Retired Mets and Yankees players, as well as a fan-favorite skipper, did not mince words when it came to their general feelings about MLB’s lockout.
“It shouldn’t have gotten this far,” 1986 World Series champion Mookie Wilson said. “This is something that could’ve been settled a year ago, months ago.”
Added Jeff Nelson, a four-time champion and former Yankees reliever: “It’s awful. … I don’t know when we’ll see baseball.”
Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine needed just six words to relay his opinion: “Just get them on the field.”
Wilson, Nelson and Valentine attended the 42nd annual Thurman Munson awards dinner at Chelsea Piers on Monday night. Wilson and Nelson were among this year’s award recipients for the gala that honors success and inspiration on the fields of play, and community spirit off the field. The celebration benefited the AHRC NYC Foundation, which supports programs that enable children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
As the owners’ lockout nears its 100th day, and the league and players union continue negotiating toward a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, Wilson reflected on his playing days, which included MLB’s 1981 strike and 1990 lockout.
“It’s more of the same old same old,” Wilson said. “When you start pointing fingers, that’s the wrong thing. There’s always been a distrust between management and players. That’s not changing.”
Wilson, like so many who are following the labor talks, is waiting for major movement between the players and owners. A week after commissioner Rob Manfred canceled regular season games, Wilson said he still hasn’t seen any compromise that moves the needle either way.
Owners and players remain far apart on core economic issues including the competitive balance tax and the pre-arbitration bonus pool. Players want a CBT that starts with $238 million in 2022, and ends with $263 million in 2026. Owners have proposed a CBT that starts with $228 million in 2022, and ends with $238 million in 2026. Players want an $80 million bonus pool, while owners have proposed $30 million. MLB also wants a 14-team expanded playoffs, while the players union has agreed to increase the number of playoff teams from 10 to 12.
Wilson believes baseball players today are more “business savvy” than they used to be when he played in the majors from 1980-1991. Due to the high amount of money being negotiated in the CBA, Wilson said, players have to be more informed on the topics at hand. He doesn’t buy the somewhat popular narrative that an outside party, like agent Scott Boras, is manipulating the players union.
“When people say ‘Scott Boras is manipulating the players…’ Listen. Scott Boras is an agent,” Wilson said. “He negotiates with the front office, the owners, all the time. But, manipulating? I think that’s giving Scott Boras too much credit — or too much blame, whatever you want to call it. Don’t treat us like idiots. To say Scott Boras is manipulating ballplayers, that’s treating ballplayers like kids.”
Both Wilson and Nelson are worried that the owners’ lockout will drive fans away from the sport.
Nelson said MLB was able to bounce back from the aftereffects of the 1994 strike, which canceled that season’s World Series, because of the thrilling home run race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1998. As Sosa and McGwire broke Roger Maris’ long-standing 61-home run record, fans who had previously felt disenfranchised were drawn back to baseball. Nelson isn’t so sure such an electrifying moment will take over again, because the game itself has changed.
“Now it’s all home runs and strikeouts. There’s not a whole lot of excitement going on in the game,” Nelson said. “You don’t see bunting, you don’t see hitting and running. There used to be a National League-style ball and American League-style ball. Now there’s not. So how do you get people interested in the game? Obviously, the lockout is not one of them, because fans are already losing interest in the game. It’s really tough for them to try to get that back.”
Valentine, who was a player rep in the 1970s, said the way these labor talks have played out in public is similar to his experience negotiating alongside Marvin Miller, the former head of the players union. The 1972 MLB strike was the first players’ strike in the sport’s history. The strike, which lasted 13 days, canceled a total of 86 games which were not rescheduled. No team played more than 156 games that season.
“I think it’s regretful,” Valentine said of the lockout. “But this is what you do. It’s a shame that this is how you do it.”
