Baseball union head says MLB’s ads promoting a salary cap are ‘perverse’
With the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire Dec. 1, MLB is running the ads with the slogan “Level The Playing Field” on MLB.TV. The players have historically opposed a cap.
As baseball fans tune in to the All-Star Game, they may notice the advertising campaign that suggests the public supports Major League Baseball’s recent proposal for a salary cap.
Nonsense, according to the MLB Players’ Association.
“The supposed stewards of the game have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince fans that they shouldn’t have hope, or that they don’t have hope, or that the product they’re paying to consume in record numbers is somehow broken,” MLBPA interim executive director Bryce Meyer said Tuesday in a meeting with the Baseball Writers Association of America. “I think it’s perverse.”
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MLB is running the ads with the slogan “Level The Playing Field” on MLB.TV. The collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Dec. 1, and the owners maintain that a cap-based system is necessary to achieve greater competitive balance.
In addition, commissioner Rob Manfred has claimed that feedback from fans, obtained through public polling, is central to the league’s desire to implement a salary cap.
The players have historically opposed a cap. And with the sides at odds over the very structure of the sport’s economic system, a work stoppage seems likely, even at a time when MLB is experiencing increased attendance, strong television ratings, and an uptick in overall interest.
Manfred, who met with the BBWAA after Meyer, cited a $441 million disparity between the teams with the highest and lowest luxury-tax payrolls. Meyer countered by noting that the low-budget Brewers and Rays are leading their respective divisions at the All-Star break.
“It gives Bruce talking points,” Manfred said. “But from our perspective, the more important issue is, what’s the aggregate data over time? Our view of the world is that over a very long period of time, there’s a very strong relationship between [payroll] and who gets into playoffs and who proceeds.”
Manfred was asked why the league would launch an advertising campaign if the fans didn’t need to be swayed.
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“I think when you have a difficult public issue, particularly when the other side of the issue is being very public about what their views are on the negotiation, I think it’s incumbent on us to keep our fans informed of our view of the world,” Manfred said. “Particularly given sometimes the other side may not be completely accurate or fair in terms of their recitation of what’s going on.”
Negotiations on a new agreement began in May and will continue until the existing CBA lapses, at which time the widespread expectation is that the owners will lock out the players and effectively shut down the sport. In 2021-22, MLB experienced a 99-day lockout before an agreement was reached in mid-March before regular-season games needed to be canceled.
With the talks still in their early stages, Manfred and Meyer each presented a united front. Manfred said the owners are “more united than any group in my entire time in baseball.” Meyer countered by saying MLB will try to break the union by appealing to rank-and-file players closer to the bottom of the pay scale.
It was against that ominous backdrop Tuesday night that MLB held the All-Star Game in Citizens Bank Park, with its “Level the Playing Field” ad campaign in full force.
“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.”
Ryan Howard was a three-time All-Star and champion of the 2006 Home Run Derby in his legendary run with the Phillies. With the baseball world coming together in Philadelphia for the 96th All-Star Game, Howard sat down with Phillies Extra to discuss his All-Star memories, his expectations for a Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park, his outlook on the Phillies' season, Kyle Schwarber's chances of breaking his single-season franchise mark for homers, and more. Watch here.
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