Manfred champions harmony between MLB, union

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — After baseball’s players and owners wrapped up a new five-year labor deal last week, they did something that at one point would have been unthinkable.

They agreed to keep talking.

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“In the old days,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said on Monday during a question-and-answer session at the George Washington University School of Business, “back when I started, we’d finish a big basic agreement, and it would be like, ‘I’ve had enough of you. I’ll see you in five years.’ That was the end of it. Nothing moved during the term of the agreement.”

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One thing the two sides have learned during 21 years of labor peace is that everyone benefits from pulling on the same end of the rope.

At some point in the near future, the two sides — MLB chief negotiator Dan Halem and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark — will sit back down to discuss roster sizes and pace-of-play matters.

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Manfred said the two sides seemed on their way to agreeing to expand regular-season rosters from 25 to 26 players and decrease September roster limits from 40 to 28.

In the end, both sides stepped back. One of the concerns owners had was that giving every team an additional relief pitcher could mean more pitching changes and longer games.

Among the apparent concerns of players was that a 26-man roster would take away playing time from some players.

“Everybody knows players get paid based in part on the quantity of their performance,” Manfred said. “The way it was ultimately resolved — and this, to me, is the best part of the story — we decided to stay at 25. But Tony Clark has already expressed a desire to talk about this issue during the term of this agreement and maybe work something out.

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