MLB’s lockout already delayed the start of Spring Training. And judging by the sorry state of negotiations on the day MLB said was the last to ensure a March 31 Opening Day and a 162-game season, players on 40-man rosters won’t see live competitive baseball action for quite some time.
MLB is willing to miss a month of games, according to multiple reports from the negotiations between the Players Association and owners in Jupiter, Fla. on Monday. Not long after that report, players started to chime in on social media, pitching themselves as good candidates for baseball jobs, well, elsewhere, in the meantime.
The Phillies’ Bryce Harper, tagged Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants with a photoshopped photo of himself in one of their “Tokyo” uniforms, in an Instagram story post.
“Aye, @yomiuiri.giants you up? Got some time to kill,” Harper wrote. It was approximately 4 a.m. in Japan. “I know you got [Scott Boras’] number. Let’s talk.”
Luke Jackson, a recently crowned World Series champion with the Braves, followed suit, instead tweeting at the Mexican Baseball League team, Toros de Tijuana.
The Yankees’ Joey Gallo, did something similar by setting up his own LinkedIn account, the social networking site where many professionals look to find employment in all industries.
In the “skills” section of his bio, he wrote: striking out, hitting into the shift and getting dressed weird.
Players could technically suit up for another team on another league during the lockout, according to a work stoppage guide distributed to agents before the lockout, obtained by The Athletic.
“The [Players Association] would challenge any attempts by MLB to interfere with Players who choose to participate in a foreign league during a lockout,” the guide said.
