The New York Yankees and Mets came under the microscope for their recent actions regarding free agent and MLB star Aaron Judge. A report emerged earlier in November saying that the Mets wouldn't engage in a bidding war with the Yankees for Judge, mostly due to the good relations between owners Hal Steinbrenner and Steve Cohen, according to Andy Martino of SNY.
As it turns out, those alleged actions led to an MLB investigation into whether the Yankees and Mets' actions constituted collusion. On Thursday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about the probe.
Manfred made it clear that he believed neither club did anything out of the ordinary, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic.
“I’m absolutely confident that the clubs behaved in a way that was consistent with the agreement,” Manfred said at MLB’s headquarters, where he held a press conference following the league’s quarterly owners’ meetings. “This was based on a newspaper report. We will put ourselves in a position to demonstrate credibly to the MLBPA that this is not an issue.”
Rob Manfred expressed confidence that the Yankees and Mets followed the Collective Bargaining Agreement to a tee regarding any ‘behaviors' as far as Aaron Judge is concerned.
The MLB commissioner said that it was a “newspaper report” and that the league intends to show the Player's Assocation that this is a non-issue.
It's understandable why the players took exception to this report. Per the MLB's CBA, clubs are not allowed to work together to keep free agent prices down.
Of course, Aaron Judge's contract is going to cost a pretty penny, collusion or not. But it appears, for now, that the Yankees and Mets have done nothing wrong.
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