Diamondbacks Option Brandon Pfaadt To Get Stretched Out As Starter
The Diamondbacks are optioning right-hander Brandon Pfaadt to Triple-A Reno, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. The plan is for him to get stretched back out as a starter after he was moved to the bullpen a couple of months ago. The Snakes will also place right-hander Taylor Clarke on the bereavement/family medical emergency list. Righty Kade Strowd and lefty Philip Abner will be recalled as corresponding moves.
Pfaadt once looked to be establishing himself as a core rotation piece in Arizona. He came up in 2023 and gave the Snakes 96 innings. His 5.72 earned run average wasn’t strong but he turned things on at the right time. He posted a 3.27 ERA over five postseason starts, helping the Diamondbacks go as far as the World Series that year.
In 2024, his first full major league season, he put up a 4.71 ERA in 32 starts. There was some optimism that he deserved even better. His .315 batting average on balls in play and 64.5% strand rate were both to the unfortunate side. His 24.3% strikeout rate, 5.5% walk rate and 41.5% ground ball rate were all good numbers. His 3.61 FIP and 3.65 SIERA suggested he would have been even better with more neutral luck from the baseball gods.
The Diamondbacks presumably felt his best days were ahead. In March of 2025, they signed him to a five-year extension covering the 2026 through 2030 seasons. That guaranteed him $45MM and came with a club option for 2031.
His 2025 season wasn’t quite as good the year prior. His 5.25 ERA was about half a run worse than 2024 and his 19.2% strikeout rate was a drop of more than five points. He began 2026 still with a rotation spot, alongside Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodríguez, Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka, as Merrill Kelly was on the IL. It’s possible the Snakes planned on bumping Soroka or Nelson to the bullpen once Kelly was healthy. However, Pfaadt posted a 5.94 ERA in his first three starts while Soroka and Nelson fared better. That led to Pfaadt moving to the bullpen instead.
His first relief appearance was effectively a starter’s workload, as he logged 6 1/3 innings. Of his next four appearances, two of them were for three innings and another was for 2 1/3. He’s been leaned on less in recent weeks, as his five most recent appearances have been less than two innings. On the whole, he has a 5.91 ERA since moving to the bullpen.
Pfaadt’s profile is a little odd, as his luck refuses to even out. In almost 500 career innings, he has a .313 BABIP and 66.2% strand rate. For reference, league average BABIP is usually about .290, with strand rate usually about 72%. Perhaps that’s because he pounds the strike zone, with a 5.8% walk rate in his career, allowing hitters to go into swing mode. He hasn’t been able to counteract that with strikeouts lately, only punching out 19% of opponents since the start of 2025. The result is that he keeps underperforming his underlying metrics. He has a career ERA of 5.19 but a 4.00 SIERA. His SIERA has been more than a run lower than his ERA in each season of his career.
Ideally, Pfaadt and the Diamondbacks can figure out a path towards better results. The Snakes will need some depth in the short term. The club was hoping to get Corbin Burnes back from his Tommy John surgery rehab around the All-Star break but he just suffered a teres major strain and will likely be out until September. Cristian Mena just underwent shoulder surgery and won’t be a factor for a while. Gallen, Kelly and Nelson all have ERAs around 5.00 at the moment. Soroka and Rodríguez are pitching well but Soroka has a notable injury history while Rodríguez is outperforming some poor peripherals. Dylan Ray, Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake are on the 40-man roster but Ray and Drake are struggling in the minors. Bratt has good numbers this year but just landed on the minor league injured list. The club could look to add at the deadline but it will be hard to make notable acquisitions for a few more weeks.
As mentioned, Pfaadt signed a five-year deal and this is only the first year of the deal, so he’s a notable part of their long-term picture as well. Gallen and Soroka are impending free agents, so there are two rotation holes open next year. Burnes should be back in the mix but will be a question mark after hardly pitching in 2025 and 2026.
Photo courtesy of Kyle Ross, Imagn Images
Astros To Sign LaMonte Wade Jr.
The Astros are signing veteran first baseman/outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. to a major league contract, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Wade, a Covenant Sports Group client, opted out of a minor league contract with the White Sox last week. Houston’s 40-man roster is full. They’ll need to make a corresponding move to finalize Wade’s contract.
Wade, 32, was a fixture in the Giants’ lineup from 2021 through early 2025. He was a productive, lefty-swinging platoon option at first base and in left field for much of that time, but his bat wilted in 2025 and led the Giants to move on. A quick stop with the Angels didn’t get Wade’s bat back on track, and he had to settle for a minor league deal with the ChiSox in free agency this offseason.
