.

FanGraphs projects the Los Angeles Dodgers to have a $394 million payroll for 2026. That’s more than $100 million more than the team in fifth place (Philadelphia Phillies, $283 million).

Both The Athletic’s Evan Drellich and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported how the Dodgers’ four-year, $240 million deal with Kyle Tucker is basically the straw the broke the camel’s back in terms of owners wanting a salary cap in the next CBA.

Passan cited one official who said owners “are ready to burn the f–king house down,” even at the risk of impacting the 2027 season.

Given his role in the MLBPA, there’s no reason for Meyer to sugarcoat the present reality and what it might mean for next year. Players will need to start planning well in advance when they may have to go weeks or months without a paycheck.

The CBA expires on Dec. 1, 2026, and the 2027 season won’t get underway until mid-to-late March. There’s still time for owners and the MLBPA to make a breakthrough.

A sense of optimism that they can make that breakthrough is in short supply right now.