Familiarity between Clark and Manfred could be beneficial in next CBA negotiation
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- For a sport that had five work stoppages between 1972-94 consider the following â Major League Baseball was the only one not to have labor strife during the cycle of collective bargaining.
The NBA, NFL and NHL all had lockouts from 2010-12 while baseball agreed to a five-year deal in November of 2011. For fans, the biggest thing to come out of the agreement was the addition of another Wild Card team. For players and teams, rules of free agency changed. Goodbye, Type A and B, hello qualifying offers.
Whether or not labor peace in baseball will last beyond next year, when the new CBA will be negotiated, remains to be seen. Anytime there is a change in a commissioner and union executive director, the dynamics can shift from harmony to strife. A textbook example was the NFL in 2011 with Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith negotiating with each other for the first time.
Baseball will have two new leading figures next year. Robert Manfred has taken over for Bud Selig as commissioner while with the MLB Players Association Tony Clark succeeded the late Michael Weimer last year.
Clark, who had a clubhouse meeting with Indians players on Saturday, is the first former player to lead the MLBPA and has been a part of the last three negotiations. Clark was also a part of the last work stoppage and knows the effect it had.
The fact that Clark was not hired from the outside will be a huge benefit at the bargaining table next year.
"I have a relationship with Rob going back 14 years. We have an open line of communication," Clark said. "Both of us have a history with each other is beneficial."
Even though most are beginning to focus on next year's negotiations, Clark is correct when he says the process of collective bargaining is never done.
"You never stop talking about it," he said. "Everything that goes into a player's career is predicated on bargaining. Rest assured everything we discuss either specifically or generally is all about bargaining."
