Red Sox Vet Backs Bryce Harper After Heated Confrontation With MLB Commissioner
Just after Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred walked out of a clubhouse meeting with the Philadelphia Phillies, which featured a heated confrontation with superstar Bryce Harper, he went on to address the Boston Red Sox.
The commissioner was making his informal rounds to meet with every team throughout the season, as is customary. The Red Sox were in town to play the Phillies, so after meeting with the home team, Manfred checked in with Boston.
At the time, the Red Sox had no sense that Harper had interrupted Manfred's message to the Phillies by standing in his face and ordering him out of the clubhouse if he wanted to discuss a potential MLB salary cap, as reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan.
"When Rob came into our clubhouse, it was right after," Red Sox veteran pitcher Lucas Giolito said, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. "He just gave the spiel about the growth of the game and areas they're looking to improve, especially when it comes to how baseball is being consumed. Media and TV deals, things like that. That was pretty much it. I think he avoided getting into the weeds when it comes to future CBA negotiations."
Giolito added that he had no indication of the dramatic standoff in the Phillies clubhouse until the news was reported publicly on Monday. But as a former member of the MLB Players Association's executive subcommittee, the pitcher made his stance on a potential salary cap very clear.
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Lucas Giolito #54 of the Boston Red Sox looks on during a Spring Training workout at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida on February 20, 2025....
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Lucas Giolito #54 of the Boston Red Sox looks on during a Spring Training workout at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida on February 20, 2025. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston) More
Malhorta/Getty
"That's the one thing that can kind of piss players off," Giolito said, per Cotillo. "You're talking about a billion-dollar industry. These team valuations keep going up and I think that's something that can get annoying sometimes, especially when it gets to the point of, speaking as a potential owner, 'We need to do the salary cap or the salary floor to see more growth.'"
"So I get where Harper's coming from there," Giolito added, according to Cotillo.
By standing up against a potential salary cap, Harper seemingly spoke for most players, who generally feel that imposing one would ultimately hurt their earnings. Other players might not have been willing to share that opinion so strongly with the commissioner, but leaders like Giolito seem to have Harper's back after he was pushed to do so.
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