‘A nuclear bomb’: MLB union head blasts salary cap as labour war looms

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Baseball’s union chief said the owners’ proposal of a salary cap this summer was a “nuclear bomb” and players have no interest in the type of economic system Commissioner Rob Manfred maintains is needed for the sport to thrive.

Shortly before the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays opened the first World Series in 35 years between small-payroll teams in the bottom half of big league spending, players’ association head Bruce Meyer and Manfred held separate media sessions Friday near the first base dugout at American Family Field.

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Baseball’s labour contract expires Dec. 1, and management is expected to immediately lock out the players. That work stoppage could threaten the start of spring training workouts on Feb. 9 and opening day on March 24.

“It is kind of sad that the league and the owners have once again been focusing not on the greatness of the game, not on the greatness of the players, not on the greatness of the playoffs, but they’ve been focusing on basically telling the consumers of their product that their product is broken,” Meyer said.

Milwaukee ranked 19th in payroll as of Aug. 31 and Tampa Bay 25th. The Brewers, in the Series for the first time since 1982, are seeking their first title, as are the Rays.

“It’s been 40 years since we’re here. Once every 40 years is not enough,” Manfred said. “It’s not that no small market can win, it’s just that it’s pretty rare.”

Three low-payroll teams reached the League Championship Series this year: Tampa Bay eliminated Cleveland, which has the smallest payroll, in the ALCS. Milwaukee eliminated the deep-pocketed, two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Meyer said the success of these teams shows the current economic system works.

“There’s no reason whatsoever that the Pirates can’t do what the Brewers have done or what the Rays have done. None whatsoever, right?” he said.

Milwaukee is ranked 30th among MLB teams in market size and Tampa Bay 15th. While the union points to this as evidence the current system is working, Manfred claimed the matchups showed why change is needed.

“No one ever said that differences in economics are perfectly outcome-determined,” he said.

“If you look at the data, our larger markets have a very statistically significant advantage in terms of making the playoffs and going deeper into the playoffs.”

MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at US$245.3 million using figures for luxury tax payrolls, and limit a player to 15 per cent of a team’s payroll. Free agents would be capped at US$265 million over six seasons — far under Juan Soto’s record US$765 million, 15-year deal with the New York Mets.

Because all of management’s proposals are tied to a cap, Meyer claimed “the rest of it is a charade.”

Those proposals have included granting some players free agency a year sooner, shortening seasons to 154 games and adding post-season games.

“This would be a tough negotiation even without their demand for the nuclear bomb of the salary cap,” Meyer said.

“This notion that the owners need a cap and that a cap would somehow guarantee this utopia of competitive balance and fan engagement, it’s just not true. It makes no sense at all,” he added.

“We should be appreciating and promoting the things that we have now instead of trying to tear it down.”

MLB proposed a salary cap in 1994, and it led to a 7 1/2-month strike that caused the World Series to be cancelled for the first time in 90 years.

“Number one, we have an unprecedented level of unanimity among ownership that this is something that we need to do, that we need to get ourselves in a position to operate like all the other major professional sports in North America,” Manfred said.

“Secondly, and even more importantly to me, our fan polling, and we do it regularly, has moved hard in the direction of the fact that we have a problem and that our fans see a salary cap as the answer to that problem.”

Meyer dismissed the argument that a cap would benefit competitive balance.

“All of this is really about their desire to make more money in the form of profits and increased franchise values, which they don’t have to share with players,” he said.

“It’s not about competitive balance. It’s not about teams not having hope. It’s about, again, their desire, which they’ve had for decades, to have a system that artificially suppresses player salaries and player freedom of movement, removes player guarantees and limits flexibility in all different areas, guts the amateur entry system. The rest of it is a charade.”

Meyer said it would be complicated to extend the expiring five-year contract for another season.

“I suppose anything’s possible. There’s been no discussion about that,” he said.

“They don’t seem to like the current system, so I’m not sure why they would agree to continue that. Even, theoretically, if the parties agree, let’s continue some version of the status quo, it’s easier said than done. What happens to the minimum salary? What happens to the luxury tax proceeds? What happens for the pre-arb pool?”

Players have proposed expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum salary and increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs.

“Bruce Meyer’s not prepared to do a status-quo deal and the fact of the matter is he’s made a lot of demands about improvements that they want,” Manfred said.

The sides have been discussing the possibility for big league players to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

“There are certain things that we believe players should be entitled to, things that they expect as the level of athlete that they are,” Meyer said.

“As of now, we’re not getting satisfaction.”

Manfred said work on the 2028 schedule typically would start in January. An extended All-Star break is envisioned to allow big league players to appear in the Olympics.

Manfred said the sport is also paying attention to an investigation into Dodgers owner Mark Walter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission following a whistleblower complaint regarding alleged misrepresented loans made between companies within his business portfolio.

“As always when we have an investigation, external law enforcement, whatever, we monitor that and that’s where we are right now,” Manfred said.