Tony Clark issues forceful response to Rob Manfred about free-agent signing deadline

During a Thursday afternoon appearance on New York sports radio station WFAN, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred once again suggested the league could benefit from a free-agent signing deadline each offseason. 

MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark offered quite a passionate response to Manfred's comments to The Athletic's Evan Drellich on Friday morning.

Is MLBPA open to discussing a possible free-agent signing deadline?

"Free agency thrives when competition thrives — on and off the field," Clark said. "If the owners are genuinely interested in improving free agency, there are many ways to get there, and we look forward to having that discussion in the coming months. But if their true interest is to blow up the very system on which our streak of uninterrupted seasons has been built — with the game reaching record heights and poised to go even higher, no less — that would be a self-defeating miscalculation of massive proportions." 

As Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report shared, a total of six free-agency signings that passionate and casual MLB fans would refer to as "exciting" occurred this offseason from Nov. 6 through the midway point of December. To compare, the bulk of top-tier NFL free agents are almost always scooped up by teams within the first week of the new league year each March. 

Clubs such as the New York Yankees have received criticism from fans and analysts alike for this "boring" MLB offseason. Even in the New York City market, where MLB generates sports-talk radio discussions 12 months a year, the Yankees and New York Mets have been overshadowed by conversations about the New York Giants' next head coach. 

Scott Boras reacts to potential free-agent signing deadline proposal

As Drellich noted, the MLBPA rejected proposals for free-agent signing deadlines during previous collective bargaining agreement negotiations. It sounds like history will repeat itself before (and probably after) the current CBA between the parties expires on Dec. 1, 2026. 

"The sole purpose of deadlines (is to) simply restrict competition and deny players the true market," big-name agent Scott Boras told Drellich. "Our current rules allow for ultimate roster construction and the best possible team for a season. (A deadline is) not for competition reasons. Every owner wants the opportunity for time to allow him to respond to changes by his competitors. That’s why there have been many significant signings more in late January, February and March, because owners have responded." 

In short, any proposed free-agent signing deadline is likely just another thing MLB owners and the MLBPA will fight about as an upcoming work stoppage becomes more and more inevitable.