Rob Manfred recruited a star-studded group of retired players. The union sees trouble
In 2023, Manfred formed a group called the Commissioner's Ambassador Program, or CAP. Participants travel to significant league and community events, and also serve as liaisons to current and future players. MLB has quickly built up a robust roster of 19 players, highlighted by CC Sabathia, who will be inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame on Sunday. Two other recent greats, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, are in CAP's leadership as well.
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But CAP's founding has also created tension and an awkwardness with the group that has historically served as the liaison between the players and the commissioner's office: the union. Tony Clark, the head of the MLBPA and a playing contemporary of virtually all of the ambassadors, last week told The Athletic that he has advised players in CAP 'to stay away from the conversations about labor.'
Earlier in July, MLBPA's second-in-command, deputy Bruce Meyer, was critical of the program on the television show Foul Territory.
'I obviously wasn't a player,' Meyer, a lawyer, said during that appearance. 'All due respect to anybody who played the game, and in terms of what guys choose to do in their post-careers, I'm not going to question that. I will say, there are players who are being paid by MLB and who are going with Rob to the locker rooms and trying to sell players on a system that this union has historically thought was bad for players, and that they themselves didn't have to live under when they played.'
Manfred has been touring clubhouses this season, suggesting players have lost billions over the years because they have been unwilling to change the game's economics.. At times, he has been accompanied by CAP members.
'Players know when they see those guys in the locker room, with Rob pitching a system that the league wants — players know those guys are getting paid,' Meyer continued on Foul Territory. 'It may be great players. It may be former teammates, it may be guys they respect. But I think players take it for what it is. Players understand what's going on.'
When approached by The Athletic at baseball's All-Star Game in Atlanta last week, Manfred countered that, 'They're not out there carrying my water on what I think on any topic, forget labor.'
CAP participant Dexter Fowler said on Foul Territory recently that players in the program just want to grow the game. Fowler and two other CAP members declined interview requests for this story. Efforts by The Athletic to reach a fourth CAP participant were unsuccessful.
The group did not come out of the blue. When baseball's lockout ended in 2022, Manfred publicly committed to doing more to build relationships with his workforce, an area he admitted he had fallen short. CAP is part of that effort.
'They do a wide variety of things for us,' Manfred said before the All-Star Game. 'They're here, provide a presence at special events. They have worked with us on our international (efforts). They have been a source of content creation. They've helped me in terms of on-field issues. They've helped us in terms of dialogue with players.'
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The commissioner also began to meet annually with virtually every team as part of his reconciliatory effort. But those visits have become controversial because the MLBPA believes Manfred is using those settings — and the CAP players who are sometimes in tow — to launder his bargaining positions. At least one CAP player, Sabathia, holds an additional role with the commissioner's office beyond his position as an ambassador.
'I will tell you, 100 percent, in most player meetings, I do all the talking,' Manfred said. '(Ambassadors) may be with me. They may listen afterwards. … I don't say this, but, you know, some players would rather not ask a question of me, OK? Whatever's said in there comes from me. Afterwards, if they want to talk, if they have a question that they want to ask (the ambassadors), they ask them.'
Manfred has said that his message to players is not centered on a particular solution, a cap or otherwise. Much of his message, as he has publicly described it, however, is suggestive of a cap.
'I never use the word salary within one of cap,' he said last week.
Ultimately, Manfred believes he has heard the criticism and done what he promised: built a bridge to the current players. He thinks the union now does not want to reap what it sowed.
CAP carries a more star-studded roster than the union's own cadre of former players, issuing what appears almost a quiet challenge to the MLBPA to keep up. Besides Howard, Rollins and Sabathia, CAP includes Dellin Betances, Michael Bourn, Prince Fielder, Dexter Fowler, Jeremy Guthrie, LaTroy Hawkins, Adam Jones, Andruw Jones, Jason Kendall, Kenny Lofton, Jed Lowrie, Gary Sheffield, Denard Span, Nick Swisher, Justin Upton, Shane Victorino and Chris Young (the outfielder).
