EMLB Players Association (MLBPA) President Tony Clark said Major League Baseball has been manipulated by Major League Baseball (MLB) team owners.
“The game has been damaged for a while now. The game has been manipulated,” Clark said in a meeting with the press, after the negotiation process that they carried out uninterruptedly for nine days in Jupiter, Florida (USA), ended without an agreement that will stop the work stoppage that the Big Tent has been experiencing since last December 2.
The union leader criticized the way players have been marketed in the current Major League market, under the control of what he called a grand scheme “difficult to explain.”
Players and owners of the MLB could not reach an agreement despite the evident effort they have made in the last two days, including an exchange of more than 17 hours, which began on Monday morning and concluded at dawn on Tuesday.
The MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred, announced the cancellation of the start of the Major League regular season, scheduled for March 31, and now the negotiation process that seeks to put an end to the strike that affects the league moves to New York.
At the moment the players will continue without receiving their salaries while the strike lasts and the discount they will receive for each regular season game that is canceled is also added.
Baseball analyst Enrique Rojas indicated that “since he has been in the Commissioner’s Office, Rob Manfred has been a target of criticism for the rules to speed up the pace of the game (the ghost runner in extra innings, three minimum batters per pitcher, a clock controlling hitters/pitchers) and for his sometimes high-handed attitude when negotiating with the Players Association.
But nothing will affect Manfred’s legacy more than the massive cancellation of games in the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season and then the failure to reach a timely deal with the players for the 2022 campaign.
After nine days of uninterrupted discussion, both parties leave the facilities in Jupiter, Florida, on Tuesday night to meet again in New York City, although they did not specify the date for this new meeting.
Regarding the continuation of the negotiations, the Commissioner indicated that now it is their turn to regroup and determine the next step they will take.
