Michael Arace: As Major League Baseball fields problems, commissioner is comedy of errors
The baseball headline in the news feeds Friday night and in the papers Saturday morning went something like this: Commissioner Says Losing Games to a Lockout Would Be ‘Disastrous.’
That particular headline was from the New York Times, but they were all of a kind. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said the lockout which he, Rob Manfred, unilaterally brought down, like a guillotine, could be disastrous.
Manfred said, “I see missing games as a disastrous outcome for this industry and we’re committed to making an agreement in an effort to avoid that.”
OK. Let us get this straight.
The guy who shut the game down just three minutes after the last collective bargaining agreement with the players expired — this same guy, Rob Manfred, is making it sound like it came out of left field? HE’S THE LEFT FIELDER.
The guy who imposed a lockout — and then waited 43 days to submit an economic proposal to the MLB Players Association — is committed to making an agreement?
Rob Manfred's history of disingenuous comments
Every time Manfred says something, it feels like a Big Pharma ad that needs 30 seconds of legal disclaimers. Side effects include sudden vision loss in one or both eyes. Stop listening to Manfred and call your healthcare provider right away …
Manfred was asked, “Is owning a baseball team a good investment?”
He said, “We actually had an investment banker, a really good one, look at that very issue. If you look at the purchase price of franchises, the cash that’s put in during the period of ownership and then what they’ve sold for, historically, the return on those investments is below what you’d get in the stock market, what you’d expect to get in the stock market, with a lot more risk.”
The contention that, essentially, MLB owners are stupid people who don’t know how to invest their money was immediately debunked. Manfred had to know it would be. He’s counting on fans being dumb enough to believe him.
Remember: This all started at 12:03 a.m. Dec. 2, when Manfred posted an open letter to fans on the MLB website and said he was “forced” into a “defensive lockout” to avoid another strike. Side effects may include ringing in your ears or dizziness. If you have these symptoms, stop listening to Manfred right away . . .
Manfred is the poltroon who used the pandemic to put in motion his plan to restructure the minor leagues. He killed the Minor League Baseball association, shuttered 42 franchises and rerouted portions of local advertising to the big-league office in New York. He also used the pandemic to squeeze the players into a contracted 2020 season, and further tilt the game’s economic structure to the owners’ advantage.
Again, one is left to wonder what happened to the “best interests of the game” clause. In the grand scheme of things, there is little to nothing that Manfred has done, on behalf of the owners, that is in the best interests of the game.
The strike of 1994 — which is (for now) the only baseball work stoppage longer than the current one (232 days to 76, and counting), and which led to the cancellation of the World Series — was prolonged in large part because of recalcitrant owners. The National Labor Relations board said as much. So did the federal judge who issued an injunction to the owners, and forced them back to the bargaining table.
It was an effort to crush the union.
Is Rob Manfred merely a tool of MLB owners?
Manfred’s seven years as commissioner have been pointed in this same direction. Instead of developing any kind of kindred relationship with the players — like the NBA’s Adam Silver, or even the NHL’s Gary Bettman — Manfred has prioritized squeezing every last penny of profit for the owners at the expense of the quality and relevance of the sport.
Where is the long-term vision?
What baseball does at the grassroots level is not nearly enough to interest younger generations. The minor leagues have been shrunk, centralized and economized.
The big leagues have been shaped into a two-tiered system where more than half the owners would rather tank than compete, because it’s cheaper. There are fewer stars, they’re unevenly distributed and rosters are teeming with low-priced, marginal talent. Because it’s cheaper.
This is what MLB is trying to sell as regional television networks are teetering, cords are being cut and fans have little idea where to find their teams — that is, those fans who still want to watch four-hour games that have little action beyond home runs, strikeouts and walks.
The MLB players union clearly wants to make progress on these issues, especially the competitive balance and salary inequities. The players are motivated, angry and, it appears, solidified. The owners? They’re acting like hedge-fund managers. They just want to crush the union.
Pitchers and catchers were due to report Tuesday, but training camps were closed due to Manfred’s lockout. Opening Day, scheduled for March 31, is under threat.
As of this writing, no further negotiations have been planned.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Rob Manfred is why Major League Baseball is so screwed up
