Manfred downplays CBA spat with Phillies’ Harper

CHICAGO — While in town to announce Wrigley Field as the host of the 2027 All-Star Game, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred downplayed his recent confrontation with Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper over the looming labor battle between the league and its players.

“I think more has been made out of this than needs to be made out of it,” Manfred said Friday morning. “Bryce expressed his views. At the end of the meeting, we shook hands and went our separate ways. Not all that significant.”

Manfred has spent time talking directly to players over the past couple of seasons ahead of the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement at the end of next year. While in the Phillies’ clubhouse last month, Harper confronted Manfred regarding the potential for a salary cap as the league and the MLBPA get set to negotiate a new deal.

“Get the f— out of our clubhouse,” Harper told Manfred if a salary cap is what he wanted to talk about. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, and the two did shake hands at the end of the meeting.

Manfred was asked if the confrontation was an example of the divide between the players and the league ahead of negotiations.

“It was an individual picking a particular way to express himself, and I don’t think you need to make more out of it than that,” Manfred responded.

There has been growing concern from all sides that the league will lock out the players after the 2026 season in hopes of installing a salary cap similar to the ones the NFL, NHL and NBA use. MLB players, via union leadership, have always stood firm that they will never play under a system that limits salaries.

Manfred cited his record on labor since joining the league in 1998 as a reason that he is hopeful things will work out before MLB loses games to a lockout.

“We haven’t had a work stoppage that affected a season since that time,” Manfred said. “Three of those deals I was chief negotiator; two of them I was a commissioner. That’s a pretty good record, and I think we can do it again.”

The last time the sides negotiated a CBA — before the 2023 season — spring training was delayed, but all 162 regular-season games were played. Many in the game feel that MLB won’t be as lucky this time around.

“It’s natural that when you get to the end of a collective bargaining agreement, people who are ‘glass half full’ people have trepidation about what’s going to happen,” Manfred said. “I’m optimistic we’re going to find a deal.”

One casualty of an extended lockout in 2027 could be the All-Star Game, which is scheduled to be played at Wrigley Field for the first time since 1990. Manfred was asked what his contingency plan is for the game if a lockout exists and there is no baseball during the summer.

“My contingency plan is to make an agreement with the players and play the 2027 season,” Manfred said.