MLBPA rep Miller: Players 'prepared' to sit out as long as they have to
Major League Baseball players are prepared to sit out as long as they have to in order to get a fair and equitable collective bargaining agreement, according to MLBPA representative Andrew Miller.
"We're prepared," the free-agent pitcher said at a press conference Tuesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin. "We've seen this coming, in a sense. It's unfortunate, but this isn't new to us. This isn't shocking."
Miller and fellow union representatives Tony Clark, Bruce Meyer, and Max Scherzer spoke with the media for over 30 minutes to discuss the failed labor talks with the league. The union rejected MLB's offer earlier Tuesday after the league extended its deadline to reach a deal.
"The reason we are not playing is simple - a lockout is the ultimate economic weapon," Clark said, according to the Denver Post's Patrick Saunders. "In a $10-billion industry, the owners have made a conscious decision to use this weapon against the greatest asset they have - the players."
The presser came after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced the first two regular-season series of the 2022 season would be canceled. Manfred said the players wouldn't be paid for these games.
"It would be our position in the event of games being canceled, that as a feature of any deal for us to come back, that we would be asking for compensation and/or that those games (be) rescheduled," Meyer explained, according to Baseball America's Kyle Glaser.
While the next steps of negotiations haven't been announced, Clark said the union is willing to resume talks immediately.
"(The league) set a deadline here," he said. "We're willing to stay here and have a conversation tomorrow. We're willing to fly back to New York. We're willing to go wherever we need to go to get back in the room and continue the dialogue that has begun."
Clark also said the failed labor discussions have damaged baseball.
"The game has suffered damage for a while now," he said, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. "The game has changed. The game has been manipulated. … Players have been commoditized in a way that’s really hard to explain in the grand scheme."
MLB and its players have been locked out since the previous CBA expired Dec. 1. The regular season was originally scheduled to begin March 31.