Phillies' Bryce Harper concerned over MLB lockout ramifications - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Fear of a tense, prolonged fight over Major League Baseball's new collective bargaining agreement were only exacerbated when owners and players unveiled their initial proposals earlier this week.

The MLB Players' Association sought advances to the current economic system, including increases to the minimum salary, higher luxury-tax thresholds and an expansion of the pre-arbitration bonus program unveiled during the last labor fight. The league, representing its 30 owners, pitched something entirely different: a strict cap-and-floor system, similar to that of the NHL, and a 50/50 revenue split with players.

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper, a two-time MVP and one of the most influential voices on the players' side, said he wasn't surprised by the league's salary cap pitch but expressed concern over what could happen to the sport if the 2027 season is compromised because of it.

«We're coming from two different areas, but we both have to understand our game is in a great position right now to succeed, and we can't lose that momentum,» Harper told ESPN from Dodger Stadium on Sunday morning. «We can't lose that momentum as players. We can't lose that momentum as owners. So wherever we're at — whatever they're coming with, whatever we're coming with — you have to come to an agreement before any of that happens because there's other things to do. It's not like '94, where there was nothing else to do. It's not just, 'Oh, baseball's here.' No, there's a lot of other things to do than just watch baseball.»

The last time MLB pushed for a salary cap, it led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, a point raised by MLBPA interim executive director Bruce Meyer in his response to the league's