Major League Baseball has a somewhat surreal way of complimenting the team that does the most to help the league accomplish its goals in salary arbitration hearings, and the MLB Players Association views it as a sign of disrespect between the two sides.
On Friday, a report from Marc Carig of The Athletic revealed that MLB teams get together for a conference after every season to discuss salary arbitration, and they award a replica championship belt — known simply as “The Belt” — to the team that they believe did the best during the arbitration process. By that, they mean the team that did the most to keep arbitration salaries for players as low as possible.
Not long after the report was published, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark unloaded on the league.
Executive Director Tony Clark issued the following statement in response to the revelation in The Athletic’s story today that MLB awards a “championship belt” to the club that does the “best job” in arbitration: pic.twitter.com/4x8OezF3PF
— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) March 29, 2019
The relationship between MLB and the MLBPA seems to be close to rock bottom, and the two sides have pulled no punches when discussing the recent state of free agency. While it’s obvious that the goal of teams in arbitration is to keep salaries low, the concept of “The Belt” seems incredibly immature and antagonistic. Clark’s reaction is hardly a surprise.