Despite a big spring training (.289/.429/.605, three homers in 49 plate appearances), Wade didn’t make the White Sox’ Opening Day roster. He opted out of his deal near the end of camp, re-signed a few days later, and has had a productive two-month run with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. Wade has taken 201 plate appearances with the Knights and posted a .250/.420/.441 slash with seven homers, eight doubles, two steals, a gargantuan 22.4% walk rate and a 21.4% strikeout rate.
Wade won’t walk in nearly one quarter of his big league plate appearances, but he’s one of the more disciplined players in the league. Even in last year’s down season, he drew a free pass 11.2% of the time he stepped to the plate. From 2023-24, Wade walked at a 15% clip, trailing only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Kyle Schwarber. Wade’s best years in San Francisco (2021-24) saw him produce a .248/.352/.415 line in 1552 plate appearances. The Astros would happily take anything close to that level of output.
Wade has a fairly limited skill set on the whole. He excels at working counts and drawing walks. He can hit right-handed pitching but struggles against lefties and isn’t an asset either on the bases or with the glove. He’s generally graded as a passable first baseman and a below-average corner outfielder.
Houston’s first base and DH spots are largely set with Christian Walker and Yordan Alvarez. Wade could spell either on occasion and could DH on days when Alvarez plays in the outfield, but he’s obviously not going to take regular reps at either position with those veteran sluggers healthy. Left field has been a revolving door for the ‘Stros this season, however. Zach Dezenzo leads the Astros with 45 plate appearances as the team’s left fielder. They’ve also used Alvarez, Taylor Trammell, Brice Matthews and others in a rotating cast of characters at the position.
Wade gives the Astros another option in left field and, more broadly, a left-handed bat with a track record of producing against (right-handed) major league pitching. Alvarez is the only established lefty bat the Astros have. Trammell has decent numbers at the moment (.286/.344/.375), but that’s primarily smoke and mirrors. He’s sitting on a .471 average on balls in play and striking out in an untenable 35.5% of his plate appearances — right in line with his career 35.3% mark. He can’t sustain that production with those underlying trends. Backup catcher Cesar Salazar and just-recalled outfielder Zach Cole — who’s even more strikeout-prone than Trammell — are the only other lefties on Houston’s roster at the moment.
Orioles Acquire Kyle Nicolas
Right-hander Kyle Nicolas has been traded from the Reds to the Orioles, per announcements from both clubs. The Reds, who designated him for assignment a few days ago, receive cash considerations in return. Baltimore has optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. To open a 40-man roster spot, right-hander Eduarniel Núñez has been designated for assignment.
It’s the second trade for Nicolas this year. Back in March, the Pirates traded him to the Reds in exchange for infielder/outfielder Tyler Callihan. The trade hasn’t worked out for either side thus far. Callihan has spent most of this year in Triple-A and has put up a .223/.305/.346 line at that level.
Nicholas has also been primarily in the minors this year. He logged 7 1/3 major league innings for the Reds but with seven earned runs allowed. His 15 2/3 Triple-A innings have resulted in an uninspiring 5.17 earned run average. His 24.4% strikeout rate at that level was decent but he gave out walks at a massive 20.7% pace.
The Orioles are presumably looking past his rough 2026 numbers. In the past, his stats have been more intriguing, though still with notable control issues. A former starting pitching prospect, he has been a primary reliever in recent years. Over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he threw 46 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.11 ERA. His 14.1% walk rate was way too high but he struck out 30.7% of opponents. He also threw 92 2/3 big league innings over that two-year span with a 4.27 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate.
Nicolas is in his final option season but the O’s can keep him in the minors for now. If they can help him rein in his stuff, perhaps they can get him back on track. It’s also possible that he ends up losing his roster spot. The Orioles are one of the most aggressive clubs when it comes to cycling players through the edge of their roster. Since the season has started, they have acquired Jayvien Sandridge, Lou Trivino, Christian Roa and Núñez in small trades, free agent signings or waiver claims. Each guy was then designated for assignment not long after.
In most of those cases, the goal is to get the player through waivers and be kept as depth without using a roster spot. If Nicolas is eventually passed through waivers in the future, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he does not have a previous career outright nor three years of service time.
