{
  "id": 10359749,
  "title": "The MLB Lockout Now Runs on Private Equity",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/the-mlb-lockout-now-runs-on-private-equity-10359749",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-28T04:01:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Sportico",
    "slug": "sportico",
    "url": "https://www.sportico.com/leagues/baseball/2026/mlb-players-lockout-private-equity-1234945643/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Chris Koras, a partner at Working Capital Partners, recounted his experience negotiating a contract for client Rafael Devers with the Boston Red Sox in December 2022. According to Koras, the Red Sox had sent ownership and front-office executives to negotiate directly with Devers in the Dominican Republic, but the talks stalled.\n\nKoras' firm ultimately ended the negotiation in writing, allowing Devers to play the upcoming season and enter free agency. Days later, the Red Sox agreed to a record $331 million deal with Devers, reportedly due to the threat of losing him as a free agent.\n\nKoras noted that while individual superstars like Devers can force a club's hand in isolated free-agency negotiations, the landscape for league-wide labor disputes has changed. He attributed this shift to ownership building a \"systemic financial wall\" over the past three years, designed to neutralize the leverage of an entire union, according to Yahoo Sports.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "The MLB Lockout Now Runs on Private Equity",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/the-mlb-lockout-now-runs-on-private-equity",
        "published": "2026-09-28T04:01:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}