Friday was a rite of passage on the Major League Baseball calendar, but felt like a gut punch to many fans who know the reality of the situation for 2027.

MLB released the 2027 spring training schedule for both Arizona's Cactus League and Florida's Grapefruit League, with play scheduled to start for all 30 teams on Friday, Feb. 19. However, that's a date that MLB fans may want to circle on their calendar in pencil.

Potential MLB lockout overshadows 2027 spring training announcement

With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) scheduled to expire on December 1 and talk about a potential lockout by owners ramping up, the possibility of spring training starting on time seems less and less likely as each day passes. At the heart of the discussion between owners and players is a potential salary cap and floor that would represent a seismic shift for the sport.

The 2027 regular season is scheduled to get underway on Wednesday, March 24, with an Opening Night game slated for Netflix. This season, the New York Yankees visited the San Francisco Giants to officially kick off the season.

However, if the last CBA negotiations are any indicator, spring training dates as well as the season's Opening Night could be in danger.

In 2022, the last time a CBA was ratified by MLB owners and players, it ended a 99-day lockout. With the deal struck on March 10, the season was pushed back a week to April 7 (originally scheduled to start on March 31) and spring training was condensed.

The 2022 season was also extended by three days to account for the missing week at the start of the campaign.

However, discussions surrounding a potential salary cap could make this year's CBA talks even more divisive and drawn out. ESPN insider Jeff Passan has said that owners are ready to dig in as long as it may take for a salary cap to be enacted, even if that means missing the 2027 season entirely.

With that threat in place, Friday's spring training schedule release makes those sun-splashed days in Arizona and Florida feel more like a dream than a reality.