MLBPA’s Bruce Meyer, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred interrupt All-Star game fun with dire CBA talk

PHILADELPHIA — Bruce Meyer, the interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, took questions from members of the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday morning before the All-Star Game.

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred followed Meyer to the podium. Manfred is used to at least getting some token applause when introduced to a group, but there was silence.

“Thank you for the warm reception,” Manfred said, getting a laugh.

That was the extent of the frivolity, as both men painted a dire picture of the still-nascent negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement.

Mayer sees baseball as a flourishing sport gaining in popularity, citing improved attendance, higher television ratings, and worldwide attention coming off the World Baseball Classic.

The Padres were sold for a record $3.9 billion in May, and Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland, Ore., and Vancouver are among the cities interested in expansion teams. The union favors the status quo.

“Our game is in a great place,” Meyer said.

Manfred agreed to a large extent but said continued success would rely on implementing a salary cap to address payroll disparity.

“The best way to lose momentum is standing still,” Manfred said.

Manfred cited polling by the league, which he said showed more than half of fans are concerned about spending gaps. In the league’s view, the payroll canyon between the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, and other big spenders and the Marlins, Guardians, Rays, and other penny pinchers will undo the progress.

“I believe in order for this game to reach its full potential, we need to continue to address concerns that our fans have,” Manfred said. “Particularly concerns that go to the core of what we’re about — that is competitive balance.”

The league has proposed a $245.3 million cap for 2027 with a salary floor of $171.2 million.

MLB also has run “Level the Field” advertisements on MLB Network and its other platforms promoting a cap. One video claimed 79 percent of fans are in favor of it.

“I have watched over the last few years the owners, the commissioner’s office, try to convince fans, the consumers of their product, that the product is broken,” Meyer said.

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“The supposed stewards of the game have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince those same fans that they don’t have hope or they shouldn’t have hope or that the product that they’re paying to consume in record numbers is somehow broken. I think it’s perverse.”

The small-market Brewers have only 47 fewer victories than the Dodgers since 2021. The Rays and Guardians also have been successful. But no small market team has won the World Series since the 2015 Royals.

When the league last proposed a cap, it led to a long strike by the players, the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, and a shortened season in ’95.

The CBA expires Dec. 1. An immediate lockout is expected as Manfred believes that would expedite negotiations. Instead of a hot stove, there will be a cold war.

To date, both sides have made proposals they knew the other side would reject immediately. Realistic negotiations are not expected until December and January.

Meyer has run the union since Tony Clark was forced out in February. His job security hinges on how well he can hold a disparate membership together through what will be a bitter fight.

Manfred plans to retire when his contract expires in January 2029. Will he be remembered for pushing through rules changes that improved the product on the field or for a protracted labor war and lost games?

There is no catching the NFL. But statistics show MLB has passed the NBA in popularity and is gaining fans after years in decline. The game is better-paced, more athletic, and a better television product than it has been for years.

Tossing aside all the positive momentum over how the bounty is divided up would be an act of negligence by both sides.

You, the fan, don’t get a vote. You’re on the side of the road watching a slow-motion car crash.

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