Former MLB Union Official Gene Orza Weighs In On Latest Labor Strife, Says Players More United Than Ever

The 1994 Major League Baseball players’ strike was in full force, a work stoppage that would wipe out the World Series that fall and spill into the ‘95 season.

There was some dissension in the union ranks as the strike dragged on, Gene Orza remembers now, but at one point, veteran pitcher Scott Sanderson — who was near the end of his career — stood up before a gathering of about 250 players during a Players Association meeting in California.

“(Sanderson) said, ‘Show of hands, how many here want for the players that come after us to get less than we received?’ Not one hand went up,” says Orza, the former chief operating officer for the MLB Players Association, and who was present at that meeting. “I turned to a colleague of mine and whispered, ‘The clubs are really in trouble.’ When it comes to collective bargaining, (players) have a responsibility to those who come after them, because the current players are beneficiaries of those that came before them.”

Orza, who retired from the players’ union in 2011 after a 26-year tenure there, says he believes that during this current baseball labor dispute — commissioner Rob Manfred locked out the players starting December 2 after the last collective bargaining agreement expired — the union’s roughly 1,200 members are even more resolute about making a stand against management.

The recent week-long negotiating summit in Jupiter, Florida ended up with no new CBA.

“First of all, the makeup of the player core with respect to work stoppages is radically different than it has ever been,” says Orza. “And they’ll deny it, but the clubs have always thought that the players are stupid. The owners have all this money and the players don’t, so the owners think, ‘We must be smarter.’

“They underestimate the intelligence of the players.”

Despite Manfred telling reporters earlier this year that MLB franchises are a risky investment, the public and players have seen the colossal growth in the value of clubs, with jewel franchises like the New York Mets being sold to hedge fund titan Steve Cohen for a record $2.4 billion in 2020, and even a small-market franchise like the Miami Marlins selling for $1.2 billion in 2017 to a group that included Hall of Fame Yankee Derek Jeter. (Jeter last week announced he was stepping down from his Marlins CEO post and giving up his minority stake in the team).

Orza says that owners are only getting exponentially richer, too, with MLB establishing business partnerships with sports wagering companies like DraftKings, a concept that would have seemed unheard of not long ago, in the aftermath of all-time hit king Pete Rose’s 1989 lifetime ban from baseball for betting on the sport.

“Players see the new revenue stream by MLB’s association with gambling. The Cubs are building what amounts as a casino,” says Orza, referring to an announcement last August that the Commission on Chicago Landmarks had approved plans to build a sportsbook adjacent to storied Wrigley Field.

“The players see all of those things, and they’re not going to say, ‘Let’s negotiate like we’re in 1994,’” says Orza. “It will be, ‘Let’s negotiate where we are today.’ And where we are today is (owners) are making a fortune and players are getting salary decreases. That can’t be right.”

One of many issues the two sides are at odds over is the competitive balance tax, what Orza calls a code name for a salary cap. The union has historically fought any salary cap, and the players’ union in these latest negotiations has proposed much-higher CBT thresholds for the next five years: according to The Athletic, the union wants a 2026 threshold of $263 million, for example, while the owners want $230 million in ‘26. The league has stood firm on its lower figures during the negotiations.

Manfred announced March 1 the cancellation of the first two series of the 2022 season after the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement for a new CBA. Orza says the players’ commitment to the union’s position will now be tested since paychecks are being lost.

“In a diabolical way, the loss of games will contribute to a sooner resolution to this dispute, I think,” says Orza. “Now there is a reason for people on both sides of the negotiating aisle to reconsider the degree to which their constituents are committed to their positions. Clubs do not want to give up what they gained in the last two negotiations, and players are saying, ‘We have the right to get back what we want because of what happened to you guys. You’re making money hand over fist.’

“Franchise values are through the roof. It’s a matter of basic fairness.”

That sentiment of fairness for players was echoed by veteran pitcher Max Scherzer after the talks ended in Florida with no deal in place and regular-season games wiped off the schedule. Scherzer said he was willing to fight for the players in the minor leagues and the generation of players that come after Scherzer is done pitching.

“It’s not about me; it’s about everybody else,” Scherzer said, according to a New York Times report. “And I’ve seen what happens to the other guys, and I’m willing to fight for those guys, and willing to sacrifice my salary to make sure that they can make the most that they can.”

Orza, who began working for the MLB Players Association in 1984 as an associate general counsel, says a similar sentiment to Scherzer’s was expressed by a superstar player back in the 1980s, when baseball work stoppages were more common.

“In December, 1980 Dave Winfield signed a contract that made him not only the highest-paid player, but guaranteed he would always be the highest-paid player for the duration of the contract,” says Orza of the Hall of Fame Winfield’s 10-year, $23-million contract. “Work stoppages in 1981, 1985 and 1990 had no impact on what Winfield received. He could have abolished the union and he still would have gotten paid.

“And yet, Winfield was one of the strongest advocates to young players. He told me, ‘I got what I got because of the guys who went before me. I don’t want to be known as the guy who took it away from the guy coming after me.’ And he would talk to young players and tell them the need to stay solid with the union.

“The Winfield contract history and his position on union matters goes a long way to explaining where the heads of players are. It still has resonance.”