Major League Baseball owners are still trying to convince the players to accept a salary cap as part of their next collective bargaining agreement. Judging by what some of baseball’s biggest agents are saying, that’s not going to happen anytime soon.
In fact, one agent says they’ll accept a salary cap over their dead bodies. Literally.
According to The Athletic, several prominent player agents have put aside their usual rivalries to unite against Major League Baseball’s owners and their proposed salary cap. Among them is Joel Wolfe, who represents Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, along with Chris Sale and Zack Wheeler.
“Over our dead bodies are we going to accept a cap and further restraints on salaries,” Wolfe said.
MLB Agents Aren’t Interested In The Owners’ Salary Cap Argument
Joel Wolfe said he and other agents compared notes during the All-Star Game about how their NBA clients have been affected by that league’s salary cap. “We have heard a lot of the same stories,” he said.
Wolfe also criticized how MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s office is handling the possibility of another lockout.
“I find it incredibly obtuse and offensive that the commissioner’s office is scheduling a lockout like it’s some sort of wedding or bar mitzvah,” he said.
Scott Boras, who represents MLB stars like Juan Soto, Bryce Harper and Tarik Skubal, also questioned why players should accept limits on their earnings while franchise values keep rising.
“In the NFL and NBA, they have got disengagement between franchise appreciation and players’ value,” Boras said. “In our sport, we’re saying, we’re not letting that happen.”
MLB spokesman Glen Caplin responded by pointing out that fans support the type of salary cap system used in other major sports.
Boras argues, according to The Athletic, that fans want “great players.”
“They want familiarity of knowing that the players are in their market, that the ownership has the wherewithal to keep them there,” he said. “That they want that identity with their game. That’s what Peter Seidler did in San Diego, and that’s what the Dodgers have done in L.A.”
Another MLB Lockout Is Looking More Likely
MLB owners recently offered to delay implementation of a $258.2 million cap and $180.2 million floor until 2028, as detailed in MLB’s latest salary cap proposal. The players are not interested.
While all this is going on, teams are already making some offseason moves in anticipation of a lockout, such as the Baltimore Orioles scaling back their mascot operation. Others are trying to quickly sign international players like Japanese pitching prospect Shoki Oda before everything gets shut down.
The current collective bargaining agreement expires December 1, meaning another lockout could begin December 2. MLB’s last lockout lasted 99 days, from December 2021 to March 2022. As a result, Opening Day was pushed back by a little over a week.
Now, with both sides refusing to budge on a salary cap and with the 2022 season setting a precedent, there’s little reason to believe the current labor dispute will be resolved quickly.