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To our Fans:
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
[Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
Is Scott Boras the de facto head of the Players Union? Service time is a legit gripe, and many of the players have voiced their (very justified) anger with the league switching out baseballs on them. However, the latter point is just... absent from the players demands? Instead the focus is on tanking -- which Scott Boras has been against for years now. Lovely.
Boras has done as well as anyone financially even through these cold free agent markets of recent years. The high-end players, that Boras represents, aren't really the issue in this labor dispute. They're doing just fine.
Service time is a legit gripe but I feel like it's going to get manipulated no matter what changes they make. If a half year as a rookie counts as a full year of service time, I see a high-performing Triple-A prospect being held down in July until next spring training. Plus, legislating a franchise's ability to determine when a prospect is ready or not is virtually impossible.
I don't see the owners going for the age 29 or five years of service time free agency. I think that is an automatic no for them. The question is whether new MLBPA negotiator Bruce Meyer (apparently he's a hard liner) is willing to go through an ugly labor war on those service time proposals or can the owners offer earlier arbitration and higher minimum salaries to compromise off them. The small market teams have a strong voice too, they're not going to give up higher minimum salaries or earlier arbitration easy.
The draft lottery has been proposed to discourage the tanking. I hate the concept of a draft lottery. The MLBPA won't agree to the salary floor because it feels the cheap teams will get right over the threshold and stop spending. It would almost validate their lack of spending. "Hey, we're over the cash floor. Go **** yourself."
This is my personal opinion, but I think a lot of issues can be resolved by just letting the Dodgers spend as much as they want so more players get their market value and not attach as many penalties to high spending teams. But it will never happen because Manfred and almost every owner is against it. They're afraid it will lead to the escalation of player salaries.
This is easily the most complicated CBA since 1994 and I could see it getting ugly. Some optimistic people think it can be easily resolved but call me a skeptic.
[Reply]
Originally Posted by Carr4MVP:
Fighting to have everything without compromising.
The media said MLBPA took it on the chin in the last CBA, so Tony Clark and the union negotiators are going to be stubborn this time around.
I just hope when we get about two weeks from pitchers and catchers that the MLBPA understands that these riches and revenues they want a piece of won't be as lucrative if the sport starts losing games.
The MLBPA and baseball owners are business partners. A healthy game and healthy relationship benefits both parties.
[Reply]