Marcus Stroman and Mike Trout, two of the most recognizable players in Major League Baseball, issued separate, strong rebukes of commissioner Rob Manfred's handling of the lockout since a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement fell apart Tuesday night.
Stroman was the first to weigh in on social media, speaking freely about how "Manfred gotta go" in the immediate aftermath of MLB's players rejecting the league's "last and best" offer.
"MLB is trash at growing the game and marketing their players," Stroman wrote in one of his tweets. "It’s pretty obvious. GM’s and front office individuals always tried to get me to deactivate my socials. Too many dinosaurs controlling the game of baseball. Manfred has to go. We need a new commissioner asap!"
Stroman's comments came after exhaustive bargaining sessions between MLB and the players' union, spanning all day Monday and extending well beyond midnight into the early hours of Tuesday, which spurred optimism a deal could be reached to allow for the season to start on time.
However, after further discussions on Tuesday, the league's final offer didn't move on the competitive balance tax – a key point for players – among other issues, and the union unanimously voted to decline.
The rejection of the final offer led to Manfred cancelling the first two series of the season, marking the first time regular-season games will officially be lost to a work stoppage since the players’ 1994-95 strike.
"FANS…this man doesn’t care about any of y’all. Don’t get it twisted," Stroman tweeted, rebuking comments from the commissioner saying fans were at the top of the league's list of considerations. "The players are ready to perform, compete, and interact with all of you! However, Manfred has been ruining our game while playing puppet boy to the owners. That’s a fact. We remain ready and anxious to play!"
The day after Stroman's immediate reaction to the failed bargaining sessions, it was Trout who issued a social media statement to his 2.5 million followers.
"I want to play, I love our game, but I know we need to get this CBA right," Trout wrote. "Instead of bargaining in good faith – MLB locked us out. Instead of negotiating a fair deal – Rob cancelled games. Players stand together. For our game, for our fans, and for every player who comes after us. We owe it to the next generation."
Part of ensuring a sustainable future for the next generation of MLB players is tied to salaries. In its final proposal, MLB offered to increase minimum salaries to $700,000 per season, set the pre-arbitration bonus pool at $30 million and suggested solutions to service time manipulation, among other elements.
The competitive balance tax, though, was always a crucial part of the back-and-forth. Over the years, as revenues across the league steadily climbed, the CBT has not risen in tandem to account for the inflation. Many agents now consider it a soft salary cap, according to Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith, and its figure did not move enough during bargaining from the players' point of view.
It is not clear at this time when the league and its players will resume talks, though in the interim, as Nicholson-Smith wrote, "the league will lose games, revenue and cultural significance while risking the ire of fans and players alike."
