Its the owners that are locking out the players, leading to them not being a part of team encouraging reading...not that I think there's a whole lot of illiterate kids wandering around downtown Van regularly on weekday mornings.
Everyone suffers because of the lockout, small businesses selling merchandise, hotels booking for games, even the hotdog vendors. Owners should be thinking about more than their own pocket. Likewise players should be willing to pot more escrow for retired players.