As Major League Baseball faces potential labor tensions, President Donald Trump expressed strong support for team owners on Friday by endorsing the implementation of a salary cap system.
During remarks made while traveling on Air Force One, as reported by USA Today, Trump commented on MLB’s situation, saying “If you don’t have a salary cap, you don’t have a sport, because they can’t help themselves. Football has a salary cap. (MLB) should have done it a long time ago.”
The president also referenced the 1994-95 work stoppage, when team owners previously attempted to establish salary restrictions, stating “It’s shocking, frankly, that they didn’t put a cap on many years ago. They had a chance to do a cap but they blew it.”
The league’s current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Dec. 1, while the MLB Players Association maintains strong opposition to any salary cap proposal.
Team owners recently revealed their negotiating position, which includes a proposed $245.3 million salary cap combined with a $171.2 million salary floor. USA Today reports that while the proposed cap falls below the current payrolls of eight teams, the floor exceeds the present spending levels of 12 franchises.
Trump brings personal experience as a former team owner, having operated the New Jersey Generals in the USFL from 1983-85, a franchise that included prominent players such as Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie.
