Overview
- Allan Walsh said on the Agent Provocateur podcast that a deputy to Rob Manfred told Harper, "That's how people end up in a ditch."
- Walsh acknowledged he was not present and said his account relies on unnamed people who claimed to witness the exchange, providing no tangible evidence.
- Reports describe Harper confronting Manfred during a July clubhouse visit about league economics, telling him to "get the (expletive) out of our clubhouse."
- Sources say the meeting concluded with a handshake, though Harper reportedly did not take Manfred’s calls the following day.
- Coverage frames the episode within mounting friction over ownership proposals for a salary cap as the MLB–MLBPA collective-bargaining agreement approaches its Dec. 1, 2026 expiration.