Texas Rangers’ Todd Frazier wants action against Houston Astros
While all of sports wants Rob Manfred not only fired but also deported to Pluto, one man in this entire Houston Astros flap bravely hides while he should bearing more of the burden.
If the majority of players are this upset about the non-punishment of the Houston Astros, they must look past MLB boss Rob Manfred. Look at Tony Clark.
The former Detroit Tigers first baseman is the executive director of the MLB Players Association, the most powerful union in the United States. It’s a union built on the likes of men such as Marvin Miller and Donald Fehr. Clark has some explaining to do.
This is a union issue as much as it is a baseball issue.
“Guys have talked about it, the union represents all of us,” veteran Texas Rangers third baseman Todd Frazier told me on Thursday. “Take away the World Series. Make them give their rings back. I don’t know. Vacate the title; they didn’t earn it.
“I don’t know exactly what needs to happen, but I know they got to do something. If they don’t it’s a travesty.”
There isn’t a break in the union ranks, but there is tension Clark must address. What Frazier and other players are telling Clark is that they want the Astros to get theirs.
When I reached out to the MLBPA about Clark’s availability, it responded: “Tony is tied up in player meetings for the next several days and not doing interviews, but we have a media availability tentatively scheduled for early Saturday afternoon at our hotel in Palm Beach Gardens.”
He should have done this weeks ago.
This isn’t player against owner/league. This is union brother against union brother. The only way to punish the Astros is if the players OK it, and that means Tony Clark has to oversee it.
The only reason Astros such as Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and the rest were not penalized is a collective bargaining agreement that prevents Manfred from exercising the type of punishment associated with fellow sports commissioners such as Roger Goodell and Adam Silver.
The only reason Manfred didn’t bother attempting to punish Astros players is because he was going to lose every single grievance case that Clark and the union would have filed on behalf of the suspended players.
Manfred, Clark and all of baseball’s suits misread the outrage and reaction.
“They disrespected the game, and they disrespected us,” Frazier said. “Every player in the union, they disrespected every single player by cheating. If you’re going to cheat, you don’t deserve to be a part of the game.”
When Clark makes his annual visit to the 30 clubs this spring, some of these meetings could be quite long. His chat with the Los Angeles Dodgers could take all day.
Clark needs to explain that this CBA is to protect all of them, even the guys who cheat.
This is virtually the same thing that made then-MLB commissioner Bud Selig powerless to penalize the guilty during the steroids era.
If the United States Congress had not called baseball to Washington in 2005 and blasted the union for essentially allowing rampant steroid use, the union would not have agreed to put in penalties against users.
The only way the union moved against steroids was because players were tired of being lumped all together; they wanted action.
With that as a precedent, the only way Manfred can penalize the Houston Astros is negotiate punishments with Clark.
Frazier, and so many other big leaguers, are giving Clark the go ahead.
“They kicked Pete Rose out of the game for forever when he should be in the Hall of Fame,” Frazier said. “These guys cheated the game and they’re not even getting 10-game suspensions. That’s a joke to me, and to a lot of people.
“If they (MLB) don’t do something the game is going in the wrong direction, and it’s not fair for us. And it’s not fair to the union to be put in that spot.”
It’s one thing to deal with a constantly critical media that will complain about winning the lottery. It’s another thing to answer to union-paying members who demand justice against their own.
Clark is not an idiot, but this is not the time to be silent.
He needs to quit hiding and explain some of this because Rob Manfred is not the only one who made this all possible.
