Pop and Lock(out)

The online baseball landscape looks a bit different this morning.

We’re officially past the expiration date of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the negotiated docket of cold, hard law that keeps the train running between ownership and the MLBPA. It’s a lawless land now, and as a result, teams have to operate a little bit differently.

Until a new agreement is reached, the 30 organizations around the league are barred from activities such as using the likenesses of active players, which means a trip to twinsbaseball.com will instead get you a trip down memory lane. This morning’s headlines include Bert Blyleven’s 3000th career strikeout, Rod Carew’s two All-Star Game triples, and the clinching of the 1987 American League Championship Series. Topical, the lot of them!

There are also no profile pictures on the active roster, suggesting it’s entirely plausible that’s just a DIFFERENT Jordan Balazovic you’re thinking of. You don’t get to see his face, so you don’t get to know.

Keep an eye out for adjustments to the promotional schedule, too — instead of repping Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina, the St. Louis Cardinals are now advertising “Adult Cardinals Battery Mystery Jerseys.”

Sheesh.

The Office of the Commissioner released a statement late last night addressing the lockout; the MLBPA tweeted out a sentiment from their perspective. There’s still no indication as to whether the lockout might last three weeks, or cut all the way through Spring Training. Plenty more details are to come, as that’s literally one of the only things to report on.

Until then, get your butt over to TwinkieTown.com, where we get to do whatever the hell we want. Go talk about the electric signing of Dylan Bundy, or the Byron Buxton extension, or Zach’s open letter to upper management.

Just, whatever you do, don’t post a picture of Joel.

Not because we can’t use his likeness. Just...does anyone need to see that?