The public dust-up over CAP began at the start of July when two former players had a tense discussion on TV. Former big leaguer A.J. Pierzynski, one of the hosts of Foul Territory, asked pointed questions of Fowler during a long back-and-forth.
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'My question as a former player: What side are you on?' Pierzynski asked at one point. 'Because you work for the commissioner, and then so Rob's giving you his side, but then Tony and the union has a different side.'
'We're on baseball's side,' Fowler replied twice.
'I understand that, but there's two sides to it,' Pierzynski said.
'I don't think you have to pick a side,' Fowler said.
A short while later, Pierzynski asked Fowler why he didn't work for the union instead.
'We are,' Fowler said. 'Us going to talk to players is working with the union, right? … We're forming basically our own opinions on what is going on, and giving honest feedback to Rob about the player side, even the management side.'
About a week after Fowler's interview, Meyer, the players' lead negotiator during collective bargaining, appeared on Foul Territory and was asked about a wide range of labor-related topics, including CAP.
At the All-Star Game, The Athletic asked Pierzynski what prompted the line of questioning about the program.
'As a former player, I only know the player's side,' Pierzynski said. 'When you see players go work for the commissioner — I have no problem with Rob — but when you see that, I want to hear their side. And Dex was great. He was perfect with his answer, and I have no problem with it. I see where he's coming from, I see what he's doing: 'We're about growing the game, and that's it.''
But conversations about player relationships with management are always going to be touchy.
'Players try to unite, and then the owners want to unite,' Pierzynski continued. 'So I think it just gets complicated, it gets ugly because it's a negotiation like anything else. It shouldn't be that complicated, but it always ends up complicated.'
Said Clark in Atlanta: 'Once you're a part of the fraternity, you'll always be a part of the fraternity. There are challenges that we have to navigate.'
(Top photo of Rob Manfred and CC Sabathia talking before Game 1 of the 2023 World Series: Cooper Neill / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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New York Times
19 minutes ago
- New York Times
The 3 preseason San Francisco Giants predictions I wish I'd made
I once made a prediction that was accurate and amusing enough to be included on my Wikipedia page. Because of this, you might assume that I'm good at predictions. I am not. That was the only good prediction I have ever made. I am better at fixing transmissions than I am at making predictions, and you don't want me within 50 feet of your car. Advertisement It's probably for the best that I don't remember any of the predictions my corporate overlords forced me to make before this season, because I'm sure they're already shot to heck. What I do remember, though, are the educated guesses and half-baked hunches about the Giants that I had before the season. Some of them came close to happening. If I had any courage at all, I would have published them as predictions and ended up looking smart. I didn't. They're only the preseason predictions I wish I made. To be fair, I at least hinted at the idea in a predictions article, but that was even more wishy-washy than my normal stuff. These were the actual words that were in my brain all winter: This dude might struggle something fierce. Every time I clicked on his Baseball Savant page, it was like a blinking red siren. He wasn't just making weak contact; he was making some of the weakest contact in the league. He wasn't just swinging and missing; he had some of the worst strikeout and whiff rates in the league. Then there was his batted-ball profile, which has him as one of the most extreme pull hitters in baseball. It all adds up to the profile of a hitter the league will catch up with. Then you get to the evidence that the league already did catch up to him at the end of his breakout season: His OPS for September of last season was under .700, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was all cattywampus. It's a shame, because there's so much already right with him as a player. His speed, instincts, pull-side power and versatility are all helpful to a major-league team right now, which helps explain why Baseball-Reference's WAR still has him as the fourth-most valuable position player on the Giants this season, behind only Matt Chapman, Mike Yastrzemski and Willy Adames. He's still young, and there's still time for him to make the adjustments he needs to. Advertisement It was always unlikely for him to repeat what he did last year, though. It was unlikely for him to come close, even. That's pretty much what's happened. His OPS vs. lefties