‘EMBARRASSING’
Yankees president on who’s to blame for lockout
Saying that “it’s embarrassing to be where we are” in protracted negotiations to end Major League Baseball’s lockout, Randy Levine still believes there’s room for compromise.
However, the New York Yankees president drew a firm financial line on behalf of baseball’s owners.
“Any perception that there’s endless money, especially after COVID, it’s not true,” Levine said March 7 on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN Radio, adding that “you can’t pretend there’s all this money in the game when there just isn’t.”
The MLB Players Association will point to suppressed salaries over the past several seasons and a luxury tax that has acted more as a salary cap than a mechanism for competitive balance.
Speaking in a rare formal interview since the Dec. 2 lockout – Levine offered that there’s plenty of shared blame for the current deadlock toward a new collective bargaining agreement.
“(It’s) players, owners, executives. It’s a really bad look, especially with what’s going on in the world, and we all have to try really a lot harder to fix this,” Levine said. “Because we all look pretty bad.”
A key player for ownership in past labor negotiations, Levine is on the sideline this time; Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner is currently part of the owner’s team at the tables.
Salary cap or luxury tax?
Levine credited the union for its movement toward an expanded playoff format, the expediting of rule changes such as a pitch clock and eliminating defensive shifts, and an advertisement uniform patch.
In turn, Levine cited the owners’ bending on the MLBPA’s request to increase pay for younger players, with a $700,000 minimum salary and a new compensation pool for pre-arbitration players.
The union is seeking higher gains, especially with the so-called luxury tax; ownership wants to keep a flat $220 million ceiling through 2024, rising to $230 million by 2026 whereas the players’ proposal starts at $238 million and ends at $263 million.
According to SI.com, seven clubs – including the Yankees – spent within 6% of last season’s $210 million luxury tax threshold, underlining their point on how it acts as a salary cap.
“It’s not a cap; it’s never acted as a cap,” Levine said. “A lot of teams have gone over it. But it’s a way to protect competitive balance.”
Room for compromise
After press time, two more regularseason series – totaling four in 2022 – were expected to be canceled by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
That includes the Yankees’ April 7 home opener against the rival Boston Red Sox.
Those games are valuable for TV revenue and attendance, but the wider perception is that MLB owners could easily sacrifice April for gains down the line – especially postseason.
“That’s an absolute fallacy,” said Levine.
“There’s nobody I’ve spoken to in this game who is not sick to their stomach (that) any game is canceled.”
The key to ending the stalemate, in Levine’s view, is to “do what’s in the art of possible.”
“This is nothing to shut down the season over on both sides,” Levine said. “This is something that can be compromised, as long as people are reasonable.”
State of the game
Essentially, Levine said that if players negotiated what they now feel is a bad CBA five years ago, it’s on them.
“They made choices (that) led to an economic situation they’re unhappy with,” Levine said. “We are where we are. It’s not about correcting it all at once.”
Advocating for “incremental change,” Levine sees a landscape that is “doable” for a deal. “We need to get this done.”
Because the alternative isn’t good for either side.
“Yes, very afraid,” Levine said when Kay asked if he worried that fans might soon have reached their limit at the game’s intractable state.
“I hope not,” Levine said. “But if we continue where we are, it could. And that’s what scares me.”