Several MLB team owners believe that if CBA talks become a “long, drawn-out work stoppage that threatens games” in 2027, President Trump could be an “X-factor” in getting a deal done, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. One owner said, “If we miss spring training, I could see Donald Trump getting involved. He could say, ‘Gentlemen, enough is enough. I want a deal. And I want it by the end of the week. Or else.’” Nightengale wrote in reviewing the proposals presented last week, the “biggest surprise” in the league’s presentation is that teams “would equally share their local TV contracts.” The caveat is that owners “will agree to sharing their local TV deals only if there is a salary cap.” Meanwhile, he wrote a Brewers-Rays World Series would be MLB’s “worst nightmare in labor talks” (USA TODAY, 5/31).
JUST GETTING STARTED: In San Diego, Eddie Brown wrote the exchange of initial CBA proposals “felt less like the beginning of a negotiation than the opening bell for baseball’s next labor war.” Owners are “not wrong to identify the problem,” as payroll disparity “has become absurd.” However, the MLBPA is “not wrong to call this a cop-out, either.” Competitive balance is “a convenient sermon from owners who too often treat contention as optional.” Brown: “Both things can be true. Baseball has a money problem. It also has an ownership-effort problem” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/30).
I WON’T BACK DOWN? In Minneapolis, Michael Rand wrote if players are “truly dead-set against a cap and floor, things could get ugly,” as they did in 1994. However, owners, who “seemingly have public sentiment on their side, need to stand firm this time” (MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE, 5/30). In N.Y., Bill Madden wrote in the past the owners have “always backed down from their pursuit of a salary cap, which is why baseball remains the only professional sport without one.” However, they currently “seem resolved in their effort to rectify that.” If the game is shut down next spring, it will “likely be the owners absorbing the lion’s share of the blame from the fans.” A former baseball exec said, “This is a whole new group of players, many of them already making more money than they ever dreamed of. The group back then, the Tom Seavers, Rusty Staubs, Ted Simmonses were fighting for their rights. This is just a dispute over the distribution of money which most of these players today have no idea of” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/30).
PLAYERS NOT SURPRISED BY OFFER: Phillies 1B Bryce Harper said that he “wasn’t surprised by the league’s salary cap pitch but expressed concern over what could happen to the sport if the 2027 season is compromised because of it.” Harper said, “We’re coming from two different areas, but we both have to understand our game is in a great position right now to succeed, and we can’t lose that momentum. ... It’s not like ’94, where there was nothing else to do. It’s not just, ‘Oh, baseball’s here.’ No, there’s a lot of other things to do than just watch baseball” (ESPN.com, 5/31). Orioles P Andrew Kittredge: “Both sides are going to shoot for the moon at the beginning, and then hopefully something works out for both sides at the end. Not really shocked by anything I heard. But salary cap, on our side ... seems like a nonstarter at this point.” Nationals P Miles Mikolas wants both sides to “‘cut all the drama’ and meet in the middle.” He wants to “avoid the pitfalls that will come with an altered 2027 season,” but he agreed that the union should not “relent in avoiding the implementation of a cap” (BALTIMORE BANNER, 5/30).
