Hurry up and wait
Divergent views from Manfred, Clark point to lengthy lockout
ARLINGTON, TEXAS» Hours into Major League Baseball’s first work stoppage in 26 years, Commissioner Rob Manfred and union head Tony Clark presented diametrically opposed views of each side’s negotiating positions that point to a lengthy lockout.
In separate news conferences less than a day into baseball’s ninth work stoppage, Manfred said the union’s proposal for greater free agency and wider salary arbitration would damage small-market teams.
Clark, the first former player to head the union, accused Manfred of “misrepresentations” in his letter to fans explaining the lockout, and said “it would have been beneficial to the process to have spent as much time negotiating in the room as it appeared it was spent on the letter.”
The dispute threatens the start of spring training on Feb. 16 and opening day on March 31.
In many ways, after 26K years of labor peace the sides have reverted to the bitter squabbling that marked eight work stoppages from 1972-95, including a 7K -month strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series.
Owners locked out players at 12:01 a.m. Thursday following the expiration of the sport’s five-year collective bargaining agreement.
“If you play without an agreement, you are vulnerable to a strike at any point in time,” Manfred said. “What happened in 1994 is the MLBPA picked August, when we were most vulnerable because of the proximity of the large revenue dollars associated with the postseason. We wanted to take that option away and try to force the parties to deal with the issues and get an agreement now.”
Players gained salary arbitration in 1974 and free agency two years later, and most of the previous disputes centered on the rise of big salaries caused by both, along with demands, mostly by small- and middle-market owners, to control costs and increase their competitive ability.
Management gained an ever-increasing series of restraints over the last two decades, such as a luxury tax on high payrolls, leading to a decrease in average salary during the latter years of the most recent labor deal.
Now players want more liberalized free agency and arbitration.
“It’s a whole list of topics that they’ve told us they will not negotiate,” said Bruce Meyer, the players’ chief lawyer. “They will not agree, for example, to expand salary arb eligibility. They will not agree to any path for any player to achieve free agency earlier. They will not agree to anything that would allow players to have additional ways to get service time to combat servicetime manipulation. They told us on all of those things they will not agree.”
Since 1976, players can become free agents after six seasons of major league service. The players’ association proposed starting with the 2023-24 offseason that it changes to six years or five years and age 30.5, with the age in the second option dropping to 29.5 starting in 2025-26.
Players want arbitration eligibility to decrease to two years of service, its level until the mid-1980s.
Central to the strife is the union’s anger over a larger number of teams in recent seasons jettisoning veterans in favor of rebuilding while accumulating prospects. Teams sometimes conclude rebuilding — the players call it tanking — is a preferred strategy for long-term success, even though it can rankle their fans.