No spring training delay yet, Rob Manfred says, but time is running out to avoid that
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, making his first public comments Thursday since Dec. 2 when the league locked out players following the expiration of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, said he is not ready to announce just yet that spring training will be delayed.
But time is running out before that becomes an inevitability.
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training sites and begin workouts next week. That can’t happen if a deal isn’t place.
Which means a lot is riding on the next bargaining session between the league and players on Saturday. A decision will have to be made not too long after that meeting concludes.
“The status of spring training is no change right now,” Manfred said in a half-hour press conference in Orlando following MLB’s owners meetings. “We’re going to have a conversation with the MLBPA about the calendar. We understand where the calendar is. Until we have that conversation and until we see how this session on Saturday goes, it’s no change.”
Manfred, who considers himself an optimist, said he believe there will be an agreement in place that gives enough time for players to get ready for Opening Day, scheduled for March 31.
But he also noted “if I hadn’t given consideration to what it would mean to miss games, I wouldn’t be doing my job.”
And what, exactly, would the impact missing games be to the league?
In Manfred’s words: “A disastrous outcome for this industry.”
“We’re committed to making an agreement in an effort to avoid that,” Manfred said.
Manfred said teams ideally will need a minimum of four weeks of spring training to prepare for the season and said he anticipates spring training camps could open within a few days of the CBA being agreed upon. That would point to a deal needing to be done by the end of February for the regular season to proceed without delays.
He also said teams will not play spring training games until 40-man roster players are participating. Games are scheduled to start Feb. 26.
Manfred did announce two key points that will be in the league’s proposal: the implementation of a universal designated hitter and the elimination of draft pick compensation for signing free agents who decline a qualifying offer. The league also remains adamant about expanding the playoff field, which Manfred said “is good for players and for clubs. It’s also good for our fans, the vast majority of whom enjoy playoff baseball.”
But the sides remain far apart in their stances on several core economic topics, among them the competitive balance tax, minimum salary and revenue sharing.
The players union has also proposed allowing the accrual of service time by rookies for awards and special accomplishments, a draft lottery and expanding arbitration eligibility.
“We have a proposed an agreement that is better in every respect than the expired contract,” Manfred said. “In total, the proposals we’ve made would move the agreement decidedly in the players’ direction. Where the clubs have been and remain unwilling to move is in response to player proposals that we believe will undermine the competitive balance in our game.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 12:00 PM.
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