Whether a salary cap will be a dealbreaker in Major League Baseball\u2019s upcoming labor negotiations is a question best directed across the aisle, league commissioner Rob Manfred said last week on the radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a Tony Clark question, I mean, it really is,\u201d Manfred said, referring to the head of the Players Association. \u201cUntil I got elected commissioner, all I did was labor relations. That\u2019s how I made my living. I\u2019ve never been in a negotiation where, before the first piece of paper went across the table, I, or anyone I represented, was out there saying, \u2018This, we absolutely will not talk about.\u2019 I just think it\u2019s a hard way to begin a negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The union, however, doesn\u2019t seem to worry it\u2019s jumping to conclusions too quickly. Its position has been unchanged for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayers and fans want a full season of competitive baseball,\u201d the MLBPA said in a statement to The Athletic when asked about Manfred\u2019s comments. \u201cThe league and owners say they want to avoid missing games but at the same time they appear to be dead-set on trying to force players into a system that, the last time they proposed it, led to the most missed games ever and a cancelled World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manfred\u2019s conversation on WFAN<\/a> in New York was another in a series of interviews the commissioner has given in the past year where he has hinted at his desire for a cap and then simultaneously said he\u2019s not committed to the polarizing idea.<\/p>\n MLB\u2019s current labor deal expires in December, and formal talks between owners and players are expected to begin early in the 2026 season, likely no later than May. They began in April last time.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think there has been a rush to negativity by a lot of the media,\u201d Manfred told WFAN when asked about the upcoming negotiations. \u201cWe see things that need to be addressed. That doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019re going to make this proposal or that proposal. I think we have to wait and see how things unfold at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet, Manfred has repeatedly described changes that are part and parcel to cap structures in other leagues such as the NBA, NFL and NHL. That\u2019s significant to fans and industry officials because talk of a cap \u2014 which would bring an upper limit to individual player salaries and a bevy of other changes \u2014 portends a nasty labor fight.<\/p>\n Baseball players held a 232-day strike<\/a> to ward one off in 1994-95, and industry fears for another messy stoppage have grown over the last year. Another December lockout is likely.<\/p>\n On WFAN, host Chris McMonigle asked the commissioner how low-spending clubs could be incentivized to spend more on their rosters. In response, Manfred directly pointed to a key component of cap systems: the salary floor that would go hand in hand with a ceiling.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question of incentivization is a really important one. Three other sports have dealt with it by having a rule: you got to spend,\u201d Manfred said, referring to basketball, football and hockey. \u201cEverybody talks about the cap piece. The cap piece comes with another piece where you have to spend. And I think mandating a certain level of commitment in terms of spending in the right kind of economic system can be a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Manfred had been a little less direct previously. Over the summer, he told players in meetings across the league that they had lost billions<\/a> because they hadn\u2019t agreed to a revenue-split system, which would distribute a fixed percentage of industry revenue to the owners and players annually. That structure is typical of cap leagues, and in one such meeting, star slugger Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies confronted Manfred<\/a> on suspicion the commissioner was pushing for a payroll limit.<\/p>\n