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Thursday, November 17, 2022

The Athletic: MLB investigating whether Mets, Yankees communicated improperly about Aaron Judge: Sources [$]

Major League Baseball is investigating whether comments attributed to Mets sources about the team’s reluctance to pursue free-agent outfielder Aaron Judge constitute a violation of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.

An article published on the Mets’ television network’s web site Nov. 3 said the Mets would not bid against the Yankees for Judge. Details in the story caught the attention of the Players Association, which asked the Commissioner’s Office to investigate whether improper communication occurred between the respective owners of the clubs, according to sources briefed on the situation….

Recent CBAs specifically prohibit the sharing of information on player contracts, saying, “Players shall not act in concert with other Players and Clubs shall not act in concert with other Clubs.” The league in its investigation is expected to request that Mets owner Steve Cohen and Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner provide records of any phone, text and email conversations that took place between them during the period in question.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 17, 2022 at 10:31 AM | 9 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: aaron judge, mets, yankees

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1. The Duke Posted: November 17, 2022 at 11:57 AM (#6105921)

Good for the union. I don't know if this Mets them any money but they need to be vigilant making the teams avoid table talk. Nothing like a big fine to reteach this lesson.

2. cHiEf iMpaCt oFfiCEr JE

Posted: November 17, 2022 at 12:00 PM (#6105923)

An article published on the Mets’ television network’s web site Nov. 3 said the Mets would not bid against the Yankees for Judge.

The Mets down own the "Mets' television network," SNY. The Wilpons do.

3. Walt Davis Posted: November 17, 2022 at 01:14 PM (#6105929)

It's not the first time MLBPA has barked up this tree but published rumors about which FAs a team will or won't pursue are common so that ship sailed long ago.

4. JRVJ Posted: November 17, 2022 at 03:02 PM (#6105945)

I'm not understanding how the Yankees communicated improperly in this case, other than Cohen and Steinbrenner being amicable to each other.

Was it because they had their TVs turned on to SNY or something?

5. Karl from NY Posted: November 17, 2022 at 03:25 PM (#6105952)

This is a nitpick, but it's the sort of legal nitpick that sometimes turns cases like this. The CBA language doesn't prohibit "sharing information", it says the clubs "shall not act in concert." It doesn't matter if the Mets told the Yankees anything, what matters is if the Yankees acted in some way on that information. That's how this non-lawyer would read it.

It's like the common misperception about employment law, where people think that asking about age or religion or whatever is illegal. It's not - what's illegal is making decisions based on that information. Of course the easiest way to prove to a belligerent lawyer that you didn't act on some information is to never possess that information. So basically every company never asks, but doing so is not illegal.

6. Nasty Nate Posted: November 17, 2022 at 03:38 PM (#6105956)

Karl, do you think the Mets are allowed to call the Yankees and tell them they won't make an offer on Judge? I can't think of a way to prove whether or not such a call affected the Yankees' actions.

7. Karl from NY Posted: November 17, 2022 at 03:42 PM (#6105958)

I think they are, though of course with the caveats that I don't know if there's any other language more powerful than "shall not act in concert", or how any other cases set any precedent.

The burden of proof would be on the accuser, which seems to be MLB. The way you'd prove it would be to audit internal communications, as they're doing.

8. Nasty Nate Posted: November 17, 2022 at 03:51 PM (#6105961)

Thanks.

9. The Duke Posted: November 17, 2022 at 03:58 PM (#6105964)

It's a lot like CEOs going on squawk box and saying "I don't think we are going to lower prices on XYZ product". It's signaling and tells your competitors we aren't lowering, you shouldn't either. If an exec on the Mets goes to the TV reporter and says we aren't bidding on judge - it's the same type of thing. And it hurts Judges market in two ways. It gives the Yanks leverage and may also impact what other teams do.

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Thursday, November 17, 2022

The Athletic: MLB investigating whether Mets, Yankees communicated improperly about Aaron Judge: Sources [$]

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