Manfred cautioned that talk of threats to labor relations has been premature so fargetty images
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has "seen the predictions of doom" for the sport amid upcoming CBA talks and another tepid free agent market, but "cautions everyone to calm down," according to Dave Sheinin of the WASHINGTON POST. Manfred said, "Labor relations are bound to have ups and downs. But agents talking about going off cliffs and union leaders talking about strike preparations three years (before the expiration of a CBA), when we haven't had meaningful dialogue (is not productive). More is being made out of this than there needs to be." Sheinin reports the "slow pace of the free agent market, combined with a perceived lack of urgency on the part of mid- and large-market teams to improve their teams, has had union leaders questioning some owners' commitment to winning." Manfred said, "We don't like a situation where there is dissatisfaction among the players. And we have been clear with the MLBPA, going back approaching a year -- it was spring training last year that we said we were prepared to talk to them about whatever issues they think are out there. And we haven't had a lot of dialogue." Sheinin notes the union recently made a "significant counterproposal to some of Manfred's recently proposed rule changes -- a development that, on its own, represented significant progress toward thawing a relationship that had grown frosty between the league and the union." The MLBPA "addressed some of its concerns about 'competitive integrity,' providing enticements for teams to spend money in an effort to compete and penalizing teams that lose 90-plus games in consecutive seasons with a drop in draft position and a reduction of international-bonus funds" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/7). MLB Network's Bill Ripken: "The fact they’re talking about this now and exchanging something back and forth, I think we’re in a good spot. ... I would hate to see any sort of work stoppage at the end of these three years. The game is too good" ("MLB Tonight," MLB Network, 2/6).
TANKING PROBLEM: Rockies C Chris Iannetta, a member of the MLBPA Exec Subcommittee, said that the players' main goal in the counterproposal was to "create a sport in which more teams actively try to win." In N.Y., Tyler Kepner notes the "widespread rebuilding phenomenon ... resulted in eight teams with at least 95 losses last season, the most in history." It was "no coincidence that attendance also dropped by more than three million fans, falling below 70 million for the first time" since '03. Iannetta: "The numbers are very telling, and I think it's derived from the competitiveness of the individual teams. There's teams that can become much more competitive just from tapping into the talent pool that's available on the free-agent market right now, and not being willing to do that should be alarming to everybody." He added, "It's easy to say, 'We're going to be the Cubs or the Astros,' but that's a very difficult thing to do -- and keep in mind the Cubs and Astros used veteran talent to groom those players, and when it was time to win, they significantly added veteran players" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/7).
SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN: SI.com's Tom Verducci noted there are now "so many ideas flying around" regarding rule changes that the two sides will be "hard pressed to agree on any one thing before Opening Day." However, the "worst option of all is doing nothing" (SI.com, 2/6). In Houston, Brian Smith notes baseball is the "No. 3 sport and falling" in a large portion of the U.S. If MLB "didn't need changing, the league wouldn't be poring over all these potential changes" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/7).
