Oct 29 - The crowning of the Milwaukee Brewers as World Series champions kicked off an offseason of great uncertainty for Major League Baseball on Thursday, with owners widely expected to lock out players if they cannot reach a new labour deal before the current agreement expires on December 1.

At the heart of the negotiations is the issue of a salary cap that would limit how much MLB's 30 teams can spend on player wages, a system the league feels would address the payroll disparity between big-market and small-market teams. The MLB Players Association considers the implementation of a salary cap as a non-starter.

"I guess the best I can say is I hope I'm managing next year," Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash, speaking to reporters after his team's World Series loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday, said when asked about the uncertainty facing America's pastime.

MLB has not missed games due to a work stoppage since the players' strike of 1994-95. That dispute forced a premature end to the season, delayed the start of the following year's campaign and turned off fans, with attendances plummeting when play finally resumed.

The league did endure a work stoppage the last time a collective bargaining agreement expired following the 2021 season, a lockout that lasted 99 days and delayed the start of the 2022 season by a week.

A lockout halts all player activity as it relates to their clubs, including free-agent signings, trades and use of team facilities.

While there is still time to avoid a lockout, there has been no indication from either side that an agreement will be reached in time to avoid a work stoppage.

Under MLB's initial proposal, the salary cap for 2027 would be set at $245.3 million. The figure would require the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves to reduce payroll by a combined $578 million.

When the Brewers and Rays met this year on MLB's biggest stage, it marked the first World Series clash between two of baseball's smallest spenders in 35 years.

"It's been 40 years since we're here. Once every 40 years is not enough," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week before Game One of the small-market World Series showdown. “It's not that no small market can win, it's just that it’s pretty rare."

Among the league's other proposals are shortening the regular season and introducing a weekly day off while adding postseason games. The proposals are contingent on players' agreement to a salary cap, which the union feels guts player rights and compensation.

“This would be a tough negotiation even without their demand for the nuclear bomb of the salary cap,” MLBPA head Bruce Meyer said last week.

“This notion that the owners need a cap and that a cap would somehow guarantee this utopia of competitive balance and fan engagement, it’s just not true. It makes no sense at all.” REUTERS