Manfred plans to propose free-agent signing deadline for next CBA
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will advocate for adding a signing deadline for free agents to the next collective bargaining agreement during this year's looming labor talks.
"I think there's going to be some more conversation about it, because I do believe that there's a marketing opportunity," Manfred told WFAN's "The Carton Show with Craig Carton & Chris McMonigle" on Thursday. "Let's face it, we operate in a really competitive environment. Just put entertainment, generally, to one side - just sports, right? It's really competitive.
"And I think that you make a mistake, particularly during the offseason, when you don't take every advantage to push your sport out in front of your fans during that down period."
Free agency has again gone at a glacial pace this offseason. Notable stars such as Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, Cody Bellinger, and Framber Valdez remain unsigned, with pitchers and catchers set to report for spring training in one month. However, Manfred noted that some players have a misconception that a deadline would be bad for them.
"What they said back was, they thought that kind of deadline would work to the disadvantage of the players," Manfred said. "And you know, I just - I don't put much credence in this."
MLBPA head Tony Clark disagrees, arguing that a deadline won't improve the state of the open market.
"Free agency thrives when competition thrives - on and off the field," Clark said, according to The Athletic's Evan Drellich. "If the owners are genuinely interested in improving free agency, there are many ways to get there, and we look forward to having that discussion in the coming months.
"But if their true interest is to blow up the very system on which our streak of uninterrupted seasons has been built - with the game reaching record heights and poised to go even higher, no less - that would be a self-defeating miscalculation of massive proportions."
Meanwhile, Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker called a deadline "pretty close to the most anti-player idea you could possibly have."
Manfred is also open to changing MLB's regular-season schedule.
"We've talked about split seasons. We've talked about in-season tournaments," the 67-year-old told WFAN. "We do understand that 162 (games) is a long pull. I think the difficulty of accomplishing those sorts of in-season events, you almost inevitably start talking about fewer regular-season games.
"It is a much more complicated thing in our sport than it is in other sports. Because of all of our season-long records, you're playing around with something that people care a lot about."
The current CBA expires at the end of the year on Dec. 1.