Clark to DR players: “Prepare for the worst” – El Caribe Newspaper

The senior director of the Players Union was in the country recently

Tony Clark paid a visit to the country at the beginning of this month and held two meetings with Dominican players to make them clear about the reality of the negotiations between players and the Major Leagues for a new labor agreement.

The executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Union was terse in summarizing the situation. “We hope things work out, but prepare for the worst, the association is prepared for the worst,” a source close to the union that brings together Major League Baseball players told CDN and CDN Deportes. The source revealed that the meetings were held at the El Embajador hotel in Santo Domingo.

The first meeting took place last Thursday, February 3, with the presence of 49 players, while the following day only eight high-profile players were called, including some of the Dominicans who are members of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.

In 2001, 94 Dominican players were part of the opening day rosters of the 30 teams that make up the major leagues.
Last Saturday, the owners of Major League teams made a new proposal to the players, but they did not come out very optimistic from the meeting in which said proposal was presented to them, according to several publications.

An agreement is not expected to be reached in the next few days and that would delay the start of the preseason and with them the regular season, scheduled to start on March 31.

After various proposals and counterproposals, the parties do not appear to be close to an agreement and it is only known that they agree on the implementation of the universal designated hitter, a measure that grants 15 additional jobs. One of the most benefited in this measure is the Creole Nelson Cruz, who has been the most prominent designated in recent campaigns. The native of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Montecristi, has 449 home runs in his Major League career.