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MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark has never been one to shy away from sharing his opinions with the media, and he's made it clear that he does not want a salary cap.
Commissioner Rob Manfred is reportedly pushing for a salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement. The current deal expires in December 2026.
“A cap is not about a partnership,” Clark told the media on Tuesday, via Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. “A cap is not about growing the game … A cap is about franchise values and profits.”
It would make sense that the man representing the players would oppose a rule that would stifle their earning potential. Clark took it a step further, outright calling the idea “collusion.”
“This is not about competitive balance,” he said. “This is institutionalized collusion.”
He added on Monday that a salary cap would take the game “backward” at a time when MLB has begun to gather real momentum.
“They [MLB] obviously have their interests, and those interests aren’t much different from the interests they’ve had for the last three, four, five decades at this point,” Clark said, via Sports Business Journal. “Whereas the game is in a great place; the game appears to be growing and moving in the right direction, with more attendance than we’ve had in a long time; and more people are watching and streaming the games than we’ve ever had before.”
Manfred and Clark have been publicly taking swipes at each other for a while now, and baseball's jewel events like the All-Star Game are a prime opportunity to take the media spotlight. Clark's comments in Atlanta shouldn't come as a surprise, but with MLB still more than a year away from a potential lockout, the focus can remain on the field.
“You would like the focus to simply be on the game and on the field and the tremendous first half that these guys have had,” Clark said. “The rhetoric that’s out there puts guys in a position where they’re going to be asked questions about bargaining and when it’s going to happen and what it’s going to look like.”
