Brewers, Rays and a salary-cap fight: The World Series becomes a labor battleground New York Times (Online) Evan Drellich MILWAUKEE — In the 24 hours leading up to the start of the World Series, many players know that these next few nights could provide the last Major League Baseball games anyone will enjoy for a long time. “That's been a thought for a couple years now,” said Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Cedric Mullins, a member of the baseball union's executive subcommittee. A lockout that's set to begin in just 40 days — and the monstrous debate over a salary cap that powers it — looms large over this Fall Classic, in no small part because of its participants. MLB has built its push for change on the alleged plight of small-market teams, and this title bout features two of them, the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. “It's all hogwash, right? You don't need tons of money to make it to the World Series,” said Brewers closer Trevor Megill. “You just need the right people. “There's no cap. No cap, no floor, it's not happening.” No surprise there: players have long opposed a salary limit. And when speaking to the press about baseball's labor fight this week, seemingly everyone at the Brewers' American Family Field — from commissioner Rob Manfred to union head Bruce Meyer, to team owners and the players — took up exactly the positions one would expect. “The majority of players would say a salary cap is bad,” said Drew Rasmussen, the Rays' scheduled starting pitcher for Game 2. Said Brewers captain Christian Yelich: “I don't think any players want a cap.” But the league is not about to back off just because players are unhappy with their proposal. “People can be entrenched wherever they want to be entrenched. We're prepared to commit ourselves to the process,” Manfred said. “It's easy to say, 'I'm here and I'm never moving.' That's not a particularly skilled approach to the process. “The small markets operate at a disadvantage economically. They just don't have the resources that our bigger markets do.” Mark Attanasio, owner of the Brewers and a member of Manfred's labor committee, said the league's cap proposal “not only will help us compete, but more importantly, all of the teams with lower payrolls too, which is something also I think the fans want.” Meanwhile, Bruce Meyer, the interim head of the union, called a salary cap “a nuclear bomb” and said “there's no reason whatsoever” that the Pittsburgh Pirates can't compete the same way the Brewers and Rays have. “These teams have been successful doing it one way,” Meyer said. “They would be even more successful if they went out and spent more money. Tampa would probably have a few World Series under their belt if they had at any point gone out and signed some free agents.” The World Series match-up certainly doesn't help the owners' narrative, a point Meyer took up and Manfred batted back against. “It's hard to argue with the fact if you look at our results, not one year, but over the last two decades, there is a very strong relationship between market size, payroll, and your chances to get in the playoffs, and particularly your chances to go deeper,” Manfred said. An analysis by The Athletic showed there is some correlation between success and payroll in MLB, but little to no correlation between success and market size. The sides ultimately have months before the fight grows real, when the clock on the 2027 season starts to tick away in February and March. They'll continue to negotiate in the meantime, but there's little reason to expect meaningful progress soon. “A lot of minutes will be spent between both sides,” Attanasio said. As it argues for a cap, MLB says it's doing so because it listens to its fans, and surveys they've taken. Manfred was asked by a reporter if the league similarly has data on how fans feel about the possibility of canceled games because of a work stoppage. “No fan wants to miss games,” Manfred said. “That's a really, really easy question to ask fans and get an answer to. Obviously, we don't want to miss games either. I'm not prepared to write the process off as ending in a really ugly labor battle.” The commissioner urged the players to approach the table without “preconceived notions” of what has to happen, and that if that comes to pass, “we can make an agreement without having a disruption.” But if the preconceived notion Manfred wants players to rethink is their position on a cap — and surely, it is — well, things might get ugly. Reliever Aaron Ashby, the Brewers' player rep, was asked how long players are willing to sit out to avoid a cap. “I guess as long as it takes,” Ashby said. “We're gonna have a long season here, and I guess if that means having a longer offseason, so be it.” Manfred and Meyer both discussed a few other league matters Friday. MLB is in wait-and-see mode with Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, who's been selling major sports assets amidst federal probes into his insurance businesses. “Always when we have an investigation, external law enforcement, whatever, you know, we monitor that,” Manfred said, “and that's where we are right now. We're just watching what's going on right now.” The league and union are still working toward the participation of MLB players in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. “The MLBPA has been having conversations about player-related issues, hotels, tickets, whatnot, with (games organizer) LA28 for a substantial period of time, and we're hoping that they get those negotiations moving and wrapped up.” That might not happen quickly, though. “There are certain things that we believe players should be entitled to,” Meyer said. “Things that they expect as the level of athlete that they are. Things they get at the (World Baseball Classic), things that other groups of athletes have gotten at the Olympics, for example, the last Winter Olympics. As of now, we're not getting satisfaction on those things, but look, we want to participate in the Olympics. Our players want to represent their country, but there's just a lot of things that need to be worked out.” When the last lockout began in December 2021, players and owners met in person during the final days leading into the shutdown. Neither side was pleased with how those talks went, and it's to be seen whether they'll have a similar final-moments meeting this year. The union holds an annual meeting with players near the end of November, which this year coincides with the final days of bargaining prior to the lockout. In 2021, the owners met the players where they were holding that meeting, in Texas. These days, the union holds that same meeting in Arizona, where it opened an office in 2023. Which means this time, Arizona could be the site where Rob Manfred announces that the sport is frozen. “We've told them where we're going to be,” Meyer said. “They haven't confirmed, but I expect there's a high likelihood we'll be talking and bargaining, and you never know what's going to happen.” But if it's anything like last time? Little will happen even if they do meet.