Phillies’ Harper, MLB commissioner go ‘nose-to-nose’ in dispute over MLB salary cap proposal

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper isn’t a fan of any proposed salary cap that could limit high-earning MLB players.

The two-time MVP stood “nose-to-nose” last week with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and told the executive to “get the f—- out of our clubhouse” if he proposed a salary cap, ESPN reported on Monday.

Tensions reportedly rose during a team meeting with the commissioner before the Phillies played the Red Sox in Philadelphia last week. Mr. Manfred visits each MLB club during the season to speak with players, the report said.

The commissioner did not directly reference a salary cap, but Harper was apparently frustrated by discussions of the league’s finances.

“It was pretty intense, definitely passionate,” Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos told ESPN. “Both of ’em, the commissioner giving it back to Bryce and Bryce giving it back to the commissioner. That’s Harp. He’s been doing this since he was 15 years old. It’s just another day. I wasn’t surprised.”

Speaking before Philadelphia’s game Monday at the Chicago White Sox, Harper did not dispute the published descriptions of his confrontation with Manfred.

“I won’t be getting into the details of what happened or how I felt or anything else like that,” Harper said. “I don’t think it does any good for anybody for that to happen. So, for me, I just, you know, trying to worry about baseball, trying to worry about everything in here.”

Harper said he will remain vocal about labor issues behind closed doors.

“Obviously, I don’t want that to happen in those meetings,” Harper said. “I don’t want those things to be out there. I think, you know, when we have meetings with the commissioner or anybody else that comes to our clubhouse, those are good meetings to have.”

MLB is the only one of the four major North American sports that does not implement a salary cap for teams. The result? Booming salaries for the league’s top players.

New York Mets slugger Juan Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million deal this offseason. Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani inked a 10-year contract worth $700 million in 2023. Harper agreed to a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies in 2019.

The biggest contracts are typically offered by clubs in premier markets, like the Mets and Yankees in New York and the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Some concerned fans and owners worry that “small-market” clubs like the Tampa Bay Rays or Pittsburgh Pirates are left at a disadvantage.

“I am really cognizant of it, and I’m sympathetic to fans in smaller markets who go into the season feeling like they don’t have a chance in the world to win,” Manfred told the New York Times in April. “I think our game turns on fans having hope when you enter the season. I think it’s a really important issue that we need to pay attention to.”

To ostensibly level the playing field, league and team officials started to float the idea of a salary cap earlier this year. Players have long been opposed to the idea.

The proposal will likely be a hotly contested issue as players and owners negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.

“No one’s talking about it, but we all know that they’re going to lock us out for it, and then we’re going to miss time,” New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso said at this month’s All-Star Game. “We’re definitely going to fight to not have a salary cap and the league’s obviously not going to like that.”

The current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, 2026.

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.