罗纳德·布鲁姆 密尔沃基报道 —— 棒球运动员工会负责人表示，球队老板今夏提出的薪资上限方案是一颗“核弹”，而球员们对大联盟主席罗布·曼弗雷德认为棒球运动繁荣所必需的那种经济体制毫无兴趣。
RONALD BLUM MILWAUKEE — Baseball’s union chief said the owners’ proposal of a salary cap this summer was a “nuclear bomb” and players have no interest in the type of economic system Commissioner Rob Manfred maintains is needed for the sport to thrive.
在密尔沃基酿酒人队与坦帕湾光芒队于周五在美家庭球场一垒侧休息区附近分别举行媒体见面会后不久，这两支大联盟薪资总额排名后半段的球队，时隔35年再次在世界大赛中相遇。
Shortly before the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays opened the first World Series in 35 years between small-payroll teams in the bottom half of big league spending , players’ association head Bruce Meyer and Manfred held separate media sessions Friday near the first base dugout at American Family Field.
棒球劳资协议将于12月1日到期，届时管理层预计将立即对球员实施停摆。这一劳资纠纷可能威胁到2月9日春训热身训练的开始以及3月24日揭幕战的进行。
Baseball’s labor contract expires Dec. 1, and management is expected to immediately lock out the players. That work stoppage could threaten the start of spring training workouts on Feb. 9 and opening day on March 24 .
梅耶说：“联盟和老板们再次将关注点放在并非比赛的精彩之处、并非球员的精彩表现、并非季后赛的精彩对决上，而是基本上在告诉消费者他们的产品坏了，这真是有点悲哀。”
“It is kind of sad that the league and the owners have once again been focusing not on the greatness of the game, not on the greatness of the players, not on the greatness of the playoffs, but they’ve been focusing on basically telling the consumers of their product that their product is broken,” Meyer said.
截至8月31日，密尔沃基队薪资总额排名第19位，坦帕湾队排名第25位。酿酒人队时隔40年（自1982年以来）首次闯入世界大赛，正在争夺队史首冠，光芒队同样在寻求首个冠军。
Milwaukee ranked 19th in payroll as of Aug. 31 and Tampa Bay 25th. The Brewers, in the Series for the first time since 1982, are seeking their first title, as are the Rays.
曼弗雷德说：“我们已经40年没在这里了。每40年一次是远远不够的。并不是说小市场球队不能赢，只是这种情况相当罕见。”今年有三支低薪资球队杀入联盟冠军赛：坦帕湾队在美联冠军赛中淘汰了薪资总额最少的克利夫兰队；密尔沃基队在国联冠军赛中淘汰了财大气粗、两届卫冕冠军洛杉矶道奇队。梅耶表示，这些球队的成功证明现行经济体制行之有效。
“It’s been 40 years since we’re here. Once every 40 years is not enough,” Manfred said. “It’s not that no small market can win, it’s just that it’s pretty rare.”Three low-payroll teams reached the League Championship Series this year: Tampa Bay eliminated Cleveland, which has the smallest payroll, in the ALCS. Milwaukee eliminated the deep-pocketed, two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Meyer said the success of these teams shows the current economic system works.
他说：“海盗队完全没有理由做不到酿酒人队和光芒队所做到的事情。完全没有理由，对吧？”
“There’s no reason whatsoever that the Pirates can’t do what the Brewers have done or what the Rays have done. None whatsoever, right?” he said.
密尔沃基在大联盟球队市场规模中排名第30位，坦帕湾排名第15位。虽然工会将此作为现行制度行之有效的证据，但曼弗雷德声称这些对决恰恰说明了为何需要变革。
Milwaukee is ranked 30th among MLB teams in market size and Tampa Bay 15th. While the union points to this as evidence the current system is working, Manfred claimed the matchups showed why change is needed.
“从来没人说过经济差异能完美决定结果，”他说。“如果你看数据，我们的大市场球队在进入季后赛、以及在季后赛走得更远方面，拥有非常显著的统计学优势。”大联盟的提案将以奢侈税薪资为依据，把2027年的支出上限定在2.453亿美元，并限制单名球员薪资不得超过球队总薪资的15%。自由球员合同总额将在六个赛季内封顶2.65亿美元——远低于胡安·索托与纽约大都会队签下的创纪录的7.65亿美元、15年合同。
“No one ever said that differences in economics are perfectly outcome-determined,” he said. “If you look at the data, our larger markets have a very statistically significant advantage in terms of making the playoffs and going deeper into the playoffs.”MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million using figures for luxury tax payrolls, and limit a player to 15% of a team’s payroll. Free agents would be capped at $265 million over six seasons — far under Juan Soto’s record $765 million, 15-year deal with the New York Mets .
由于管理层的所有提案都与薪资上限挂钩，梅耶宣称“其余全是闹剧”。这些提案包括让部分球员提前一年获得自由球员资格、将常规赛缩减至154场以及增加季后赛场次。
Because all of management’s proposals are tied to a cap, Meyer claimed “the rest of it is a charade.”Those proposals have included granting some players free agency a year sooner, shortening seasons to 154 games and adding postseason games.
“即使没有他们要求薪资上限这一‘核弹’级要求，这也将是一次艰难的谈判，”梅耶说。
“This would be a tough negotiation even without their demand for the nuclear bomb of the salary cap,” Meyer said.
