Could Bryce Harper and other players really sign to play overseas if MLB’s lockout drags into the season?

Now batting for the Yomiuri Giants ... Bryce Harper?

As negotiators from Major League Baseball and the Players Association were getting warmed up Monday for a 16-hour marathon bargaining session that didn’t end until 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, and amid the league’s threat to begin canceling games, Harper posted a creative Instagram story. The Phillies star and reigning National League MVP superimposed a “Tokyo” uniform on a photo of himself above this caption: “Aye @yomiuri.giants. You up? Got some time to kill. I know you got @borascorp number. Let’s talk.”

» READ MORE: Baseball’s lockout will be futile until owners realize their whole economic structure is broken

Now, Harper was probably just having some fun at a tense time in the labor talks. Clearly he’s bored. But intentional or not, he raised a fascinating hypothetical: If MLB cancels more games than the first two series of the season, as commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Tuesday, and cuts back full-season salaries, could locked-out players sign with teams in Japan, Korea, or other overseas leagues? Would they?

In a set of guidelines distributed to agents before the lockout began on Dec. 2, the Players Association said it would “challenge any attempts by MLB to interfere with Players who choose to participate in a foreign league during a lockout” and cited the many NHL players who played internationally during the 2004-05 lockout.

But multiple agents said Monday night that there may be practical concerns about such activity. One agent was unsure if a player could have his major-league contract voided if he were to get injured while playing overseas.

It’s also worth noting that Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league allows teams to carry only four foreign players on their roster. In the Korean Baseball Organization, the limit is three foreign players. With those seasons scheduled to open on March 25 and April 2, respectively, there wouldn’t be many opportunities for most major leaguers, although teams would almost certainly create a spot for stars such as Harper.

(The Giants responded to Harper’s post by tweeting “What’s the size of your jersey?”)

But the whole issue is probably moot unless MLB canceled the season in a doomsday scenario for the sport, as the NHL did during its 2004-05 lockout. And while hundreds of players skated in European leagues that year, many were also returning to their home countries. Peter Forsberg, for example, played in Sweden; Jaromir Jagr played in his native Czech Republic.

That didn’t stop Toros Del Este, a Dominican Winter League team, from doing some jersey photo-shopping of their own and tweeting an invitation for Harper to come play for them.