Talks between MLB union head Tony Clark, commissioner Rob Manfred a step in right direction
In this March 17, 2015, file photo, Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark talks to the media before a spring training exhibition baseball game in Lakeland, Fla. Credit: AP/Carlos Osorio
Commissioner Rob Manfred delivered MLB’s return-to-play pitch to the Players Association Tuesday. The good news? At least union chief Tony Clark took the call.
Based on all the blazing rhetoric flung around on the eve of these critical negotiations, you half-expected Clark to just text Manfred with a “See you in ’21” and three fire emojis. We’re lucky it didn’t go down like that.
As long as the two sides are talking - or Skyping, or Zooming - there remains a chance of us seeing real, live baseball again. How much of a chance is still unclear and probably will be cloudy for a while, especially after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top doc for infectious diseases, issued yet another warning Tuesday about re-opening too early.
The best everyone can hope for now is what baseball can control -- productive discussion toward a green-light agreement, one that MLB believes could start spring training 2.0 next month and Opening Day in early July. At the moment, that timeline doesn’t seem to be a problem for Clark & Co.
We’re already plenty familiar with the two biggest stumbling blocks: player compensation and assuring their safety. According to a source, the specifics of MLB’s economic plan were not discussed during Tuesday’s virtual meetings, so the radioactive concept of 50-50 revenue-sharing was left off the proverbial table on Day 1.
That was probably a smart idea for both sides. Better to generate some early momentum before plowing headlong into what might be a brick wall. And based on what Clark had to say Monday night about revenue-sharing (backed by his attack-agent Scott Boras) it’s a subject that could use a cooling-off period.
Clark’s crew hasn’t even seen a formal economic proposal. But just hearing second-hand about what MLB had in mind was enough to heat him up to DEFCON 1 the night before meeting with Manfred.
“A system that restricts player pay based on revenues is a salary cap, period,” Clark told The Athletic. “That the league is trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they’ve failed to achieve in the past — and to anonymously negotiate through the media for the last several days — suggests they know exactly how this will be received.”
Boras chimed in Monday by saying the union should flatly reject MLB’s proposal, before they even were told the terms face-to-face (or screen-to-screen, as it were). As expected, that Clark-Boras tag-team chorus earned the Players Association a giant L in the court of public opinion over the subsequent 24 hours. The combative language they used was a major tone-deaf mistake, but they certainly had a right to be frustrated by the prospect of what was viewed as further concessions on the union’s part.
Since March 26, the union has believed that players will receive pro-rated salaries for this season, based on games played. That was how they interpreted the agreement, and Clark maintains that it’s is not open for negotiation. Again, Clark has a responsibility to the players to hold that line, until they instruct him to do otherwise. That’s how a union works.
Often it’s a rough assignment, and as far as public perception goes, Clark and Boras are going to need a more diplomatic approach the next time this comes up. They’re smarter than to spout off like that during a pandemic, with a skyrocketing unemployment rate. All that opening salvo did was allow people to take free shots, to the point where even politicians gladly joined the fray.
“I realize that the players have the right to haggle over their salaries, but we do live in a moment where the people of Illinois and the people of the United States deserve to get their pastime back — to watch, anyway, on television,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday. “I must say I’m disappointed in many ways that players are holding out for these very, very high salaries and payments during a time when I think everybody is sacrificing.”
Players aren’t holding out, actually. They’re currently looking at getting half their contracts for this season and MLB is suggesting to deviate from that original agreement, based on the fact these games are going to be played without fans (i.e. gate-related revenue). Hence the need for negotiation.
But that’s just the most combustible part of the equation. The health-related issues are a more worrisome priority, and there’s no telling if states will even accommodate MLB’s plan it comes time to launch. Los Angeles County announced Tuesday that stay-at-home orders are likely to be extended through August, so that would bounce the Dodgers from Chavez Ravine. If more hot spots develop, MLB will be forced to scramble.
But we’re not there yet. For now, the two sides are talking and plan to keep doing so. These days, that’s progress.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
