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 jd1020:
The MLBPA executive board voting unanimously against the CBA which is made up of 63% Scott Boras clients and the rest of the vote going 26-4 in favor of the CBA tells you everything you need to know.
Also should raise eyebrows and offer some hope that the current union could be effectively busted up in favor of a PA that actually represents the rank-and-file. We will see. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan:
Also should raise eyebrows and offer some hope that the current union could be effectively busted up in favor of a PA that actually represents the rank-and-file. We will see.
Guess who didn't need Ken Rosenthal to tell him what was completely obvious if you were paying any attention at all and not just swallowing anything fed to you by the sports 'media'.
<----------- This guy right here.
Still insane to me how badly the sportswriters misrepresented what was going on in this process. And how eager some people were to believe it. [Reply]
This wasn't super agents trying to protect their meal tickets. Noooooooo.
It was unreasonable owners that didn't want to play baseball in April.
KCN told me so.
I'm fine taking the L here for the greater good (the Jays project to be one of the best teams in the league this year after all). Although, despite the MLBPA executive board not having the necessary support in the end from the rank-and-file, I'd still maintain that the delay the owners engaged in over the past few months suggested they didn't particularly care if the season started on time. [Reply]
I'm fine taking the L here for the greater good (the Jays project to be one of the best teams in the league this year after all). Although, despite the MLBPA executive board not having the necessary support in the end from the rank-and-file, I'd still maintain that the delay the owners engaged in over the past few months suggested they didn't particularly care if the season started on time.
No. It's a trade off. In your ultimate effort to neuter an agent-driven representative sub-committee and create a schism with the top 1% and the rank and file...you gladly choose to be OK with starting the season late. It's insane to say they didn't care about starting on time unless you're saying they didn't care when considering the bigger picture goals. [Reply]
Hate hate hate 12 team and expanded playoffs. That is just a great way for me to not care about your post season. I don't even care about NBA playoffs until the conference finals. Now I won't care about the MLB until the NLCS and ALCS. Why play a 162 game schedule when you are just gonna let so many teams in? [Reply]
One interesting nugget in the new agreement: Starting in 2023, the schedule will feature fewer divisional games, and every team will play at least one series against every other opponent, including in the other league. The exact format is still being determined.
Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan:
No. It's a trade off. In your ultimate effort to neuter an agent-driven representative sub-committee and create a schism with the top 1% and the rank and file...you gladly choose to be OK with starting the season late. It's insane to say they didn't care about starting on time unless you're saying they didn't care when considering the bigger picture goals.
That's what I'm saying. It was tactical, and to their credit, it worked. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Vladimir_Kyrilytch:
I'm disappointed so many of you root for the Royals. I've always considered the Royals to be completely classless.
Hey dickhead, you are on a KANSAS city chiefs message board, with a god damn Chiefs hat on your dog..and you hate the Royals? Go fuck ya self
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Hey dickhead, you are on a KANSAS city chiefs message board, with a god damn Chiefs hat on your dog..and you hate the Royals? Go **** ya self
Royals maybe shit, but they are our shit.
The Royals are not like the Chiefs. The Royals are the Raiders. Here's something a Raider/Royal would do:
-throw a pitch at the head of the best player ever, just cause he's the best player ever (this follows prison logic of fighting the biggest dude in the prison)
-have it backfire (like when Raiders fans happen by the George Brett statue after dark) by Trout hitting a hard liner back up the middle like the best player of all time might do with any pitch, yours or anyone else's, Yordan.
-then charge at Mike Trout, trying to instigate a brawl, because, and I kid you not "he hit that ball back at me on purpose".
Fuck the Royals and fuck the Raiders. The Chiefs and Angels are cool though.
RIP to Yordan but he was a coward and he personified the Royals. The Chiefs are not like that team at all. [Reply]
