Never in the history of MLB has a commissioner drawn so much criticism by players as Rob Manfred.
His stint in front of the best and most prominent baseball league in the world has been atrocious, and has been particularly bad since 2019.
After two rough negotiations; one to set the conditions for the pandemic year, and the other one (still ongoing) to hammer out the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), players don’t hide the fact that they clearly dislike Manfred.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman recently called him “Manclown” and said he is ruining baseball.
Trevor May, currently on the New York Mets (he was Stroman’s teammate last year) weighed in on the ongoing talks and heavily criticized Manfred.
"Not a single negotiation with [Rob Manfred] has been in good faith. He doesn't do good-faith things."@IamTrevorMay gives his thoughts on MLB's negotiating tactics during the lockout:
(via @jflan816) pic.twitter.com/HyhsUicWx1
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 5, 2022
The League Doesn’t Act On “Good Faith”
While he was livestreaming on his Twitch channel, May made it clear that nothing Manfred or the league does will be in “good faith”.
“This is not going to be a good-faith negotiation. Not a single negotiation with the guy (Manfred) has been in good faith. He doesn’t do good-faith things.…Good faith needs to stop being said. It’s bad faith. Good faith doesn’t exist, so stop acting like it was even a possibility.”
Finding common ground is extremely difficult, since the league usually gets the bigger piece of the pie and the players want to change that.
Manfred vs players
MLB: Here's $5
MLBPA: We want $20
MLB: Here's $5
MLBPA: We want $18
MLB: MLBPA not cooperating lockout2 months later
MLB: Here's $5
MLBPA: Will do $16
MLB: Here's $5
MLBPA : Ok. $14
MLB: We need a mediator to fix thisMLB: we're ready to start here's $5
— @realBoShek (@realboshek) February 4, 2022
About that, May, who had a good season in 2021 as one of the Mets’ setup men, said that “this isn’t a mutually beneficial situation. They (the league and the owners) want to win.”
So far, the biggest stumbling blocks in the negotiation are, not surprisingly, financial.
Players want to earn more: they want an increase on the minimum salary from $570,500 to $775,000, but the league is dead set on $600,000 and won’t go past that number.
Considering that around 60 percent of the players will make that in 2022, it’s a crucial topic.
The figure of the MLB Commissioner should help alleviate concerns that can arise between players and owners, while making sure to prioritize the fans.
As of now, neither players or owners have what they want, and fans have no baseball or even easily accessible baseball content.
Manfred Doesn’t Care About Fans
“He just doesn’t really think about the fan as a fan. He doesn’t really think about the players as people. He thinks about all of us as a dollar sign and he wants to move the pieces in order to maximize the number of dollar signs that go to his bosses,” May said.
As of now, the start of spring training is in jeopardy, and both parties are far from reaching a deal.
MLB requested the intervention of a federal mediator, but the union refused given that the lockout was initiated by the owners and third parties intervening doesn’t make sense.
The 2022 season could be pushed back as a result.
This is a crucial week in negotiations, one that could set the tone for the talks and will likely determine how much further spring training would need to be pushed back.
