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MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark issued a statement contradicting MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's recent comments in which he rejected the idea that tank teams had led to a depressed market. free agents. Manfred says (link via the Associated Press):
… Our teams are trying. Every one of them wants to win. It may sound a little different from the underdogs because the game has changed, the way people see it, the way they think of winning a team have changed, but that does not mean they're not trying. …
I think it's important to remember that the Major League Baseball Association has always wanted a market-based system. And the markets are changing. Especially when the institution around these markets changes. We had a lot of change in the game. People think players differently. They analyze the players differently. They negotiate differently. Agents negotiate differently. … I reject the idea that payroll is a good measure of what a team is trying or its success.
Unsurprisingly, Clark took offense at the thought that each team was trying to win and Manfred's apparent attempt to suggest that the players were partly responsible for the lack of independent player activity. His comments today are as follows:
Commissioner Manfred's latest comments and his attempts to blame and distract attention from the main issues are at the very least unhelpful and misleading.
The eyes of the players do not deceive them, any more than the fans. As players head to spring training and see respected veterans and teammates sidelined, they are rightly frustrated by a two-year free will attack. Players commit to participate in all throws of each game and each round. However, we live in an environment in which an increasing number of clubs seem to be doing little to improve their numbers, compete for a championship or justify the price of a ticket.
The players have sincerely tried to get involved with the clubs for their proposals to improve the pace of play and enhance the appeal of the game for fans. At the same time, we have presented many ideas that value the substance over the course of seconds and ensure that the best players are on the ground every day. We believe that these substantive changes are imperative now – not in 2022 or 2025, but in 2019. We look forward to continuing to discuss MLB's substantive changes – for the benefit of fans, players, 30 clubs and the game of baseball as a whole.
There is obviously an underlying disagreement about what it means for a team to "try" nowadays. Manfred can not deny the fact that the market is changing, although it's anything but an unregulated arena. The teams react to the incentives put in place in the collective bargaining process by paying more and more attention to economic rationality. Effective implementation of a potentially large conflict window often involves sacrificing short-term improvements in favor of long-term flexibility. And it is surely reasonable to argue that many teams do not "try" – or at least do not do it as much as it would be preferable from the point of view of creating a competitive and entertaining product.
In any case, this is just the last exchange of words in the fight still ongoing on the expenses of teams in player contracts. Clark said the players are still willing to engage in discussions on several rule change proposals, although the league's position appears to be that the union's efforts should not be entertained before the time to discuss a new convention collective. For the moment, both sides are fighting over public perception and their direct ridings.
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