MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark yesterday said that the NL adopting the designated hitter "has been discussed in each of the past two negotiations with the league" and that he "expects a universal DH to be discussed again in 2016, though perhaps with more interest than ever before," according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The DH position is "one valued by the union" because it "tends to be a player with a higher salary." The DH also has been mentioned as a "possible tool" to address the pace of game "as it would reduce some late-game machinations" in the NL. It could also "be a way to attack the game's drastic dip in offense." Still, Clark "cautioned against making the assumption that the union would favor" a DH in the NL. He said that he "would have to poll the players before he could make that claim." Meanwhile, Clark addressed several other topics with the media yesterday, saying of the next round of CBA negotiations, "We’re fortunate in that between the league and the players association we have continuity in the relationships that are in place. Which affords us to have some respectful dialogue along the way." Clark was asked how to reconcile the bonuses given to Cuban and other int'l amateur players with the limits imposed on domestic amateurs, and said, "That would assume that there is a need to reconcile." He added, "To the extent that we have an opportunity to discuss the parameters and negotiate the parameters of how players enter the game, that’s part of collective bargaining so we can have that conversation. ... A single entry into the game makes sense." Clark said of an int'l draft, "The idea that it can flippantly be thrown out there as something that can simply be taken from one place and introduced to another is not quite that simple" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/9).
WHAT'S THE HURRY? Clark on Saturday said that he does not expect baseball's efforts to speed up the game to "have an adverse affect on the action." Clark: "You're not going to see umpires pointing and writing down notes -- that's not what's going to happen." He added, "The idea that we are going to disrupt the game and or create confrontations between players and umpires is not beneficial to anyone." Clark: "At the end of the year if we can find a few extra minutes, fantastic. But the fans come to the ballpark to see the players play and if at the end of the day the players can't perform up to their ability because they're thinking about a lot of extra stuff or people are pointing at them or whatever, that's a problem and that's not what the intention is of what was done here (with the new rules)" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/8).
THE JOSHUA TREE: YAHOO SPORTS' Jeff Passan wrote Angels LF Josh Hamilton is "a pawn in a game of politics and money and power." The fight over Hamilton's penalty for recently admitting to cocaine use prior to a league-issued drug test "has started, and as ugly as it is, it's bound to get worse" unless MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "intervenes and does the right thing." Manfred is "certainly a reasonable enough man to understand that punishing a sick man for his sickness is cruel." Any suspension "would cost Hamilton millions of dollars -- and save Angels owner Arte Moreno" those same millions. The union is "fighting the idea that a failed drug test is an automatic violation of Hamilton's treatment program, hoping a neutral arbitrator will agree and keep Manfred from meting out discipline." Should the arbitrator "agree with MLB, Manfred must ignore the urge to hammer Hamilton with a suspension that could reach an entire season." However much favor it "might curry with Moreno -- who, remember, was one of the most vociferous owners opposing" Manfred's commissioner candidacy -- it would "fall prey to ... ineffective thinking" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/9).