is 22 points lower than his OPS against right-handers this year, which is both great and horrible news, but his overall production is roughly the same. His adjusted OPS was 25 percent better than the National League last season, and it's 22 percent better this season. He's still as streaky as hitters get, but he's at least shown that last season's second half was just a slump, not a result of the league solving him. The caveat to all this is that I did not see the defensive calamity coming. There have been rough defensive patches for Ramos throughout his Giants career, but nothing like the rough defense he's shown all season. Ramos is between Fitzgerald and Christian Koss in WAR this season, according to Baseball-Reference, which gives you an idea of just how much Ramos' defense is hurting him. And I can't disagree with the numbers, either. They match the eyeball test, and the eyeballs hurt. Still, the offense is a welcome not-surprise. Ramos is a healthy part of a balanced lineup, just like he was last year. Not only is that welcome for this season, but the Giants can start expecting it for future seasons, too. I'd imagine there's quite the generational split among Giants fans when it comes to expectations for pitching prospects. In one corner, you have the old guard, the ones who spent decades expecting doom. Between the Bob Knepper trade in 1980 and Matt Cain's debut in 2005, there wasn't a more dangerous job on the planet than 'exciting young Giants pitcher.' Every time a pitcher would start to fly, they'd fly too close to the sun on shoulders made out of wax. Can you believe there was a time when the Giants had five starting pitchers in the top-100 prospects, including the best pitching prospect in baseball? Only one of them lived up to expectations, and only after he was traded for A.J. Pierzynski. It was always doom for the young pitchers. Doom, doom, doom. Advertisement And in the other corner, you have newer fans, who watched the Giants thrive beyond their wildest dreams because of young pitching. They understand that pitching is a cruel profession, and they know that success can be fleeting, but they're not terrified of young pitchers in general. Sometimes they work. Look at Logan Webb over there. Came up, got good, stayed good for a long time. What's the big deal? 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Except this prediction makes it in here because it's both correct and incorrect. Yes, Hayden Birdsong is caught in a developmental maelstrom right now, and Kyle Harrison is currently on the Pawtucket Red Sox, but Landen Roupp has been stellar. It's been enjoyable to watch his changeup develop as the season progresses, and you can see the curveball become even more effective the less he has to rely on it. Sometimes it's better to be wrong. Maybe there's a way to scoop this lobe of the brain out and replace it with something more optimistic. 'Oops! All Lincecums!' or something like that. I wish I were more wrong in public about the Giants' plan to rely on young pitchers, which I was quietly skeptical about. If the Giants make the postseason this year, young pitching will be a major reason why. Sometimes young pitchers end up helping, and they don't have to stop for a long time. (Top photo of Tyler Fitzgerald: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
New York Times
19 minutes ago
- New York Times
When he didn't pick Ichiro for Rookie of the Year, a writer became the story
CLEVELAND — In January, when the Baseball Hall of Fame balloting results were released, and Ichiro Suzuki was not a unanimous selection, a longtime Cleveland sportswriter was quick to clarify: It wasn't him this time. Chris Assenheimer of the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio, has been in that lonely position before — as the only voter to snub the prolific Seattle Mariners right fielder more than two decades ago, in the 2001 Rookie of the Year vote. Advertisement Twenty-four years ago, Ichiro captivated Major League Baseball with a sterling rookie season. Now, he's headed to Cooperstown as a near-unanimous selection, left off the ballot of only one anonymous voter out of a pool of 394. Ichiro said in January he wants to 'have a drink' and a 'good chat' with the sole dissenter who prevented him from becoming the second unanimous selection (along with New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera) in the history of the Hall of Fame. Assenheimer would love to take up Ichiro on his offer and reminisce over some Bud Lights about a similar ordeal nearly a quarter-century ago. Bud Geracie, longtime columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, wrote in a November 2001 piece: 'Chris Assenheimer is the guy who didn't vote Ichiro Rookie of the Year, and boy does he look like one.' That dig was scooped up by a wire service and printed in newspapers across the country, including the L.A. Times. 