Turning to Núñez, he provides a template for what might be ahead for Nicolas. Núñez was designated for assignment by the Athletics in mid-May. The O’s sent out cash considerations to get him, sent him to Norfolk and have now bumped him off the roster three weeks later.
His big league track record is still quite limited. He made ten appearances for the A’s last year and posted a 7.11 ERA in those. In the minors, he has shown some similar tendencies to Nicolas, with strikeout stuff but also poor control. From 2023 to 2025, he tossed 153 1/3 innings in the minors with a 2.99 ERA. He struck out 30.4% of batters but gave out free passes at a big 14.7% clip. The walks have gotten worse this year, with Núñez at 20.2% through 17 2/3 innings.
He now heads back into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the O’s could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put Núñez on waivers sooner than that. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick around as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have three years of service nor a previous career outright and therefore wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images
Red Sox Select Tommy Kahnle
11:18am: Boston has officially selected Kahnle’s contract from Triple-A Worcester. Lefty Tyler Samaniego was optioned to Worcester to open an active roster spot. Infielder Trevor Story, who underwent surgery for a hernia last month, moves to the 60-day IL to open a roster spot.
9:20am: The Red Sox are planning to select the contract of veteran right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle from Triple-A Worcester, reports Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. He’s expected to be available out of the bullpen today. Boston will need to open a 40-man roster spot to accommodate Kahnle, though that can be achieved without designating anyone for assignment; Garrett Crochet stands as an obvious 60-day IL candidate. He’s already been on the shelf for 40 days and was recently diagnosed with a low-grade lat strain that’ll prolong his absence.
Kahnle, 36, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in free agency. He didn’t land a big league opportunity when triggering an upward mobility clause at the beginning of May but was reportedly planning to test free agency if the Red Sox didn’t select him to the roster after he triggered a June 1 opt-out clause. The Sox had until today to make a decision on that clause, and they’ll apparently bring the veteran changeup specialist to the big league bullpen.
In 19 1/3 innings with the WooSox this season, Kahnle has pitched to a pristine 1.40 earned run average. He’s set down 25.3% of his opponents on strikes, though his 13.3% walk rate is an obvious red flag. Kahnle hasn’t yielded much in the way of hard contact — 88 mph average exit velocity, 38% hard-hit rate, only one barrel allowed — but he’s also benefited from not allowing a single home run this season. That’s not sustainable for any pitcher, but the Sox have seen enough to bring him to the majors all the same.
Kahnle is averaging 93 mph on his four-seamer in Triple-A this season. That’d be a career-low mark for him, shy of both his lifetime 95.8 mph and last year’s 93.5 mph average. His fastball is a secondary pitch for him anyhow, though; Kahnle leans on his changeup more heavily than any pitcher in the game. He famously threw 61 consecutive changeups with the Yankees during the 2024 postseason and, true to form, has thrown his changeup at a whopping 63.4% clip in Worcester this season.
Though Kahnle had a down season by his standards in Detroit last year (4.43 ERA, 18.7 K%, 11.1 BB%), he has a long track record as an effective late-inning reliever. From 2016-24, he pitched 271 1/3 innings of 3.11 ERA ball between the White Sox, Yankees and Dodgers. He’s had several injuries along the way — hence the fairly low innings total over that lengthy span — but he’s pitched at least 45 innings (majors and minors combined) in each of the past three seasons and is on track to do so again in 2026. Kahnle’s work from 2022-24 was particularly impressive: 96 innings, 2.44 ERA, 31 holds, four saves, 27.7% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate.
The Red Sox don’t necessarily need relief help. The Boston bullpen’s 3.08 ERA on the season is the third-best mark in the entire sport, narrowly trailing the Mariners (3.01) and Braves (2.99). That number is skewed a bit by Brayan Bello‘s work as a bulk arm behind openers (0.71 ERA, 25 innings), but the group has nonetheless been strong on the whole. That said, the Sox did place Garrett Whitlock (3.20 ERA) on the injured list late last month, and they’ve received shaky performances from journeymen Tyron Guerrero and Danny Coulombe — neither of whom can be optioned. That lack of options could potentially expose them to some roster risk to accommodate Kahnle, which would preserve the Crochet move for the next time the Sox need a 40-man spot.
