Safe to say that MLB's Speedway Classic at Bristol this past weekend did not go the way Rob Manfred and the league envisioned. It was supposed to be another step on the path toward broadening baseball's appeal, bringing the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds to a new state and a new venue and smashing all sorts of attendance records in the process. Instead, it quickly devolved into an ugly, rain-soaked mess — from inclement weather to what could politely be described as "uninspired" concession options, it seemed like the entire event had been executed with little more than a shrug.
Granted, some of that was out of the league's control; there's no accounting for weather, after all. But Mother Nature was far from the only thing that made the Bristol debacle feel like little more than a half-hearted cash grab. Manfred has proven during his time as MLB commissioner that what he really cares about, first and foremost, is finding ways to make money. Every once and a while, that leads to a stroke of genius. More often than not, though, it just leaves the sport itself feeling like an afterthought. (The fact that Manfred himself struggles to muster any enthusiasm for baseball as a game, rather than a product, doesn't help.)
All of which should be leaving every actual fan of the sport feeling pretty uneasy as baseball edges toward a work stoppage once the current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2026 season. Relations between the league and the players' union already came to a head last month, when it was revealed that Bryce Harper had explosively confronted Manfred during a meeting with the Philadelphia Phillies. Now, it seems pretty inarguable that Harper had the right idea — and that the MLBPA shouldn't give Manfred anything close to the benefit of the doubt moving forward.
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Speedway Classic just shows Rob Manfred's MLB for what it really is
Manfred visited Philly's clubhouse as part of his tour of all 30 teams, ostensibly to receive feedback from players and better understand their concerns. But things took a turn when the subject turned to the game's financial future, and where players fit in. Manfred, as he has been for months now, started hinting toward the possibility of a salary cap. At which point Harper decided he'd had enough: "If you want to speak about that," he reportedly said, "you can get the f--- out of our clubhouse."
The Speedway Classic doesn't have much of anything to do with whether baseball does or doesn't adopt a cap moving forward, at least not on the surface. But it speaks volumes about how Manfred and his owners view the sport they're in charge of stewarding, and that's a pretty terrifying thought. Manfred's job is not to do what's best for the game, or for its future; his job is to ensure the financial viability of the 30 owners he works, and who ultimately sign his checks. What happened in Bristol is just another example of that mindset: Manfred is going to find money under every nook and cranny, no matter what sort of experience it creates for fans in attendance or, say, someone trying to watch their favorite team on TV.
The real problem that baseball is facing is not one of financial parity, but one of financial will. Yes, the other three major North American leagues all have salary caps, but they also have salary floors that the likes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins would be loath to reach. (They also have near-even revenue splits, where as MLB's is something like 55-45 in favor of the owners.) There's plenty of money to go around, it's just that far too many of the people who actually own teams want to keep it rather than spend it.
To facilitate that desire, Manfred is willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how embarrassing the PR hit. Players would do well to remember that come negotiating time.