Full disclosure: This started out as a follow-up to my last article about Rob Manfred and his authority to mandate a season. The point of this follow-up was to present a perspective on the issue from some players and from some people that talk to other, well-placed people in MLB front offices. For all the hate Tony Clark has received since taking over leadership of the MLBPA, he brought forth a master stroke when he positioned the players in united front of, “Tell us where and when.”
Frankly, the move gave the players both a great deal of power and washed them clean in the court of public relations.