Braves Acquire Austin Wynns, Designate Chadwick Tromp
The Braves announced a slate of roster moves today, most notably shaking up their catching corps a bit. Atlanta acquired veteran catcher Austin Wynns from the Angels in exchange for cash (as first noted on the MLB.com transaction log) and selected him to the major league roster. Fellow backstop Chadwick Tromp was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Atlanta also selected the contract of outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to the 40-man roster and immediately optioned him back to Triple-A Gwinnett. They created a 40-man spot by transferring catcher Sean Murphy from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman notes that Keirsey had an opt-out in his minor league contract, and it seems the Braves didn’t want to let him hit the open market.
Wynns, 35, signed a minor league deal with the Halos just a couple weeks ago. He didn’t appear in the majors with them prior to this trade to Atlanta. Wynns has suited up for the Reds, A’s, Orioles, Giants, Dodgers and Rockies, compiling a lifetime .231/.276/.347 slash line in 826 big league plate appearances (293 games). That’s obviously below average but far better than the typical levels of offensive output from Tromp and fellow catcher Sandy Leon, who’ll split time with Wynns behind the plate following today’s shakeup.
On the defensive side of things, Wynns doesn’t draw premium framing grades, but Statcast thinks he’s solid when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt. More impressively, he’s shut down 30.2% of attempted base thieves in the majors — right in line with his career 31% mark in the minors.
Tromp appeared in a dozen games with the Braves and went 5-for-25 with a double, no walks, a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt, leading to an oddball batting line of .200/.192/.240 in 27 trips to the plate. He’s a career .218/.225/.371 hitter in the majors. He’s spent most of the past five seasons in the Braves organization, so if he clears waivers following today’s DFA, there’s a good chance he’ll stick around, whether via accepting an outright assignment or briefly electing free agency and then returning on a new minor league deal.
Keirsey, 29, has appeared in parts of two seasons with the Twins (2024-25). He’s a speed-and-defense outfielder with a woeful .113/.149/.206 batting line in 102 major league plate appearances. His .260/.298/.384 slash so far in Triple-A doesn’t create much optimism, but he’s 16-for-17 in stolen bases and Atlanta apparently likes his wheels and defensive acumen enough to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to keeping him in the organization.
The Opener: Sanchez, Happ, Pfaadt
The Cubs couldn’t lose at Wrigley Field early in the year. Now, they can’t buy a win at home. Chicago is the first team to follow a 15-game home winning streak with an eight-game losing streak (h/t Jesse Rogers of ESPN).
1. Sanchez’s scoreless streak ends
Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez navigated through six spotless innings on Wednesday against the Padres, pushing his scoreless streak past 50 frames. He was nearly through the seventh inning, but permitted a two-out double to Ty France. Jackson Merrill then followed with an RBI single, ending Sanchez’s streak at 50 2/3. It’s the fifth-longest run in MLB history. Sanchez trimmed his league-leading ERA to 1.46. J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber homered in the bottom of the inning, so Sanchez ended up earning the win.
2. Happ reaches 1K hits
It wasn’t all bad news for the Cubs on Wednesday. Outfielder Ian Happ doubled to lead off the fourth inning against A’s lefty Jeffrey Springs. The two-bagger was the 1,000th hit of Happ’s career. The 10-year veteran has been a fixture in Chicago’s lineup since debuting in 2017. He’s been an above-average bat by wRC+ in every season. The 31-year-old Happ has shown renewed power this year, launching 13 home runs and slugging .473 through 58 games. He’s on pace to zoom past his career high of 25 home runs, which he’s done twice (2021, 2024).
3. Pfaadt could return to the rotation
Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt allowed two earned runs in mop-up duty on Wednesday against the Dodgers. He’s pitched out of the bullpen since mid-April, but that could be changing soon. Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters, including Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, that it’s a “strong possibility” Pfaadt will be stretched back out as a starter. That could mean a demotion to Triple-A for the righty. Pfaadt has worked multiple innings several times since moving to the bullpen, but hasn’t reached 50 pitches since his first outing in May. As Piecoro notes, the Diamondbacks could have pitching reinforcements coming from the minors if Pfaadt is sent down.
Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher of Imagn Images
MLB Mailbag: Royals, Cubs, Jordan Walker, Braves
This week's mailbag attempts to find a blueprint for the Royals, considers the Cubs' needs, ponders a Jordan Walker extension, examines Braves trade targets, explains how minor league options work, and much more!
D.T. asks:
Another season lost for the Royals. Other than BWJ and possibly Caglianone, their draft picks, which have all been very high, have traditionally been complete busts. What will it take to turn this organization around?
To answer this question, I'll start by taking roughly an eight-hour drive from Kansas City to Milwaukee. The Brewers seem to be the model for small market contention. How are they pulling it off?
