Manfred downplays CBA spat with Phillies' Harper

CHICAGO - While successful municipality to officially denote Wrigley Field arsenic the big of the 2027 All-Star game, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred downplayed his recent confrontation with Philadelphia Phillies prima Bryce Harper implicit the looming labour conflict betwixt the league and its players.

"I deliberation much has been made retired of this than needs to beryllium made retired of it," Manfred said connected Friday morning. "Bryce expressed his views. At the extremity of the meeting, we shook hands and went our abstracted ways. Not each that significant."

Manfred has spent clip talking straight to players implicit the past mates of seasons up of the expiration of the existent corporate bargaining statement astatine the extremity of adjacent year. While successful the Phillies clubhouse past month, Harper confronted Manfred regarding the imaginable for a wage headdress arsenic the league and the MLBPA get acceptable to negociate a caller deal.

"Get the f--- retired of our clubhouse," Harper told Manfred if a wage headdress is what helium wanted to speech about. Cooler heads yet prevailed and the 2 did so shingle hands astatine the extremity of the meeting.

Manfred was asked if the confrontation was an illustration of the disagreement betwixt the players and the league up of negotiations.

"It was an idiosyncratic picking a peculiar mode to explicit himself and I don't deliberation you request to marque much retired of it than that," Manfred responded.

There's been increasing interest from each sides that the league volition lockout the players aft the 2026 play successful hopes of installing a wage headdress akin to the ones the NFL, NHL and NBA use. MLB players, via national leadership, person ever stood steadfast that they volition ne'er play nether strategy which limits salaries.

Manfred cited his grounds connected labour since joining the league successful 1998 arsenic a crushed he's hopeful things volition enactment retired earlier MLB loses games to a lockout.

"We haven't had a enactment stoppage that affected a play since that time," Manfred stated. "Three of those deals I was main negotiator, 2 of them I was a commissioner. That's a beauteous bully grounds and I deliberation we tin bash it again."

The past clip the sides negotiated a CBA - earlier the 2023 play -- outpouring grooming was delayed but each 162 regular play games were played. Many successful the crippled feel, MLB won't beryllium arsenic fortunate this clip around.

"It's earthy that erstwhile you get to the extremity of a corporate bargaining agreement, radical who are solid fractional afloat radical person trepidation astir what's going to happen," Manfred stated. "I'm optimistic we're going to find a deal."

One casualty of an extended lockout successful 2027 could beryllium the all-star crippled which is scheduled to beryllium played astatine Wrigley Field for the archetypal clip since 1990. Manfred was asked what his contingency program is for the crippled if so a lockout exists and determination is nary shot during the summer.

"My contingency program is to marque an statement with the players and play the 2027 season," Manfred said.