'The joke is,' Assenheimer says now, in his 29th season on the Cleveland baseball beat, 'he was somehow AL MVP but not a unanimous Rookie of the Year.' Ichiro couldn't have scripted a better first year in Major League Baseball. After nine seasons, three MVP awards and seven batting titles in Japan's Pacific League, he joined the Mariners, who paid the Orix Blue Wave about $13 million and guaranteed Ichiro another $14 million. He was the first position player from Japan to sign a big-league contract, and he wasted no time in delivering on it. 'You knew Ichiro was going to be a star,' Assenheimer said. With a .350 average, he joined Tony Oliva (1964) as the only rookies since the turn of the 20th century to win a batting title. He set a rookie record with 242 hits, the most by anyone since Bill Terry and Chuck Klein in 1930. Only Ichiro himself has eclipsed that total since, with his MLB-record 262 in 2004. Advertisement He became the second rookie to win MVP (Fred Lynn, 1975) as he fueled Seattle to a record-tying 116 wins under manager Lou Piniella. The Mariners, even after departures in previous years of Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, reached the ALCS, where they fell to the dynastic Yankees. The Mariners hosted the All-Star Game that July. Ichiro immediately emerged as one of baseball's central attractions. Forget about the Rookie of the Year race. Ichiro planted himself in the conversation about the top players in the sport. 'To me, it was common sense,' Assenheimer said. 'The guy was not a rookie.' Assenheimer stood in the Cleveland Indians' clubhouse one day during the 2001 ALDS — they were the Mariners' opening-round opponent, coincidentally — and discussed his recently submitted Rookie of the Year ballot with a colleague. He had placed Cleveland pitcher CC Sabathia first, Ichiro second and Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano third. The other writer shot him a look and said, 'You're going to get some s—.' During the second week of November 2001, Assenheimer traveled to Houston for an anniversary trip with his then-wife, staying with another couple they knew. He took a call from a colleague who wrote for the Associated Press. That reporter quipped it was 'the lowest point' of his journalism career as he informed Assenheimer he was the lone Sabathia backer and asked him for a quote for a story. Later that night, Assenheimer and his wife were lying on the couch, watching a late-night edition of SportsCenter when, as Assenheimer recalls, anchor Stuart Scott announced Ichiro had received every first-place tally but one, thanks to a rogue voter who instead opted for Sabathia. Scott turned to his broadcast partner, Linda Cohn, and asked where she thought that voter resided. Advertisement 'They were calling me a homer and then (Scott) ripped into a diatribe, looking into the camera,' Assenheimer said. 'He's like, 'Chris, get over yourself. Don't tell us what you think the rules should be. Vote how the rules are.'' When they mentioned Assenheimer by name, the couple they were staying with screamed from upstairs. A whirlwind few days of interviews and insults was soon underway. Assenheimer's stance is simple, one he maintains 24 years later: Ichiro was not a rookie. He was an accomplished, award-winning player in a different league on the other side of the globe who had taken his talents to North America. Here's the quote Assenheimer supplied the AP in 2001: 'I just felt that Sabathia better met the criteria of what a rookie is in the truest sense of the word. That's nothing against Ichiro.' Here's how he feels about it after 24 years of reflecting: 'He was a seven-time All-Star (in Japan). They gave him (and his team $27 million) to sign. It was ridiculous.' Here's the thing: Ichiro, who collected a $75,000 bonus for winning, actually agreed with him… to an extent. 'I was a little embarrassed to be called a rookie here in the United States,' he said through an interpreter at the time. 'I was so relieved today when I heard this announcement I won the Rookie of the Year award because I felt this was an award I should have won without any doubt. If I won this award, I had wanted to win unanimously.' The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published the headline, 'Ichiro honored, irked.' It takes a special set of circumstances for someone to feel both of those emotions simultaneously. Assenheimer's one regret is that he didn't omit Ichiro entirely. He placed him second, behind only Sabathia, who went 17-5 with a 4.39 ERA in his age-20 season. 'I'll remember his numbers forever,' Assenheimer said. 'I would've liked his ERA to be a little lower.' Advertisement Assenheimer didn't take the stand he intended to: that Ichiro didn't fit the qualifications of a rookie. Instead, his ballot made it seem like he thought Ichiro was simply the second-best rookie performer. 'I shouldn't have even put him on the ballot,' Assenheimer said. 