Major League Baseball’s looming lockout could create an unexpected headache for the Red Sox, and Roman Anthony is one of the names most likely to feel it.
Anthony doesn’t appear headed for offseason surgery. The plan, at least right now, is simpler than that: rest.
But the problem is that the calendar may work against Boston before the winter really gets going. Once December arrives, the expectation is that MLB will be in a lockout, and that would cut off team-player communication entirely.
That matters for a player like Anthony, whom the Red Sox would love to keep working with during the offseason. He is viewed as arguably the most important player for the organization’s future, but the lockout would limit what Boston can actually do with him.
“There is no doubt Major League Baseball and the owners will lock out the players when the collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. That means all communication between teams and players will cease.
“That gives the Sox just under two months to work with Roman Anthony and his agents on a plan to get him fully healthy for 2027. Otherwise, it could be months before they speak again,” the Boston Globe reported.
The same restriction would also keep Anthony out of the facility in Fort Myers, which adds another layer of inconvenience for both sides. The Red Sox may still have a few alternate ways to navigate the situation, but the lockout makes the process far less straightforward.
And Anthony may not be the only one affected. The article noted that the Red Sox may have already been factoring in this offseason reality when they chose not to add Franklin Arias to the 40-man roster at the end of the season, since doing so would have prevented him from being in the facility during the offseason.
However it plays out, the lockout is shaping up to be more than a distant labor issue. For Boston, it could directly interfere with how it handles one of its most important young players.
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