On Dec. 1, hours before he voted to lock out the players, Mets owner Steve Cohen hosted a news conference for Max Scherzer. Cohen had just lavished a three-year, $130 million deal upon Scherzer, and he could not hide his satisfaction.

“It’s a great day for the New York Mets,” Cohen said. “It’s an even better day for our fans.”

That same day, hours before he voted to lock out the players, Tigers owner Chris Ilitch hosted a news conference for Javier Báez. Ilitch had just landed Báez with a six-year, $140 million contract, and he spoke of a brighter future for his franchise.

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“We feel we’re on the cusp of very exciting Tiger baseball here in Detroit,” Ilitch said.

That franchises across Major League Baseball had tons of money at their disposal was apparent on the final normal day of this offseason. That afternoon in Texas, hours before owner Ray Davis voted to lock out the players, the Rangers introduced their $500 million middle infield, Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. Robbie Ray, the Mariners’ $115 million man, met the media in Seattle hours before owner John Stanton voted for the lockout. The Blue Jays unveiled $110 million pitcher Kevin Gausman before Toronto chairman Edward Rogers joined the unanimous, 30-owner vote for the lockout.

The first day of December exemplified the Janus face of MLB. Business was booming, as the flurry of free-agent spending demonstrated. Business could not go on, not like this, as the unilateral decision to shut down the sport made clear. It is confounding that the $11 billion behemoth that is MLB would implement a “defensive” lockout in order to go on the offensive against its most prominent workers, but that is what has happened, and that is what the entire industry must reckon with.

Ninety days after that great day for the Mets, that dawn of a new era in Detroit, those days of celebration in Arlington and Seattle and Toronto, commissioner Rob Manfred stood before reporters in Jupiter, Fla. “I had hoped against hope I would not have to have this particular press conference, in which I am going to cancel some regular-season games,” he said.

His appearance will likely be better remembered for something he did — unveiling a smile while bantering with a retiring reporter — than anything he said. But something he said stood out.