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TAMPA — As the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement looms, less than nine months away, preparations for a potential lockout next winter are intensifying between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association.
Negotiations are set to commence next month, with the primary contention expected to revolve around the introduction of a salary cap — a concept favored by team owners but strongly opposed by the players’ union.
“We’ve been gearing up for this confrontation for several years,” stated MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer on Thursday morning at Steinbrenner Field, where the union made a stop as part of its annual tour of all 30 teams.
“Following a season marked by significant momentum and heightened fan engagement, demonstrated by attendance and viewership, it seems illogical for the league to consider halting this progress. However, we are ready to address any challenges that may arise,” Meyer added.
Gerrit Cole, who has previously been part of the executive subcommittee, found the meeting with the Players Association to be “very informative, very thorough.”
It came in the wake of Meyer replacing Tony Clark as the head of the union last month, after Clark resigned in the wake of an internal investigation that found he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who was hired by the MLBPA in 2023.
While Cole said he is trying to keep an “optimistic” view in the face of concerns of a lockout, he acknowledged that a salary cap is not the “answer to the questions that we’re trying to answer.”
“The sport is growing, the viewership is younger, the gate is up, the players’ pay is up, club appreciations are up,” Cole said. “Obviously there is a whole list of concerns. … I’m optimistic that through good conversations, through a lot of deliberation and some tense moments, ultimately the best will come out.”
Meyer said that the union has never thought that salary caps were in the best interest of players.
“We see no reason to change that view,” he said.
Meyer also added that salary caps “don’t really guarantee competitive balance,” indicating that baseball has the best competitive balance as opposed to the other major sports, which all have salary caps.
“The problem we have in baseball is not with the teams that are trying to win games and trying to spend money,” Meyer said. “It’s with teams that maybe aren’t trying as hard as they can. That’s the problem with competition in baseball.”
Oswaldo Cabrera will make his spring debut on Friday night, starting at shortstop against the Rays in his first game action since breaking his ankle and suffering ligament damage last May.
“Excited for him,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously it’s been a pretty long road for him. It’s been exciting to see some of the improvement he’s made over the last few weeks.”
Cody Bellinger returned to the lineup Thursday for the first time in a week after dealing with a stiff back.
He played four innings in right field and went 0-for-1 with a walk in a rain-shortened 15-0 loss to the Twins at Steinbrenner Field.
“Felt really good,” said Bellinger, who is scheduled to play left field Friday. “Felt 100 percent.”
The Yankees made a round of cuts Thursday, optioning RHP Chase Hampton to Double-A Somerset and reassigning him, RHP Travis MacGregor and RHP Drake Fellows to minor league camp.