So, uhh ... what now?

In case you somehow missed the news, Major League Baseball is currently in a lockout after the CBA expired. And everything we’ve heard about negotiations between the owners and the MLB Players Association suggests that conversations are going about as smoothly as your political discussions with that one uncle at the dinner table every holiday season.

The owners and the union might not like each other, but they need to agree on the pertinent financial details sooner or later, and there’s always a chance it’s the former. For all we know, the lockout could be resolved as early as next week. But, reading the room and making an educated guess, it sure seems like you might want to buckle your seatbelt and prepare for a long stretch of lockout life.

It’s not the baseball season, but now it’s not even the offseason. So what does that make it? The not-season?

Either way, we’re devoid of baseball and most baseball happenings.

So now what?

As I mentioned in my lockout primer, there’s a total hold on 40-man roster moves for however long the lockout lasts. That means no Major League signings or trades, or even DFAs. It means no Rule 5 Draft. It means no practices or workouts. It means no agreeing to contracts with the tendered arbitration-eligible San Francisco Giants. It means no rumors of Kris Bryant or Zack Greinke or Carlos Rodón, or other free agents.

The Giants are limited to Minor League transactions. If you want a free agent rumor, you’ll have to make it. I’ll help fill the void by making the case for the Giants signing literally every player on the market. Farhan Zaidi might finally get to take a deep breath.

In a few weeks, you might forget about the lockout. The holidays will consume you, and the deadness of baseball occurring at a time that’s normally quite dead will feel normal.

In January you’ll remember. The Giants will sign some players to Minor League deals and you’ll recall that this is when they’re supposed to be signing that one reliever, or that other backup catcher.

Give it a week of the new year and you’ll start to worry. We’ll all start to worry. Spring Training will be right around the corner, and we’ll have no idea if baseball is going to happen.

If it makes it to late January, you’ll resign yourself to the fact that baseball will not proceed as normal in 2022. It will be the second time in three years that we’ve deviated from the script.

In February you’ll be overwhelmed with sadness. You’ll think that this is the time that Buster Posey and the pitchers are supposed to report, and then you’ll remember that it’s not going to happen this year, and then you’ll remember that it’s never going to happen again with Posey, and that will be the last straw needed to push you into a state of tears, which will confuse the people around you who haven’t been silently spiraling about baseball.

Eventually it will end. Maybe in time for Spring Training, or even long before. Maybe in time for 162 games. Maybe in time for a slightly delayed or truncated season. Maybe in time for another 60-game sprint.

In the interim, we here at McCovey Chronicles Dot Com will try and entertain you. Player reviews will continue, and the Community Prospect List will start up next week. We’ll cut back on the frequency of the BPs due to the total lack of news. I’ll say some silly stuff and then wonder how I get paid to do this.

And eventually, baseball will return.