The Phillies met with Rob Manfred. Things got heated
The vibe from inside the clubhouse
The Opener
Rafael Devers is switching to first base for the Giants. Our long national nightmare is over.
The Brewers win streak ended at the hands of the Mariners. Logan Gilbert went far deeper into the game that Jacob Misiorowski, Cal Raleigh homered and that was that.
Diamondbacks superstar Ketel Marte’s home was burglarized while he was at the All-Star Game, the latest in a pattern of athlete home break-ins during big events. “Everyone is clear that it’s not a situation that we can feel good about. I’m losing about $400,000, and I think that’s a lot,” Marte told reporters. Very much agreed. That is a lot.
The Phillies meeting with commissioner Rob Manfred was “passionate”
By Hannah Keyser
Commissioner Rob Manfred has been meeting with each team annually since the last lockout ended with the 2022 collective bargaining agreement. This year, the meeting with the Phillies clubhouse, which took place on Monday, got especially heated. The Bandwagon spoke to Nick Castellanos about the content and the tenor of the conversation, other Phillies declined to comment.
Manfred detailed his outreach strategy at an Atlanta Braves investor event late last month. As relayed in The Athletic, his appeal to the players “this year, it’s really pretty pointed.”
“The strategy is to get directly to the players,” Manfred continued. “I don’t think the leadership of this union is anxious to lead the way to change. So we need to energize the workforce in order to get them familiar with or supportive of the idea that maybe change in the system could be good for everybody.”
In other words, Manfred is endeavoring to drive a wedge between union leadership and the rank-and-file ahead of negotiations. The ominously named Commissioner’s Ambassador Program, or CAP, which consists of high-profile former players on the league’s payroll who often attend these meetings along with Manfred is part of that plan.
The Phillies roster includes a lot of well-paid veteran players who are in a better position to push back than, say, a younger or more transient clubhouse might. Evidently, some of that happened in the hour-long meeting with the commissioner earlier this week.
Castellanos, who said he was among the more vocal players in the meeting, gave The Bandwagon some insight into the vibe of the conversation:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Bandwagon to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.