The looming MLB lockout is more than just the headline of the offseason. It also drags up one of baseball’s most painful cautionary tales, because the last major work stoppage helped set the chain of events that eventually brought the Washington Nationals into existence.
Back in 1994, baseball didn’t just lose games. It lost an entire World Series.
The stoppage hit on August 11, and at that moment the Montreal Expos sat on top of the sport with a 74-40 record. They were in position for what looked like the best championship run in franchise history, and the season had been building toward that kind of breakthrough.
That Expos team was loaded with young talent. Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou and John Wetteland were all 27 or younger, and the club had the kind of core that suggested a bright future. For a smaller-market team, keeping everyone together forever was never realistic, but the middle of the decade looked like the start of something special in Montreal.
Then the strike wiped out the postseason and changed everything. Without playoffs, the Expos were pushed into a firesale.
Larry Walker left in free agency, while Grissom, Wetteland and starting pitcher Ken Hill were traded away. Montreal followed that with a 66-78 season in 1995, and the franchise never bounced back.
The Expos never reached the playoffs again before relocating to Washington after the 2004 season.
That’s why the 1994 stoppage still matters to Nationals history. A team would have landed in Washington eventually, but the shape of that future might have looked very different if the Expos had finished the job in 1994. Players from that club have long believed they were good enough to win it all, a point also raised in the Who Killed the Montreal Expos documentary on Netflix.
The parallels to the present are hard to miss. The 1994 fight centered on a salary cap, and that is the same kind of battle baseball is staring at again.
Back then, both sides dug in for months, and the sport paid the price. No salary cap came out of it, but baseball did absorb a brutal wound.
That’s what makes the current moment so uneasy. MLB is in a better place than it was about five years ago, and Rob Manfred has overseen rule changes that have generally worked well.
The pitch clock, in particular, has been a major step forward. A lockout that wipes out that momentum would be a serious setback.
And if the 2027 season were shortened badly, or even lost altogether, the damage would be enormous. Smaller-market teams would feel it most, just as Montreal did in 1994. The Expos’ collapse after that stoppage is the warning sign sitting right there in baseball’s own history.
At 11:59 PM on December 1st, the MLB CBA expires. What happens next will define this offseason, and maybe much more than that.
In Other News...
Nationals Prospects Are Giving Fans A Reason To Watch This AFL Run
The Arizona Fall League has given Nationals fans a useful late-season window into three prospects who are making the most of extra at-bats and innings with the Salt River Rafters. Jarlin Susana has drawn attention for the kind of velocity that can change a scouting report in a hurry, while Kevin Bazzell has used the assignment to show a more polished offensive approach and the ability to get on base. Teo Banks has also helped himself with better power and a steadier feel for the strike zone, giving Washington a trio of young players worth tracking beyond the box scores.
For a Nationals system still looking to turn talent into big-league help, the appeal here is less about one hot week than the broader signs of progress. Susanas stuff, Bazzells rebound at the plate and Banks cleaner offensive profile all point to prospects moving in the right direction, even if the AFL is only one stop on a longer path. The results have been enough to keep Washington followers watching, because each of these players is offering a different reason to believe there could be more coming soon. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Offseason Plan Is Starting To Take Shape
The Nationals have already started shaping their offseason roster, and the first move came via a trade with the Giants for infielder Nate Furman. Washington sent left-handed pitcher Tony Neubeck to San Francisco in the deal, then cleared room on the roster by designating Richard Lovelady for assignment, a small but telling sign that the front office is already sorting through its priorities.
Paul Toboni has made it clear the work is only beginning. The Nationals president of baseball operations pointed to bullpen arms, starting pitching and left-handed bats as areas the club wants to address, with both free agency and trades in play as ways to improve. Furman is part of that process, but he looks more like the opening move than the final answer as Washington tries to build a more balanced roster for next season. [Read more 🡒]
Angels May Be Eyeing A Risky Rotation Gamble
The Brewers championship season has already shifted into the offseason, and one of the more intriguing decisions on their board involves Dustin May. Milwaukee is weighing a return for several of its own free agents after a franchise-best 103-win run and a World Series title, but Mays market looks a little different after a rough stretch that included a 5.65 ERA in 10 regular-season starts and a 5.73 mark in five playoff appearances.
CBS Sports still slotted May 25th among free agents, and the fit question now extends beyond Milwaukee. The Brewers may focus first on keeping Brandon Woodruff, Jake Bauers and JoJo Romero, which leaves May as a possible departure candidate, with the Angels, Athletics and Nationals all mentioned as clubs that could be in the mix. [Read more 🡒]