Let's look at 2023 to present for the Brewers. Their position players have totaled 83.7 WAR since 2023, excluding those who were negative in that metric. Almost three-quarters of that WAR is concentrated in seven players. Here's how they were acquired:
William Contreras: 19.6% of total WAR. The Brewers picked up outfielder Esteury Ruiz as part of the Josh Hader trade at the 2022 deadline. Ruiz was a 45-grade prospect lacking in power who didn't profile as a likely regular. The Brewers then inserted themselves into the Braves-A's Sean Murphy trade a few months later, prying a controllable Contreras loose from Atlanta after a breakout 2022 season. But the Brewers had Ruiz because they first had Hader, an All-Star dominant reliever with a year and a couple months of control left. They had Hader because former GM Doug Melvin snagged him in a deal that sent Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to the Astros in 2015.
Putting aside the significant work the David Stearns regime did to develop Hader into a star, Stearns was also willing to trade Hader while the Brewers sat in first place with a 90% chance at the playoffs. Aside from the need for bold trades and strong player development, the Brewers willingly put their 2022 playoff chances at risk (and they did miss the playoffs that year) to set in motion of sequence of trades that netted them Contreras, who became crucial in their 2023-26 run.
The Royals had zero playoff shot at the time, but J.J. Picollo did pull off his own masterstroke trade by shipping Aroldis Chapman to Texas for Cole Ragans in 2023 before the calendar turned to July. But assuming Ragans bounces back health and production-wise, he's the type of player the Brewers would be looking at trading this winter or at next year's trade deadline. So my point is that selling high on Ragans, if possible, could help set the Royals up for more sustained success.
Christian Yelich: 11.5% of WAR. Stearns made a "go for it" trade to acquire Yelich in January 2018 with five years left on his contract, extending him a couple years later. To do so they gave up a 60-grade medium risk prospect in Lewis Brinson, a 50-grade high risk in Isan Diaz, and a 60 grade high risk in Monte Harrison. So the Brewers gave up their first, fifth, and ninth-ranked prospects, presumably well-regarded around the game, yet none of them panned out. Would the Royals put Blake Mitchell, Kendry Chourio, and another good prospect in a deal for a controllable 4-5 WAR Major Leaguer? They probably haven't drafted well enough to feel they could sacrifice those players.
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MLBTR Podcast: The CBA Standoff Begins
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The MLBPA’s opening CBA proposal (1:50)
- MLB’s proposal, which pushes for a hard cap/floor system (10:10)
- Is it surprising that the owners are aligned when they have different priorities? (20:35)
- Will competitive balance picks come up later in the negotiations? (28:55)
- Competitive balance proposals often come from limiting player agency (31:45)
- Many fans dislike Rob Manfred but are aligned with him on wanting a cap (36:35)
- How should the MLBPA think about the public relations battle? (40:00)
- Is the player-fan relationship different in the age of the internet? (47:10)
- Can any optimism be taken from the fact that both sides addressed the economic imbalances of the game? (51:00)
- We don’t know what Manfred thinks about his legacy (55:05)
- The looming expiration of many broadcast deals after 2028 (56:15)
- Is the character of the ownership group is different than previous eras? (1:04:55)
Check out our past episodes!
- Gage Jump, Tigers Trade Speculation, And The Twins’ Roster Shuffle – listen here
- Colt Emerson Debuts, Blue Jays’ Rotation Issues, And What To Make Of The Mets And Astros – listen here
- Patrick Bailey To Cleveland, The Struggling Astros, And Arizona’s Outfield Changes – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Cardinals To Activate Lars Nootbaar
The Cardinals will activate Lars Nootbaar from the 60-day injured list for Friday’s series opener against the Reds, manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat). St. Louis will need to make an active roster move. They already have an opening on the 40-man roster after returning Rule 5 pick Matt Pushard to the Marlins.
Nootbaar will make his season debut after a two-month plus absence. He underwent surgery to shave down bones on both heels last October. Nootbaar has appeared in 11 minor league rehab games, hitting .233 with a pair of home runs while gradually building up to Triple-A Memphis.
The injuries seemed to impact the 28-year-old outfielder last season. Nootbaar had a career-worst .234/.325/.361 slash over 583 plate appearances. His 13 home runs were similar to the totals he posted in less playing time over the prior three seasons. Nootbaar’s rate production was down from the .246/.351/.426 line he managed from 2022-24.
