MLB has “gathered support from owners to allow big league players to participate in the Olympics for the first time,” but disagreements with the MLBPA “have complicated their involvement” in the 2028 L.A. Games, according to sources cited by Jeff Passan of ESPN.com. The conflict between the parties has “spanned months and left officials at LA28 seeking a prompt resolution.” Sources said that MLB likewise has “pushed for clarity” as it “plans to shut down the sport for 11 days to accommodate an All-Star Game on the West Coast” that would precede the Olympics. The MLBPA is “seeking a deal similar” to what the IOC struck with the NHL and NHLPA that brought professional hockey players back to the Milan-Cortina Games in 2026. Negotiations have involved a “complex web of issues that include hotel rooms, tickets, insurance, NIL rights and the mandatory-participation agreement proposed by the league that would place players who run afoul of requirements on the restricted list.” Beyond “balking at compulsory involvement for all players,” the MLBPA “strongly opposes a deal that would allow placement on the restricted list” as well as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s “ability in the agreement ‘to discipline for just cause’ with ‘a fine and/or unpaid suspension.’” Sources noted that the union “has not responded with its own proposal to address participation.” Passan writes the willingness to let players compete “reflects owners’ belief in the potential power of Olympic baseball to further grow the sport -- and do so in advance of the 2028 expiration of MLB’s national TV deal” (ESPN.com, 7/14).
HOPING FOR THE BEST: The AP’s Ronald Blum noted MLB All-Stars have said that players “will never agree to a salary cap” but maintain that there is “plenty of time to avoid a conflict that could shorten the 2027 season.” Pirates P Paul Skenes, who is also a member of the union’s eight-man negotiating committee, said Monday, “Both sides kind of have their line that they’re not going to cross. Whether that results in missing games or missing a season, we’ll see.” Blum noted baseball’s five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1, but the “more consequential deadline is in late February or early March,” when MLB would announce whether it was postponing opening day. MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3M. Phillies 1B Bryce Harper said that he “couldn’t conceive of any scenario in which the players’ association would agree to a cap.” Skenes said, “MLB is kind of presenting their perfect-world offers and we’re kind of presenting our perfect-world offers. So there’s a lot of time before there’s any real movement, I think” (AP, 7/13).
COME ON BOARD: THE ATHLETIC’s Tyler Kepner notes on the official MLB social media feeds on Instagram or X, right there in the bio section, you will find a link to a website “Level The Playing Field,” where the league “makes its case for a new economic system with a salary cap and floor.” You will “find the same theme in campaign-style commercials shown during games on MLB.TV.” The league has “polished its messaging to help shape public opinion for the coming labor negotiations.” The last CBA “found ways to address some issues that mattered most to players then, like tanking and service-time manipulation.” Along the way, the league has “implemented popular, sensible on-field measures” like the pitch clock and the automated ball-strike system. Kepner writes it has “all contributed to the feeling players strongly shared: the game is in a great place, so let’s not mess it up.” Kepner: “The players will push for incremental gains, to be sure. That is standard in any negotiation. But mostly, they sound quite happy just the way things are” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/14).
