With MLB possibly headed toward a labor dispute, President Donald Trump sided firmly with the owners on Friday, stating his support for a salary cap.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, according to USA Today, Trump said of MLB, “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.
Apparently referring to the 1994-95 players strike, the last time baseball owners sought to institute a salary cap, Trump said, “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.”
Baseball’s current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, and the MLB Players Association is firmly opposed to any form of a salary cap.
MLB owners made their latest stance public last week, featuring a $245.3 million salary cap but also a $171.2 million salary floor. According to USA Today, the cap is less than the payroll of eight teams this year, but the floor is about the current wage bill of 12 teams.
Trump is a former sports team owner. His New Jersey Generals were part of the USFL from 1983-85, featuring such notable players as Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie.
