I first want to thank you for your continued support of the great game of baseball. This past season, we were reminded of how the national pastime can bring us together and restore our hope despite the difficult challenges of a global pandemic. As we began to emerge from one of the darkest periods in our history, our ballparks were filled with fans; the games were filled with excitement; and millions of families felt the joy of watching baseball together.
That is why I am so disappointed about the situation in which our game finds itself today. Despite the league’s best efforts to make a deal with the Players Association, we were unable to extend our 26 year-long history of labor peace and come to an agreement with the MLBPA before the current CBA expired. Therefore, we have been forced to commence a lockout of Major League players, effective at 12:01am ET on December 2.
I want to explain to you how we got here and why we have to take this action today. Simply put, we believe that an offseason lockout is the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season. We hope that the lockout will jumpstart the negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time. This defensive lockout was necessary because the Players Association’s vision for Major League Baseball would threaten the ability of most teams to be competitive. It’s simply not a viable option. From the beginning, the MLBPA has been unwilling to move from their starting position, compromise, or collaborate on solutions.
When we began negotiations over a new agreement, the Players Association already had a contract that they wouldn’t trade for any other in sports. Baseball’s players have no salary cap and are not subjected to a maximum length or dollar amount on contracts. In fact, only MLB has guaranteed contracts that run 10 or more years, and in excess of $300 million. We have not proposed anything that would change these fundamentals. While we have heard repeatedly that free agency is “broken” – in the month of November $1.7 billion was committed to free agents, smashing the prior record by nearly 4x. By the end of the offseason, Clubs will have committed more money to players than in any offseason in MLB history.
We worked hard to find compromise while making the system even better for players, by addressing concerns raised by the Players Association. We offered to establish a minimum payroll for all clubs to meet for the first time in baseball history; to allow the majority of players to reach free agency earlier through an age-based system that would eliminate any claims of service time manipulation; and to increase compensation for all young players, including increases in the minimum salary. When negotiations lacked momentum, we tried to create some by offering to accept the universal Designated Hitter, to create a new draft system using a lottery similar to other leagues, and to increase the Competitive Balance Tax threshold that affects only a small number of teams.
We have had challenges before with respect to making labor agreements and have overcome those challenges every single time during my tenure. Regrettably, it appears the Players Association came to the bargaining table with a strategy of confrontation over compromise. They never wavered from collectively the most extreme set of proposals in their history, including significant cuts to the revenue-sharing system, a weakening of the competitive balance tax, and shortening the period of time that players play for their teams. All of these changes would make our game less competitive, not more.
To be clear: this hard but important step does not necessarily mean games will be cancelled. In fact, we are taking this step now because it accelerates the urgency for an agreement with as much runway as possible to avoid doing damage to the 2022 season. Delaying this process further would only put Spring Training, Opening Day, and the rest of the season further at risk – and we cannot allow an expired agreement to again cause an in-season strike and a missed World Series, like we experienced in 1994. We all owe you, our fans, better than that.
Today is a difficult day for baseball, but as I have said all year, there is a path to a fair agreement, and we will find it. I do not doubt the League and the Players share a fundamental appreciation for this game and a commitment to its fans. I remain optimistic that both sides will seize the opportunity to work together to grow, protect, and strengthen the game we love. MLB is ready to work around the clock to meet that goal. I urge the Players Association to join us at the table.
Manfred
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
And guys like KCN have tried to paint the owners as operating in bad faith throughout this because some dickhead with an agent contact on Twitter said so.
That might have more than a little something to do with the fact that the owners primary negotiation tactic throughout this entire saga (dating back to when they originally locked them out over 3 months ago) has been delay. The more time they can cut off the season (without losing their precious playoff revenue), the more pressure they can put on the union.
Anyway, I'm far from surprised the owners just cancelled more games today. Both these sides may get serious at some point, but that point isn't going to be any time soon. [Reply]
The league actually gave the players the option of accepting their offer of removing the QO and simply thinking about the international draft for ~2 years and if then there still wasnt an agreement on a draft then they go back to the table and start again.
Like... holy fucking shit. You got exactly what you were wanting for at least 2 years and you still wouldnt take it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Feels like the ball is in the players' court.
But it is true that they should have been having these discussions months ago so we never got to this point. Disappointing.
The idea of an international draft has been on the table for months and according to Heyman the league had believed that a trade of QO for draft was agreed upon by the union long before it just became an issue in the last 24 hours. This is nothing new. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Feels like the ball is in the players' court.
But it is true that they should have been having these discussions months ago so we never got to this point. Disappointing.
All this talk about an international draft over the past 24 hours out of the blue after MLB's offer. Why wasn't this being discussed in December and January? Why is this all happening now? Why did MLB sit on its hands and do nothing for the first month and a half after the initial lockout announcement?
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
All this talk about an international draft over the past 24 hours out of the blue after MLB's offer. Why wasn't this being discussed in December and January? Why is this all happening now? Why did MLB sit on its hands and do nothing for the first month and a half after the initial lockout announcement?
The answer is an obvious one.
It's been discussed for months, you are only just finding out about it now because it wasn't an issue until now. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jd1020:
It's been discussed for months, you are only just finding out about it now because it wasn't an issue until now.
The international draft was apparently being discussed in December and January when the parties weren't discussing anything at all? According to who? [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
The international draft was apparently being discussed in December and January when the parties weren't discussing anything at all? According to who?
Watch the MLB network and find out.
This isn't some new offer that was never discussed before. Just because you didn't hear about it til now doesn't mean it wasn't discussed.
There are even tweets out there made by the MLBPA puppets talking about how the league believed there was an agreement in place for a trade of QO for international draft. Now why would they believe that to be the case if they just put it on the table just now and it wasn't discussed? Don't think too hard about that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jd1020:
Watch the MLB network and find out.
The network that is owned by MLB which has a vested interest in getting their own narrative out there?
Originally Posted by :
This isn't some new offer that was never discussed before. Just because you didn't hear about it til now doesn't mean it wasn't discussed.
There are even tweets out there made by the MLBPA puppets talking about how the league believed there was an agreement in place for a trade of QO for international draft. Now why would they believe that to be the case if they just put it on the table just now and it wasn't discussed? Don't think too hard about that.
MLB people say the Union is the one that in Jupiter originally offered the exact tradeoff MLB just offered of the implementing of an international draft for the elimination of the CBT. Meanwhile, Union says that’s not true, that it rejected an international draft multiple times.
This is the reporting I believe you are referring to. There appears to be some disagreement about what was said/offered last week with respect to the international draft, but there is no indication this was ever discussed months ago (as far as I can tell/have seen).
Again, if the owners ever had any intention of starting the season on time, they wouldn't have done nothing for the first few months of this lockout. Their delay tactics are obvious. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jd1020:
Watch the MLB network and find out.
This isn't some new offer that was never discussed before. Just because you didn't hear about it til now doesn't mean it wasn't discussed.
There are even tweets out there made by the MLBPA puppets talking about how the league believed there was an agreement in place for a trade of QO for international draft. Now why would they believe that to be the case if they just put it on the table just now and it wasn't discussed? Don't think too hard about that.
Originally Posted by tk13:
Feels like the ball is in the players' court.
But it is true that they should have been having these discussions months ago so we never got to this point. Disappointing.
The players were assholes during Covid. Plenty of them wanted their full pay for a half a season with empty stadiums and no revenue for the owners. Fuck them. They’re being petty. [Reply]