By Field Level Media
Aug 24 (Field Level Media) – With the threat of a potential work stoppage looming, Major League Baseballcommissioner Rob Manfred expressed confidence that the 2027 season willproceed.
Interviewed Sunday night by ESPN during the Little League Classic, Manfreddiscussed ongoing negotiations between MLB owners and the MLB PlayersAssociation. The current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1.
“We’re meeting regularly, which is good,” he said. “Every week, we’ve had dayswhere we’ve met with the players. It’s early, but we’ve got a lot of work todo, and we’re at it.
“Look, our goal is to make a deal. We want to make a deal. We want to playbaseball next year. We’re planning on playing baseball next year.”
One of the key topics in the labor talks is the owners’ goal to establish asalary cap. Owners are seeking a firm salary cap of $245.3 million with a hardfloor of $171.2 million.
The union remains steadfast against any limit on payroll, instead proposing a”competitive integrity tax” for teams near the bottom in spending whichresembles the competitive balance tax for high-spending teams, among severalother changes.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are cited as a prime reason for a salary cap. The two-time defending World Series champions had a $345 million player payroll lastseason and paid another $169 million in luxury tax penalties. The Dodgers’ taxbill exceeded the Miami Marlins’ entire payroll by over $100 million.
The Dodgers, New York Yankees, New York Mets and other high-revenue teams, dueto their lucrative local TV deals, hold a significant advantage over lower-revenue teams, the owners believe, and MLB feels a salary cap would lessenthat edge.
Other sticking points between the two sides include service time, theinternational draft and television revenue.
If owners and players can’t agree on a new CBA before the December deadline,MLB owners are widely expected to lock out the players until a new deal isreached.
(–Field Level Media)
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