PHILADELPHIA – Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer each heartily agreed Tuesday before the All-Star Game that the game of baseball is thriving, and perhaps, as good of shape as it’s been in the sport’s history.
They cited the sports’ popularity in attendance, TV viewership, franchise values, and the younger demographics.
The game, in the words of both leaders, is absolutely booming.
Now, where the game goes from here, well, you got the complete polar opposite viewpoints.
Meyer and the players union believe that with the game prospering, there’s no reason at all to overhaul the system with a salary cap.
Manfred and the owners believe that if there’s no salary cap, the game’s popularity will wane lower than a 60-year-old neighborhood pickleball competition.
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Manfred reminded the Baseball Writers' Association of America that the union wanted no part of a pitch clock, either, and it has resulted in resounding success, and that it pushed back on the ABS challenge system, too.
“We got that momentum by listening to our fans and making changes that you know candidly, the MLBPA was not interested in,’’ Manfred said. “Those changes have paid off in terms of creating that momentum, and the best way to lose momentum is to stand still. We're doing exactly the same thing that we did with the rule changes, we're listening to our fans."
Yes, that’s the reason Manfred that it’s imperative for the game to have a salary cap to assure that every team has a legitimate chance to win the World Series after watching the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have the game’s highest payroll, win the last two World Series and win the NL West in 12 of the past 13 seasons.
“The gap is $441 million," Manfred said. “It defies human experience to ask a fan to think that the bottom end of that gap has the same opportunity to win the top end."
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says owners are united behind implementing a salary cap.
And he insists that every owner agrees with him, with every team willing to share their local TV rights if there is a cap, meaning the Dodgers and their average $330 million local TV annual revenue stream would be shared with the Milwaukee Brewers and their approximate $20 million local TV share.
“I have an ownership group that is more united,’’ Manfred says, “than any group in my entire time in baseball.’’
Meyer says the same about his union membership, and insists that a salary cap is designed solely to help owners make more money, will reduce the amount of player compensation, and has absolutely nothing to do with competitive balance.
“The owners, many of them, want a system that not only guarantees their profits, not only increases their franchise values,’’ Meyer said, “but essentially is a former of subsidized mediocrity, owner protection, protection from competition.
“Salary cap is the ultimate excuse not to compete. It’s the ultimate excuse for an owner to say, “Gee, I would like to make the team better, but you know I can’t.’
“Salary caps are bad for fans. Salary caps prevent teams from doing the things that they believe are in their interest to make the team better.’’
While the union gladly points out that the Milwaukee Brewers, who reside in the smallest market in MLB, won the most games last season and that a bottom-5 market, the Tampa Bays have the American League’s best record, MLB will remind you that the Rays and Brewers have never won a World Series.
"What our fans in a number of our markets are telling us – better than half of them – is there's a lack of competitive balance in the game,’’ Manfred said, “and everything we propose is directed at addressing that fan concern. …
“I believe that in order for this game to reach its full potential, we need to continue to address concerns that our fans have, particularly concerns that go to the core of what we're about-that is competitive balance. We need to make sure that fans in markets at the beginning of the season have a realistic belief that their team has a chance to win.
“I think that we need a system where fans, particularly in smaller markets, can have some hope that the players that are signed and developed by their organizations can actually stay there through free agency. And honestly, I think we need a system where there is a more robust free agent market. So, if you don't want to go to New York or Los Angeles, you have a realistic opportunity to get a viable free agent contract.
“And I also think we have an obligation as players to try to get into a system where salving growth in baseball is not the slowest among the four-digit professionals.’’
Meyer laughs and even mocks the premise that a salary cap would change anything but lineup owners’ pockets, and argues that fans’ biggest complaint is with their owners who won’t spend the money to compete with the Dodgers and the big boys.
Dan Sileo and George Kurtz discuss how MLB's Peacock-exclusive streaming may restrict fan access to games. Every game today is exclusively on Peacock.
“If they were so concerned about fans,’’ Meyer said, “they would listen to the fans all across baseball who are literally chanting, "Sell the team! They want the owners to sell the team because they feel they're not competing. They don't listen to that part.
"Every team in baseball can afford to compete, many are choosing not to. To me, that’s the biggest problem right now."
Besides, Meyer said, if MLB was so convinced that the fans want a salary cap, then why is the MLB Network running ads advocating for a salary cap?
“There’s something wrong with that,’’ Meyer said. “Look, we're in a bargain year. Both sides engage in media efforts. We do it. Sadly, we don't own our own TV network.
“But the fact that at a time when the game is in such a good place … why does it make any sense to basically have fans throughout the game watching ads about how well you really should be in favor of a salary cap? Which, by the way, I find ironic since as you know, the owners in the league have said, “Hey, we're just listening to fans, right?’ Yet somehow, they feel it's necessary to spend millions of dollars running ads to persuade those fans that they really should be in favor of this thing.’’
While Meyer still believes the owners plan to have a lockout with no deal before Dec. 1, there will be no repeat of 1994-95 by the players when they went on strike on Aug. 12, with the World Series ultimately canceled. There will be no strike during the season, or before the World Series, when players no longer are paid.
“It’s a violation of the CBA,’ Meyer said. “We can’t strike. They can’t do a lockout while the agreement is in place.’’
So, at least the fans know that the entirety of this season will take place, but as far as 2027, hey, we’ll see.
“I’m an optimist with respect to collective bargaining,’’ Manfred said. “I truly believe that if people engage in the process, that you find ways through things.’’
Said Meyer: “The owners have been talking about a lockout for a while … You know, the commissioner quite a while ago predicted it and said it's a good thing, a good thing for baseball. It’s not a good thing. Not a good thing for anybody.
“This is a choice that they've made. They've chosen to put on the bargaining table in the year 2026, something that they know our players and our union has fought against for decades. That's a choice. If they do a lockout, that'll be a choice. That'll be an owner choice.:
