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The Atlanta Braves won the first World Series when baseball returned after the unprecedented cancellation of the Fall Classic due to a strike in 1994.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the Braves captured their first title since ’95 with Tuesday night’s vanquishing of the widely despised Astros, because the next main event facing Major League Baseball this winter is another potential — and likely — work stoppage.

With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire just before midnight on Dec. 1, there are barely four weeks for MLB and the Players’ Association to work through some expected contentious negotiations and come to terms on a new deal. The winter meetings are slated for the following week (Dec. 6-8) in Orlando, but they could be canceled for the second consecutive year after the 2020 meetings were scrapped due to COVID-19.