ARLINGTON, Texas – Hours into Major League Baseball’s first work stoppage in 26 years, Rob Manfred and Tony Clark presented diametrically opposed views of each side’s negotiating positions that point to a lengthy lockout.
In separate news conferences less than a day into MLB’s ninth work stoppage, Manfred – who as commissioner represents the 30 franchises’ owners – said the Major League Baseball Players Association’s proposal for greater free agency and wider salary arbitration would damage teams in smaller markets.
Clark, the first former player to head the union, accused Manfred of “misrepresentations” in his letter to fans explaining the lockout and said “it would have been beneficial to the process to have spent as much time negotiating in the room as it appeared it was spent on the letter.”
“It’s unnecessary to continue the dialogue,” Clark said of the lockout. “At the first instance in some time of a bumpy water, the recourse was a strategic decision to lock players out.”
The dispute threatens the start of spring training on Feb. 16 and opening day on March 31.