NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Commissioner Rob Manfred is declaring victory after Major League Baseball and the head of the players union publicly traded barbs last month over the slow pace of the offseason free agent market.
On Feb. 6, Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, blasted owners, saying, "This year a significant number of teams are engaged in a race to the bottom." MLB quickly fired back, saying in a statement: "It is the responsibility of players' agents to value their clients in a constantly changing free agent market based on factors such as positional demand, advanced analytics, and the impact of the new Basic Agreement. To lay responsibility on the Clubs for the failure of some agents to accurately assess the market is unfair, unwarranted, and inflammatory."
Talking to WFAN's "The Afternoon Drive" on Wednesday, Manfred said, "When you look back at what happened, it's pretty clear which of those comments was correct.
"Our player market cleared, just like it clears every year," the commissioner added. "It cleared a little later, and it cleared with some players taking less money than they thought they were going to get. But you know what, that's markets, right? They go up, and they go down."
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Manfred said it's unfair to suggest owners are intentionally fielding losing teams while they rake in profits. He said some teams that are being accused of tanking are taking a "multiyear approach to winning," which is different than "saying somebody's not trying to win."
When WFAN's Chris Carlin noted that the number of teams with payrolls under $100 million has doubled from four to eight over the past two years, Manfred said that's a byproduct of teams shifting toward younger players and making more sophisticated projections for players.
"Having said that, we still spend half of our revenue on our players, just like we have for the past decade," Manfred said.
To listen to the interview, click on the audio player above.
