With spring training in full swing, MLB players hope for 'more positivity toward the game' from commissioner Rob Manfred

VENICE, Fla. — Rob Manfred made a startling admission while announcing the end of baseball's bitter labor battle last week: He's failed in his role as a diplomat to players.

The acknowledgement was stunning enough that famously polite Atlanta Braves starter Charlie Morton nearly laughed when told about it.

«The commissioner said that?» Morton asked.

Indeed, he did. And it prompts a thornier question: What can Manfred do to prove he's sincere about mending this rancorous marriage?

«One of the things that I'm supposed to do is promote a good relationship with our players,» Manfred said Thursday, after the end of baseball's 99-day lockout. «I've tried to do that. I think that I have not been successful in that.»

It's perhaps the one point on which Manfred and players agree.

«To just put it bluntly, he doesn't do anything for us,» St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright said. «I know how that's going to read, so Commissioner Manfred, don't take it personal. That's just how it looks from a players' standpoint.»

It may be hard for fans scarred by labor strife to remember, but player relations was once Manfred's specialty. He was elected commissioner by Major League Baseball's 30 owners in 2014 partly because of his record of maintaining labor peace over more than a decade as the league's lead negotiator.

Cracks quickly emerged in that foundation. The sport's collective bargaining agreement negotiated in 2016 prompted a slowdown in free agency. A mysterious change to the baseballs spurred a spike in home runs. Astros players evaded punishment after stealing signs en route to a 2017 World Series title, and in defending his investigation, Manfred referred to the championship trophy as a «piece of metal.» He apologized days