MLBPA News & Rumors

MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark spoke to reporters, including David Brandt of the Associated Press, today about an array of topics including the adjustments made to the pitch clock this offseason and the state of the free agent market.

The players on MLB’s competition committee voted against the slate of rules changes which were approved back in December, and Clark made clear that he feels adjustments to the pitch clock, which was implemented prior to the 2023 campaign, are being made much too quickly. Clark noted that the rules changes “warranted a much longer dialogue” before being put into place. The clock, which allowed 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on last year, will allow only 18 seconds with runners on in 2024. No adjustments were made to the clock when the bases are empty.

“We just had the biggest adjustment this league has ever seen in regards to length of game and how the game was affected, by including a clock,” Clark said, as relayed by Brandt. “Rather than give us another year to adjust and adapt to it, why are we adjusting again, and what are the ramifications going to be?”

Clark added that his primary concern regarding the pitch clock is pitcher health, noting that shortening recovery time between pitches could leave the game’s hurlers more susceptible to injury. The pitch clock modification wasn’t the only change made to the rules this winter. The runners’ lane has been widened to allow players to take a more direct path to first base, the maximum number of allowed mound visits in a game has been reduced from five to four, and pitchers who are sent to warm up for an inning cannot be replaced without entering the game to face at least one batter.

Also discussed during the presser was the possibility of a free agent signing deadline, which MLB commissioner Rob Manfred advocated for earlier this month. Manfred suggested that a deadline in December would allow “two weeks of flurried activity” surrounding the annual Winter Meetings, though he noted that the MLBPA had rebuffed the idea of a signing deadline in the past. Clark confirmed the union’s opposition to the idea, suggesting that “A deadline, in all likelihood, is going to do more damage to players in those conversations than the other way around.”

The possibility of a signing deadline has become a hotly debated topic in the media and among fans this winter thanks at least in part to lack of movement at the top of the free agent market in recent weeks. With Spring Training already underway, four of the top seven free agents from this winter’s addition of MLBTR’s Top 50 free agents list remain unsigned in Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Matt Chapman. Each member of that quartet is represented by the Boras Corporation, which has developed a reputation for encouraging its clients to be patient upon hitting free agency. It’s a tactic that has yielded a range of results in the past; while Bryce Harper famously landed a $330MM guarantee back in March of 2019, Carlos Correa instead settled for a surprising short-term deal with the Twins in March of 2022.

While it’s clear that the league hopes to curtail the ability of both agencies and clubs to slow-play free agency and create a short, active signing window akin to those seen in other major North American sports leagues, the MLBPA’s resistant to such a plan makes it unlikely that a proposed deadline would find much suggests when collective bargaining talks begin in advance of the current CBA’s expiration on December 1, 2026.

Clark also spoke to reporters about the possibility of MLB players partaking in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, a possibility which has begun to gain steam as MLB has suggested they’ll consider the possibility. In his comments, Clark echoed Manfred by noting that while the possibility of big leaguers participating in the Olympics is an exciting one for players and that there’s been “a lot of dialogue” about it, there remains a long way to go before making the idea a reality. In addition to working out the logistics of having major leaguers participate with the International Olympic Committee, both MLB and the MLBPA would need to sign off on players participating in the games.

The newly-formed economic reform committee comprised of five team owners drew some criticism from MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark, who told The Athletic’s Evan Drellich that “the underlying theme” of the committee is reducing and controlling player payroll rather than any significant reshaping of the league’s business.

“The economic reform committee is not a new idea.  They had a Blue Ribbon panel, and even an economic committee that was put together back in 1991….Those two in particular, and perhaps even this third, based on the comments that came out today, is focused in on how best to depress player salaries,” Clark said.

The MLBPA declined to make an initial comment last week when the committee was announced, though it naturally isn’t surprising that the union and the owners would have greatly differing perspectives on economic inequalities within baseball.  For starters, Clark feels that “baseball is doing very well,” which seems to belie the existence for the committee in the first place.

“There was a lot of discussion in 2020 about the challenges that the industry had.  There were a number of positions taken suggesting that the industry was in harm’s way, and was unlikely to come out of it for years following,” Clark said.  “And yet, 2021 (league-wide) revenue was nearly back to what it was pre-pandemic; 2022 is above what it was pre-pandemic.  And so the industry is doing well.”

The possible bankruptcy of the Diamond Sports Group is the primary reason for the committee’s creation, as 14 different MLB teams have broadcasting deals with Bally Sports (the regional networks owned by Diamond Sports).  This will certainly have a major impact on the revenue streams for those teams, but only in the near future, Clark argues.

“We think, based on the expertise that we’re receiving, that over the long term, growth will still happen,” Clark said.  “Live events, sports itself, have still done remarkably well.  It’s the [regional sports network] model that appears to be challenged, not fan interest in sporting events.”