'But I guess I was thinking, 'OK, well, this is what Major League Baseball is making me do, vote for this guy for Rookie of the Year. I'm still going to not vote him first place.' It had nothing to do with CC.' At the time, Sabathia disagreed with Assenheimer's reasoning. 'The award is for first-year players in the big leagues, and (Ichiro) is definitely deserving of it,' Sabathia said. 'There's not an argument about that at all.' Assenheimer's choice had his phone ringing for days. He conducted interviews with Cleveland newspapers, USA Today and local and national radio shows. He called in to the nationally syndicated Mike & Mike, and listeners bestowed upon him the 'Just Shut Up' award. A Seattle morning radio show skewered him during an interview. Geracie wasn't the only one to use Assenheimer's surname as low-hanging fruit to make light of the situation. Phil Mushnick of the New York Post devoted an entire column to it, though Mushnick actually sided with Assenheimer's explanation. Mushnick wrote: 'Through a translator, (Ichiro) said, 'I was a little embarrassed to be called a rookie here in the United States.' Hey, Ich, how would you like to be called Assenheimer?' When Assenheimer received a call from a Japanese newspaper reporter, he feared he was public enemy No. 1. Quite the contrary, she told him. The consensus thought in Japan, she said, was that it was disrespectful to deem Ichiro a rookie, given his accolades. Even with nearly a decade of feats in the Pacific League, Ichiro still amassed 3,089 hits in MLB. That's how he landed a spot in the Hall of Fame, alongside, of all people, Sabathia. The two will be inducted, with reliever Billy Wagner and, posthumously, sluggers Dick Allen and Dave Parker, on Sunday in Cooperstown. It wasn't me again, Ichiro. — Chris AssenheimerC-T (@CAwesomeheimer) January 22, 2025 Last summer, Sabathia was inducted into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame. It was pointed out to Sabathia that his lone Rookie of the Year supporter was in the room, so Assenheimer, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, asked Sabathia if he felt like he got robbed. Sabathia, perhaps changing his original tune, said 'Definitely. Ichiro was not a rookie.' Advertisement Ichiro and Sabathia were both elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, with Ichiro's lone holdout voter opting to keep their identity a secret. Assenheimer didn't have that option in 2001, but he had no qualms about taking ownership of his ballot. This time, Assenheimer could vote for both Ichiro and Sabathia. 'The whole thing just seemed silly to me,' Assenheimer said. 'I guess I could have just fallen in line like everybody else did. People were trying to say, 'You just want to be known.' That never crossed my mind. But it was fun to be out there.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Houston Astros / Getty Images, Otto Greule / ALLSPORT, David Maxwell / AFP via Getty Images)
New York Times
19 minutes ago
- New York Times
Aaron Judge is the world's best hitter. He's just as valuable to Yankees as a hitting coach
NEW YORK — The room is small, with several rows of long white desks and roller chairs, and a large projection screen in the back. It's steps away from the home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, a ballpark where nearly every wall serves as a screaming billboard for the club's storied past — yet the space feels sparse, like a classroom at a community college. Advertisement Fitting, since it's where Aaron Judge, the son of high school teachers, does some of his best work off the field. While Judge may be the best hitter in baseball, his teammates say his behind-the-scenes presence in daily hitters meetings — from the information he offers to the atmosphere he cultivates — is a key differentiator for the New York Yankees, owners of the third-best offense in MLB in terms of runs scored. It's one thing to watch Judge. But to get a look inside his brain? 'It's cool to see what his process is, what he thinks about when he's hitting,' catcher J.C. Escarra said. 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It's directly across from the entrance to the clubhouse and just steps away from the batting cages and nutrition area, which features a tall cooler filled with sports drinks and shelves with MLB-approved supplements. Judge always sits somewhere in the middle. His teammates pile in around him, some holding iPads packed with statistics and videos, others gripping paper plates filled with the gourmet pregame spread. Rowson provides the opening remarks, and his assistants Pat Roessler and Casey Dykes offer analysis along the way. Sometimes manager Aaron Boone and other coaches attend. Advertisement Judge observes with laser focus, teammates say. Despite leading the league in so many major offensive categories, including batting average (.345) and OPS (1.170), he knows he has to be as prepared as anybody around him, especially as he continues to grow into his Yankees captaincy, now in its third season. 