Buster Olney relays the gist of conversations held during the recent General Managers meeting about fixing the draft. Money quote:
And there is a strong belief on the side of management that a slotting
system can be completed, because the union will embrace the idea — so
long as the Players Association is guaranteed, in some fashion, that
more money will be spent on major league players. How this happens
remains to be seen, but there are agents convinced that the interests
of the draft-eligible traded will be swapped out for the interests of
the union veterans.
I was always inclined to believe that too, simply because there were so many veterans on record taking issue with the size of draft bonuses and that it makes sense that they would be willing to negotiate away the rights of amateurs if they got something for themselves. But that changed when Michael Weiner referred to the idea of hard slotting as “a salary cap” in his introductory press conference last month. The term “salary cap” is a rallying cry for the union. Always has been. The owners know this, and they have publicly abandoned any effort to impose one because they know the union will gladly strike over it and will likely win. Again.
I don’t think enough people have taken notice of Weiner’s use of that term — Olney doesn’t make any mention of it — and for that reason, I think they are underselling just how hard the union is preparing to fight the imposition of hard slotting for the draft.
