Rangers’ Chris Young offers outlook on potential MLB labor stoppage in 2026

Uncertain times lie ahead for Major League Baseball.

With a potential work stoppage looming when the league’s current collective bargaining agreement with the players ends in December 2026. Hot topics figure to include a potential salary cap or floor as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ free agency spending spree continued this winter.

Texas Rangers team president Chris Young gave offered his perspective on a potential labor dispute on a Friday radio appearance on The Sweet Spot on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM).

“It’s a interesting time for the industry right now with the labor stoppage potentially looming, and my hope and belief is that it’s not going to happen. That there are two parties that want to find a way to continue to grow the game and between the owners and the players we’ve got a great game and my hope is that there will be an agreement reached at some point,” Young said.

Rangers

He added that, despite teams like the Dodgers deploying seemingly unlimited resources, he expects the Rangers to compete in 2026.

“The economic disparity that exists in the league, you can’t run from it. There are teams operating at different levels than other teams and the way I look at it is: We have a talented team that is capable of winning. We’ve made pretty good decisions, and my belief is that with the team we have, we can go out and compete with all of these teams if we play up to our capabilities,” Young said.

“We’re in a market that has afforded us more resources than some other markets and not as much as maybe some of these bigger markets in New York and L.A., and that’s part of it. But in the end, I believe in our group. I believe in if a team comes together, it’s not about the the talent that you have, it’s about the way the group comes together and plays for each other and as one, as one unit. We saw that in 2023. That’s my expectation for our team this year, and if we do so, I think we’ll compete with big markets. I think we’ll compete with small markets and I’m looking forward to doing so.”

Young was also asked about his reaction to the Dodgers signing star outfielder Kyle Tucker.

“Everything they’re doing is within the rules. It’s within the economic system that baseball allows. There’s nothing nefarious or illegal about what they’re doing,” Young responded. “In the end, I’ll look back on last year and we had one of the highest payrolls in Rangers history and we finished at .500. Spending does not guarantee success.”

It may give you a better chance of it, but it doesn’t guarantee it, and I’ve been on championship teams that did not have the highest payroll, and my hope is that the next champion in Major League Baseball doesn’t have the highest payroll because my hope is that it’s us.“

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