Rob Manfred Pens Letter to Fans After Opening Day Delayed

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred penned a letter to fans after announcing Opening Day would be delayed and several regular season games will be canceled after a collective bargaining agreement could not be reached by the league-imposed deadline. 

“I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort on the part of either party. The Players came here for nine days, worked hard and tried to make a deal. I appreciate their effort,” Manfred wrote. “Our committee of Club representatives committed to the process, offered compromise after compromise, and hung in past the deadline to exhaust all efforts to reach an agreement.

“So far, we have failed to achieve our mutual goal of a fair deal. The unfortunate thing is that the agreement we have offered has huge benefits for fans and players.”

The commissioner went on to highlight certain aspects of the proposal, such as increasing salaries for younger players. According to Manfred, MLB offered a $130,000 minimum salary increase from 2021 and proposed creating an annual bonus pool for players who have not yet reached salary arbitration. 

“In total, we are offering a 33% raise to nearly two-thirds of Major League players and adding more than $100 million annually in additional compensation for younger players.”

There are other points that players have raised, though, such as service time and anti-tanking measures. The league proposed a draft lottery and “agreed to an incentive system to encourage clubs to promote top prospects to their Opening Day rosters.” 

Free agency and the competitive balance tax have also been sticking points, as well as the prospect of extended playoffs. The league proposed a 14-team framework, but Manfred said they “listened to the players’ concerns, and offered to compromise by accepting their 12-team format.”

It's important to note that the latest proposal from the league was unanimously rejected by the players' association, which released a statement after the league’s decision saying it was ”disgusted, but sadly not surprised.”

Manfred's letter overwhelmingly highlighted compromises, agreements and proposals from the league's side, leaving the leading question of “what's next?”

Because an agreement was not reached, the two sides will keep negotiating, beginning no sooner than Thursday. “Currently, camps could not meaningfully operate until at least March 8th, leaving only 23 days before scheduled Opening Day.”

This is the first time since 1995 that regular season games will be missed due to a work stoppage. As MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said during Tuesday's press conference, “A lockout is the ultimate economic weapon.”

Manfred wrote, “We played without an agreement in 1994 and the players went on strike in August, forcing the cancellation of the World Series. It was a painful chapter in our game’s history. We cannot risk such an outcome again for our fans and our sport.”