NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez, among bidders for a possible purchase of the New York Mets, asked baseball players to accept the type of income distribution system that is tied to a salary cap and sparked rapid union opposition .
After the collapse of labor talks dealing with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, relations between Major League Baseball and the players’ association are at their lowest point in a quarter century. The sides seem to be heading for a spring training lockout in 2022.
Preparing for the start of his third season as an analyst on ESPN broadcasts on Sunday night, Rodríguez said the players ‘leverage had changed since they rejected the owners’ salary cap proposal with a 7 1/2 month strike. in 1994-95. He said the rise of the NFL and NBA had changed the equation along with digital media, and said the players’ association should work collaboratively with MLB to increase the sport’s market share.
“The only way it’s going to happen is if they come to the table and say target # 1, let’s go from $ 10 to $ 15 billion and then we’ll split the economy equally,” he said Thursday in a conference call. “But that’s the kind of conversation instead of fighting and fighting each other because there is too much competition right now.”
Baseball players have resisted the salary cap and revenue sharing approaches used by the NFL, NBA, and NHL.
“Alex benefited as much as any of the battles this union fought against owners’ repeated attempts to get a salary cap,” union chief Tony Clark said in a statement. “Now that he’s trying to become an owner, his perspective seems to be different. And that perspective does not reflect the best interests of the players.”
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally announced a 60-game schedule this year, as the union kept open the possibility of filing a complaint accusing teams of negotiating in bad faith.
The union lost a complaint this year accusing the Chicago Cubs of manipulating the service time of third baseman Kris Bryant to delay their eligibility for free agency and have a pending complaint that charges multiple teams for not properly using the proceeds of the revenue sharing plan between major league clubs.
Rodríguez earned around $ 448 million in his major league career. He debuted with Seattle in July 1994 and was sent back to Triple-A 10 days before the strike began on August 12. He maintains an “understanding that the influence of players in 1994 was completely different from today.”
“Then we had absolute dominance in professional sports. Baseball was 1,” he said. “Today the NBA has become an international conglomerate, the NFL is a giant. Back then there was no Netflix, there was no Snapchat, there was no Disney +, ESPN + and everything else they were doing to attract their attention. So today we have to work really collaboratively, with the players and the owners, to say how we compete together to become number 1 “.
Rodríguez, who turns 45 on July 27, is a three-time MVP of the American League. MLB suspended him throughout the 2014 season for violations of the drug deal and the sports employment contract. The players’ association filed a complaint on his behalf and although the suspension was not reduced, referee Fredric Horowitz restored $ 2,868,852 of his $ 25 million salary for that season.
Rodríguez and his girlfriend Jennifer López are among the Mets’ bidders, retaining JPMorgan Chase as their adviser after the Wilpon and Katz families failed to close a deal with hedge fund manager Steven Cohen. Cohen purchased an 8% limited partnership stake in 2012 for $ 40 million and the deal that was not closed would have seen him acquire an 80% controlling stake in a transaction that valued the team at $ 2.6 billion.
Four bidders will receive more information for a second round of bidding in several weeks, according to multiple reports.
The Wilpon and Katz families are reportedly hoping to have a deal in time for a sale to be made in late 2020. A proposed deal would likely require a three-month time frame for MLB’s background investigation before a vote for approval. .
Rodriguez likely won’t stream the Mets games while bidding for the team, ESPN senior vice president of production and remote events Mark Gross said. Chipper Jones will work the Braves-Mets game with Jon Sciambi on July 26, the Sunday night broadcast of ESPN. Rodríguez and Matt Vasgersian will air the second game of a double game that night, the San Francisco Giants game at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Mets are not scheduled for any other games on Sunday night.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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