While certain teams could be harder hit depending on the specific length of their TV contracts, the potential also exists for those game broadcasts (and thus revenues) to be covered via new deals with streaming platforms, as opportunities could emerge in relatively quick fashion should a bankruptcy trigger a resolution to any pre-existing contracts with the Diamond Sports Group.

To this end, it is possible a good portion of the Bally Sports-related problems could be solved well before the end of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expires at the end of the 2026 season.  Given how the CBA was only settled less than a year ago in the wake of a 99-day lockout, much could still change between now and 2026, though the league seems quite likely to continue to push revenue disparities between teams as a prime motivator for an overhaul of baseball’s financial structure in the next CBA.

Commissioner Rob Manfred noted last week that the league’s exploration of the Bally Sports issue has led to a broader discussion between owners of revenue disparities, which is the other purpose of the economic reform committee.  A salary cap doesn’t appear to be on the table for now since even the owners, Manfred said, would have difficulty in finding a cap ceiling that would be agreeable to all parties.

That said, Clark reiterated the longstanding MLBPA tenet that “we’re never going to agree to a cap….we’re not going to agree to a cap.  A salary cap is the ultimate restriction on player value and player salary.  We believe in a market system.  The market system has served our players, our teams and our game very well.”  The last round of CBA talks did involve the union exploring the idea of a salary floor, which Clark said was “similar to what currently exists on the top” in terms of the current luxury tax structure rather than an actual cap.  However, “we have yet to have a conversation with the league that doesn’t include something far more restrictive on the top end.  That makes the conversation null and void to this point.”

Unsurprisingly, Clark praised the Padres’ increased spending, which has come under public criticism from some owners (including the Rockies’ Dick Monfort).  Though the Padres play in a relatively smaller market, Clark feels the team’s willingness to spend and compete at the upper levels “should be celebrated, not questioned.”

“The question that should be asked in regards to one team’s payroll versus another, is whether or not that team is making a conscious decision to have its payroll there, or whether it has the ability to increase its payroll?” Clark said.  “The answer is the latter, and not the former.  So at the end of the day, particularly when you see teams in smaller markets — aka San Diego, in this instance, as the best example — provide a level of engagement for their fans, and a level of excitement in being one of the seven smallest markets we have, it begs the question as to why they made that decision, and why others aren’t.”

Returning to labor talks, the union and the league are in ongoing negotiations about another CBA, the first agreement between MLB and minor league players.  Though no deal has been reached since the two sides began talks in November, Clark doesn’t feel a work stoppage is likely if an agreement isn’t in place by Opening Day, since “the greater likelihood is that the terms and conditions that currently exist will likely continue as we continue to negotiate.”  According to Clark, one of the roadblocks is that the league has again looked to reduce the size of minor league rosters, which the union considers a “non-starter” of a proposal.

The MLB Players Association recently joined the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), reports Evan Drellich of the Athletic. The AFL-CIO is a federation of various unions in different industries throughout the country.

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark pointed to the contentious return to play negotiations in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shutdown and last winter’s lockout as reasons for joining a broader labor federation. “The truth is we reflected on where our organization was, and the things that we potentially could do moving forward as a part of the broader labor discussion, and that’s why we’re here today,” Clark said upon announcing the decision yesterday.

The decision comes at a time when the MLBPA is attempting to vastly expand its membership. The union recently began efforts to incorporate minor leaguers. Just this week, the MLBPA announced that a majority of minor leaguers signed authorization cards that’d demonstrate interest on their part in joining the Players Association. The MLBPA petitioned Major League Baseball to recognize its authority to represent minor leaguers on that basis. If MLB declines to do so, the MLBPA could file a motion with the National Labor Relations Board for an election among minor leaguers. If more than half of those who cast votes do so in favor of unionization, the NLRB would require MLB to recognize the PA’s authority to represent minor leaguers.

“We have engaged the league formally and informally,” Clark said yesterday of the request for voluntary recognition. “We remain hopeful that that conversation and decision will bear fruit. In the event that it doesn’t, we have the opportunity to petition the NLRB and go that route. So I truly think that there is an opportunity for us as an industry to have a conversation here, and a level of engagement that is beneficial for all involved. And we’ll just have to see how that plays out, but we’re encouraged, at least initially, with some of the dialogue that we’ve had. But we’ll have to see.”

It’s tough to know at this point whether the PA’s decision to join the AFL-CIO will have major repercussions on its handling of future discussions with the league. At the very least, it seems to allow Clark, lead negotiator Bruce Meyer and other MLBPA members freer communication with union leaders in other arenas. Labor attorney Eugene Freedman provides a breakdown (Twitter thread) of various benefits in areas like mortgages and car purchases that rank-and-file MLBPA members could now receive as part of AFL-CIO programs. Those aren’t likely to move the needle for major leaguers at the top of the salary scale, but they could be more meaningful for lower-salaried minor leaguers if they’re formally included in the MLBPA over the coming months.