BLOG.SPORTSLAWTALK.COM: Scott Boras and Rob Manfred ramp up the battle of the words prior to opening of the free agent market; Bud Selig on Baseball and the economy;Federer gets richer; Bob Arum promotes another big fight

Scott Boras and Rob Manfred ramp up the battle of the words prior to opening of the free agent market; Bud Selig on Baseball and the economy;Federer gets richer; Bob Arum promotes another big fight

November 20, 2009

Will it be "history all over again"? Is it collusion time again in MLB?

The free agent market opens today. Are the owners colluding to hold down salaries despite high profits?

Last month the players and the owners agreed to push back the deadline for a collusion grievance until the end of the offseason, after the current market plays out.

Scott Boras has been expressing his misgivings that the monies owners are getting from revenue sharing and baseball's central fund are not in line with efforts to keep payrolls down.

Rob Manfred, chief of Baseball's labor relations had this to say about Boras' allegations: "Just like when he does a player negotiation he lies about the numbers in order to get the price up, now he's taken that to the macro-economic level and lying about industry numbers in order to get player (contract) numbers up.".

But Boras comes back with, "(Manfred) has never disclosed information about funds that teams get from Central Baseball or revenue sharing."

The owners were found guilty of collusion three times in the 1980s. (refer to SLT blog of November 2-3)

For more on this war of words see:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/10392772/Boras-Manfred-war-of-words-an-unsettling-omen+

Further words on the subject of economics and Baseball: MLB Commisioner Bud Selig claims that several clubs lost money during the 2009 season. He also says that Baseball, while not immune from the continued economic downturn, has actually held it's own rather well in spite of the economy.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AuQlSWUY46pdr_kPSwtg
ZMwRvLYF?slug=ap-owners&prov=ap&type=lgns

New endorsement contracts for tennis champ Roger Federer. Federer who went many years without using a management agency has upped his endorsement portfolio considerably since signing with IMG.
http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20091119/Rich_get_richer_as
_Federer_tops_up_contracts