Jul 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper (3) against the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
The Phillies clubhouse never opened up before last Monday's game against the Boston Red Sox. It was known that commissioner Rob Manfred was meeting with the team. We've since learned how contentious the meeting was.
Hannah Keyser of The Bandwagon provided some context on what took place in the meeting last week. ESPN's Jeff Passan got even more explicit in detailing things Monday, including highlighting a contentious exchange between Bryce Harper and Manfred:
"While Manfred never explicitly said the words "salary cap," sources said, the discussion about the game's economics raised the ire of Harper, one of MLB's most influential players and a two-time National League MVP.
"Quiet for the majority of the meeting, Harper, sitting in a chair and holding a bat, eventually grew frustrated and said if MLB were to propose a cap and hold firm to it, players "are not scared to lose 162 games," sources in the meeting told ESPN. Harper stood up, walked toward the middle of the room, faced up to Manfred and said: "If you want to speak about that, you can get the f--- out of our clubhouse."
"Manfred, sources said, responded that he was "not going to get the f--- out of here," saying it was important to talk about threats to MLB's business and ways to grow the game."
Ultimately, Passan's story says that Nick Castellanos got the conversation back on track during the most heated part of the conversation, and that Harper and Manfred did shake hands at the end of the meeting. Interestingly, though, the two-time NL MVP declined to take phone calls from Manfred the following day, according to Passan's reporting.
The full story is worth your time, and our goal in writing about this is not to just rephrase every detail of someone else's story, but rather to continue to further the discussion.
It does feel like we are heading towards an even uglier work stoppage than the one that lasted more than three months during the offseason prior to the 2022 campaign. The owners locked the players out at that time, and a similar lockout following the 2026 season — when the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire — feels inevitable. Whether there are actually games missed this time remains to be seen, though there does seem to be a feeling around the sport that could be the case.
What may ultimately be the determining factor if games — or even the season — is missed might be whether all the owners are united. We know that owners like Bob Nutting in Pittsburgh and Dick Monfort in Colorado are hell bent on getting a salary cap. But will Phillies' managing partner John Middleton be willing to hold the line on missing games or even a season to get a salary cap? What about Steve Cohen of the Mets, or Mark Walter of the Dodgers?
Of course, if the owners do hold the line, they always will have the advantage over players. First of all, they are all billionaires, or damn close. Secondly, unlike players, there isn't a finite amount of time they can own a team and make money for. If players miss a full season, they never get that back. And many players from this era have already lost the ability to add to their numbers because of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Players always have more reason to cave in CBA negotiations than owners.
But this story indicates that Harper — one of the faces of baseball — isn't prepared to go down without a fight. During the last lockout, Harper's former teammate and fellow Scott Boras client Max Scherzer became the face of negotiations for the players. Could Harper be at the forefront this time?