“这种认为老板需要薪资上限、薪资上限能以某种方式保证竞争平衡和球迷参与度的乌托邦的观念，根本站不住脚。完全讲不通，”他补充道。“我们应该珍惜并推广现有的优势，而不是试图将其推翻。”大联盟1994年曾提出薪资上限，结果引发了长达7个半月的罢工，导致世界大赛90年来首次取消。
“This notion that the owners need a cap and that a cap would somehow guarantee this utopia of competitive balance and fan engagement, it’s just not true. It makes no sense at all,” he added. “We should be appreciating and promoting the things that we have now instead of trying to tear it down.”MLB proposed a salary cap in 1994, and it led to a 7 1/2-month strike that caused the World Series to be canceled for the first time in 90 years.
“首先，球队所有者们之间达成了前所未有的共识：我们必须采取行动，让自己能够像北美其他所有大型职业体育联盟那样运作，”曼弗雷德说道。“其次，对我来说更为重要的是，我们的球迷调查结果也表明了一个明确的方向：我们确实存在问题，而球迷们认为实施工资帽制度是解决这个问题的关键。”迈耶驳斥了那些认为工资帽制度有助于维护竞争平衡的观点。
“Number one, we have an unprecedented level of unanimity among ownership that this is something that we need to do, that we need to get ourselves in a position to operate like all the other major professional sports in North America,” Manfred said. “Secondly, and even more importantly to me, our fan polling, and we do it regularly, has moved hard in the direction of the fact that we have a problem and that our fans see a salary cap as the answer to that problem.”Meyer dismissed the argument that a cap would benefit competitive balance.
“这一切其实都是出于他们想要通过增加利润和提升球队价值来获取更多利益的动机——而这些利益他们并不需要与球员分享，”他说。“这与竞争平衡无关，也与球队是否还有发展希望无关。他们的真正目的，从几十年前就一直未变，就是希望建立一个能够人为压低球员薪资、限制球员流动自由、取消球员的保障条款，并在各个方面削弱球员权益的体系。其他所谓的‘改进措施’都只是表面文章罢了。”迈耶还表示，将即将到期的五年合同延长一个赛季会非常复杂。
“All of this is really about their desire to make more money in the form of profits and increased franchise values, which they don’t have to share with players,” he said. “It’s not about competitive balance. It’s not about teams not having hope. It’s about, again, their desire, which they’ve had for decades, to have a system that artificially suppresses player salaries and player freedom of movement, removes player guarantees and limits flexibility in all different areas, guts the amateur entry system. The rest of it is a charade.”Meyer said it would be complicated to extend the expiring five-year contract for another season.
“我想凡事皆有可能，不过目前还没有相关讨论，”他说，“他们似乎对现有的体系并不满意，所以我不确定他们为什么会同意继续维持现状。即使从理论上讲，各方能够达成一致并继续维持现状，实际操作起来也会非常困难。那么，最低工资标准会如何调整？奢侈税的收入会如何分配？球员仲裁机制又会如何变化呢？”球员们提议扩大自由球员市场的规模、增加球员的仲裁权利，同时将职业联赛的最低工资标准提高近一倍，并让高收入球队向收入较低的俱乐部分摊更多资金。
“I suppose anything’s possible. There’s been no discussion about that,” he said. “They don’t seem to like the current system, so I’m not sure why they would agree to continue that. Even, theoretically, if the parties agree, let’s continue some version of the status quo, it’s easier said than done. What happens to the minimum salary? What happens to the luxury tax proceeds? What happens for the pre-arb pool?”Players have proposed expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum salary and increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs.
“布鲁斯·迈耶并不愿意维持现状；事实上，他已经提出了许多关于改进现有体系的建议，”曼弗雷德补充道。
“Bruce Meyer’s not prepared to do a status-quo deal and the fact of the matter is he’s made a lot of demands about improvements that they want,” Manfred said.
双方一直在讨论大联盟球员参加2028年洛杉矶奥运会的可能性。
The sides have been discussing the possibility for big league players to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“我们认为球员理应享有某些权利，作为这个级别的运动员，他们理应期待某些待遇，”梅耶说。“就目前而言，我们并未得到满意的答复。”曼弗雷德表示，2028年赛程的编排工作通常会在1月启动。设想中的方案是延长全明星赛间歇期，以便大联盟球员能够出战奥运会。
“There are certain things that we believe players should be entitled to, things that they expect as the level of athlete that they are,” Meyer said. “As of now, we’re not getting satisfaction.”Manfred said work on the 2028 schedule typically would start in January. An extended All-Star break is envisioned to allow big league players to appear in the Olympics.
曼弗雷德表示，棒球界正在关注美国曼哈顿联邦检察官办公室和证券交易委员会对道奇队老板马克·沃尔特的调查，该调查源于一份举报投诉，指控其商业投资组合内部公司之间存在涉嫌虚假陈述的贷款往来。
Manfred said the sport is paying attention to an investigation into Dodgers owner Mark Walter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission following a whistleblower complaint regarding alleged misrepresented loans made between companies within his business portfolio.
“一如既往，每当有调查、执法部门介入等情况，我们都会予以关注，目前我们正处于这一阶段，”曼弗雷德说。点击此处查看美联社完整的MLB报道
“As always when we have an investigation, external law enforcement, whatever, we monitor that and that’s where we are right now,” Manfred said. See AP’s full MLB coverage here