If he’d been healthy, Nootbaar may well have been traded over the offseason. He’s down to his final two years of arbitration control. The Cards committed to a retool in dealing a lot of shorter-term pieces. That included Brendan Donovan, who is also in his penultimate arbitration season. The Cardinals would’ve been accepting pennies on the dollar to move Nootbaar, so it made sense for them to hold him as a deadline trade chip.
That calculus may have changed with the team’s surprising start. St. Louis has won 32 of their first 60 games, putting them firmly in a muddled Wild Card picture. They’ve been a league average offense and one of the league’s better defensive teams, helping paper over a pitching staff that still doesn’t miss many bats.
While the position player group has been solid, the Cards have had one of the weaker left field situations in the National League. The lefty-hitting Nathan Church has mostly operated in a platoon with one of José Fermín or Thomas Saggese. Church is out with a minor shoulder strain but expected to begin a rehab stint tomorrow. He has a middling .247/.282/.390 batting line across 156 plate appearances. Saggese and Fermín haven’t been any better. Recent call-ups Bryan Torres and Nelson Velázquez have gotten some work over the past week.
Velázquez and Fermín are out of options and would need to be designated for assignment if taken off the MLB roster. The Cardinals probably wouldn’t have selected Velázquez’s contract on Friday if they anticipated dropping him that quickly. Torres and Saggese each have options — as does Church if the Cardinals don’t want to open an MLB spot once he’s back from injury.
Rob Manfred Discusses Economic Proposals
Rob Manfred spoke with reporters after this week’s quarterly owners meetings. Jorge Castillo of ESPN, Ronald Blum of The Associated Press and Evan Drellich of The Athletic were among those who relayed the commissioner’s comments.
Manfred spoke publicly for the first time since the league and Players Association exchanged initial economic proposals last week. Those were worlds apart, with the most notable development being MLB’s first official proposal for a salary cap since the 1994-95 players strike. The league proposed a $245.3MM cap and $171.2MM floor. That would come with a 50-50 revenue split between players and ownership, which requires holding some of players’ salaries in escrow in case the league underperforms projections.
[Related Podcast: CBA Standoff Begins]
MLBPA executive director Bruce Meyer unsurprisingly blasted the proposal on Monday, reiterating the union’s opposition to a cap — which he called “a form of institutionalized collusion.” Manfred didn’t directly respond to Meyer’s comment but took his typical approach, framing it as a competitive balance issue.
“We have tried mightily over several rounds of bargaining to use a competitive balance (luxury) tax to address competitive concerns,” Manfred said. “And sometimes you’ve got to admit you failed.” Manfred didn’t expressly state that a cap was the only solution but implied that drastic changes were necessary.
“We made a proposal on one set of topics. At the outset of negotiations, I went and said myself, ‘We’re open to whatever ideas people have, but we need a realistic framework that addresses the fans’ concerns about competitive balance.’ You just can’t ignore that financial penalties have not gotten it done for us.” The luxury tax has been in place since 2003.
That’s a standard talking point for the league. The union’s initial proposal called for more revenue sharing and a “competitive integrity tax” penalizing teams that spend less than $150MM on payroll. The union favors maintaining the luxury tax setup and proposed raising the base threshold dramatically to $300MM.
Of course, both sides are going to push for competitive balance measures that are in their favor on revenue split. Fixing spending on players would also go towards owners’ goals of escalating franchise values. It’s debatable whether either really cares about competitive balance, though that’s obviously a primary concern for many fans — especially those of smaller-market clubs.
An offseason lockout seems inevitable once the current bargaining agreement expires on December 1. The 2021-22 lockout lasted 99 days and narrowly avoided the cancelation of games. “Of course I do,” Manfred replied when asked if he was worried about a more disastrous work stoppage like the ’94-95 strike. He declined to answer a question about whether the league’s desire for a cap would make an extended lockout worthwhile, saying he wouldn’t “speculate about work stoppages.”
There’s no incentive for Manfred to answer that question. The extent of both sides’ willingness to tolerate a lockout that’d cost them game revenue is a pivotal piece of information that neither will disclose publicly. It behooves both parties to stress their resolve more generally.
The commissioner also touched on a few non-CBA topics. He provided an update on the sale agreement that values the Padres just shy of $4 billion. That’s still pending approval from the other 29 owners. Manfred said that’s “not ready for a vote today” but is likely to come up at some point this summer. He also touched on expansion, noting that’s a topic which will be on the back burner until a new CBA is in place.