The players are out fighting against MLB and its owners for the rights that previous generations built for them. In our chat with former Dodgers general manager Fred Claire, he discusses some of the perceived divide between “rich” players and minimum salary players.
Moreover, if you ask Fred, there isn’t a divide. Young players aren’t looking at veterans with disdain, they just hope to be there themselves one day! But paramount to all 40-man roster players in these critical negotiations on whether baseball will return or not is the service time. Sure the money is important heading toward the end of the current collective bargaining agreement, but players do not want to lose a full year of service time in their prime.