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<\/p>\nAfter Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper got in the face of Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred during a heated meeting last week, Mark DeRosa, a former big leaguer who now works for Manfred, said something some players took as a threat, according to four people who attended the meeting or were briefed on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commissioner\u2019s a powerful guy, don\u2019t f\u2014 around with him,\u201d was the tone of DeRosa\u2019s message.<\/p>\n
Some players were angry at his implication that a commissioner, who has oversight of so many on- and off-field personnel and processes in the sport, could retaliate if they didn\u2019t fall in line with what a commissioner wants, the sources said. After DeRosa\u2019s statement, a player in the room raised the possibility of MLB using the drug-testing program as a means of retribution.<\/p>\n
However, DeRosa, an MLB Network broadcaster and 16-year major-league veteran, said he was just joking when reached by The Athletic.<\/p>\n
\u201cShame on me for thinking I had a better relationship with some of the players in there than I guess I do,\u201d said DeRosa, who is also the manager of Team USA during the World Baseball Classic. \u201cThe comment I made was completely in jest, completely kidding, amongst a group of about 10-12 players. Guys were laughing, guys were joking. I had managed some of them with Team USA, I had played with Bryce in 2012. Literally making a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier in the meeting, Harper, one of the game\u2019s best-known players, challenged Manfred over the possibility of a salary cap, as first reported Monday by ESPN and the New York Post. \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about a salary cap you can get the f\u2014 out,\u201d Harper said. After Manfred\u2019s portion of the meeting was over, DeRosa stuck around to talk further.<\/p>\n
Harper, one of the game\u2019s best players and highest earners on a 13-year, $330 million contract, would have been the type of free agent hurt most by the implementation of a limit on salaries. If MLB proposes a cap, as many in the industry expect, MLB will likely advertise benefits to lower earners. But the MLBPA\u2019s position has long been that a cap hurts all players, not just its top earners.<\/p>\n
In a statement to The Athletic, agent Scott Boras explained why Harper feels so strongly about a cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung players need to talk with veterans like Harper,\u201d Boras said Monday. \u201cHarper has been fighting the consequences of caps his whole life. Harper received the potential for a total of $10.9 million, $9.9 million plus $1 million in roster bonuses, for his draft signing in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years later, in 2012, a draft cap was implemented and the top-paid player in the draft, Byron Buxton, got $6 million. Fifteen drafts later, the top player is receiving $9.25 million, well below Harper. Harper knows what caps can do to players\u2019 rights, especially young players.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association declined comment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bryce Harper is exactly the type of star player whose free agency would have been most impacted by a salary cap. (Thearon W. Henderson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Harper and DeRosa episode is the latest development in an increasingly controversial series of meetings<\/a> Manfred has been holding with each team annually.<\/p>\n This year, Manfred has been talking to players<\/a> about economics during the meetings in a way that is suggestive of a cap<\/a>, which MLB does not have but owners have long sought, to great resistance from the players. The meetings come at a time when labor tensions are rising overall: collective bargaining between owners and players is likely to begin next spring, ahead of another potential lockout in December 2026 at the end of the current agreement.<\/p>\n