MLB's absurd lockout memo exposes an uncomfortable truth about Pirates ownership

All offseason talk this year has come with a simple caveat: The Dec.1 lockout is looming. The labor stoppage figures to be an excessive one given how far apart the league's owners and the player's union are right now, with issues regarding a salary cap, revenue sharing, contract lengths, and more still up in the air.

Of course, when a Collective Bargaining Agreement expires, there's more than just the games on the field at stake. Player salaries are put on hold, events like the Rule 5 draft and Winter Meetings are delayed indefinitely, and teams can't keep up with the health and shape of those on their roster.

But that won't stop the owners from bringing in a little bit of extra revenue while everything is suspended; even though teams can't promote the name, image, or likeness (NIL) of the players on the roster, they can still sell their merchandise.

Pirates, Bob Nutting are approaching an optics nightmare as MLB lockout nears

Look, there's obviously nothing the Pirates can do about the league's memo regarding what is and isn't allowed during the lockout. The fact that team websites can't promote a player's NIL at all under any circumstance while simultaneously selling their jerseys is just a terrible decision from an optics standpoint. Players won't be earning anything while the labor stoppage ensues, but you can be sure the owners will find ways to squeeze every last penny out of the fans desperate for baseball action.

Still, it's particularly damning for the Pirates and Bob Nutting. There has been no shortage of people calling him cheap over the years — seeing a barren website that promotes nothing other than merch is going to take that to the next level, even if there's nothing ownership can actually do about it.

There will be ramifications stemming from this decision, of course. The Buccos' main product is hope. They've got an especially strongly curated selection to choose from these days thanks to the presence of young superstars like Paul Skenes and Konnor Griffin. What happens if (when?) the next CBA isn't ratified until next summer? How are they going to sell tickets if there's no hope to promote in the spring?

That's not to say that some positives can't come from the lockout. A salary cap and floor would, in theory, invite a lot more parity to the sport, while also forcing owners like Nutting to actually invest in the product on the field. Failing that, even more merit-based rev share models would encourage small-market organizations to open their wallets a little bit wider.

But there's a lot of damage the league can (and will) do in the court of public opinion during this dead period. The longer the lockout wages on, the more baseball will have to do to win the fans back.

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