'The homework he does is incredible,' Rowson said. 'He comes to a hitters meeting already informed, but he also comes to get more. He knows what he's trying to do, and then he wanted to hear other guys and what their plans may be. There's a lot of communication.' He also knows when to lend a hand and when to step back. 'Sometimes, it's, 'Let me speak up,'' Goldschmidt said of Judge. 'Sometimes, it's, 'Let me just boost the morale of the team or the confidence.'' Long gone are the days when players would stroll into the clubhouses a few hours before the game, take batting practice on the field and consider themselves ready for first pitch. Most teams lay out schedules that include multiple pregame meetings, and the Yankees are no different. Every series, Yankees relievers go over the other team's hitters together. Every day, the starting pitcher meets with the catchers and coaches to plan for that game's start. The hitters hold a meeting to discuss the entire upcoming series before it starts, and then they have another meeting before every game. The hitters meetings typically start on a light note. Moments before it begins, a music video plays on the projector, and the volume is cranked up. Before a recent weekday game, it was 'Shake Ya Tailfeather' by Murphy Lee. 'It keeps guys loose,' Rowson said. 'Get them to easygoing. Part of coming out here every day and going through the grind is having fun. You've got to want to show up every day.' How deep Rowson dives into the opponent depends on what he feels the Yankees need to know. He'll litter his presentations with heat maps, pitch percentages and video clips, but he'll mix in questions designed to get the hitters talking to each other. Advertisement 'A good hitters meeting is not just all the analytical numbers (Rowson) has,' second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said, 'but hearing from guys who faced (the pitcher) and just speaking on what they see, how the ball moves, the way that guy has attacked guys in the past.' When the meeting finishes, they're free to continue their pregame preparation, which usually includes on-field batting practice approximately 2 1/2 hours before the game. 'Everyone is going to need something different,' Goldschmidt said. 'I may not want or need what Judgey wants or what maybe other guys want.' 'They construct their own plans,' Rowson said. 'Every human takes in information differently. It's about learning what you need. Nobody can take in everything.' For Judge, it's 'just a good opportunity for us to share little things.' He also leans on experience. Entering Friday, Judge had faced 1,013 pitchers over his 10-year career, according to Baseball Reference. He had gotten at least one hit against 567 of them. 'Pretty much anyone we face,' Rice said, 'he's faced before or he's seen someone similar at the minimum. He's usually got something to offer up. It's never anything crazy. He does a good job simplifying, saying something that everyone can digest.' Goldschmidt, who ranks fourth among active players in career hits, said it's 'crazy' to think that Judge can be as good as he is and still actively want to help those around him all the time. 'It's so hard to perform individually, especially at his expectation level,' Goldschmidt said. 'To be able to do it individually, and still be able to impact others around you is another layer that makes it even tougher. He does a really good job of that.' Judge said he gets as much out of the meetings as he gives. He said he likes to lean on Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger — longtime National Leaguers — in particular when the Yankees face NL opponents. Sometimes young players have faced rookie pitchers in the minor leagues, and what they share can change a fellow hitter's at-bat, too. Advertisement Judge also wants to know his teammates' plans at the plate so he can watch their at-bats in real time and provide feedback if he notices something unusual with a swing, or if that hitter strays from his approach. 'Maybe they'll help me recognize a slider a little sooner,' Judge said. 'It goes a long way. Even for me, talking to Goldschmidt, I've seen guys in our division 15 or 20 times. I can throw him a tidbit, tell him that I'm trying to eliminate a certain pitch and focus on these two (pitches), or to focus on a certain zone.' And sometimes, talking to Judge leaves teammates smiling and shaking their heads. Of course, it might be easy for Judge to take certain information and immediately use it on the field. But for mere mortals? 'It's pretty funny,' Escarra said. 'He's so talented. I can be thinking the same things and getting different results. But it's cool being in the same room and talking hitting with him.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic. Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
