Overview

• Harper stood nose to nose with Manfred in the Phillies clubhouse on July 28 and told him to “get the f--- out” when the commissioner broached the subject of a hard salary cap.
• Manfred refused to leave and stressed the need to discuss threats to baseball’s business model and competitive balance during one of his annual 30-team meetings.
• The hour-long session concluded with a handshake, but Harper declined to return Manfred’s phone calls the following day, highlighting strained player-commissioner relations.
• Owners from the Dodgers to the Marlins have publicly advocated for a cap to narrow the more than $300 million payroll gap between top-spending and low-budget clubs.
• MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark has labeled a salary cap “institutionalized collusion,” marking it as a union red line ahead of the December 2026 bargaining deadline.