LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch doesn’t want baseball owners to have the freedom to spend more money on players, and he opposed Major League Baseball’s final offer sent Tuesday to the Major League Baseball Players Association.
The players’ union rejected, leading to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s cancellation of regular season games. The MLB’s lockout continues without an end in sight.
Ilitch was one of four owners against the offer, along with Bob Castellini (Cincinnati Reds), Ken Kendrick (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Arte Moreno (Los Angeles Angels), according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich.
The MLBPA seeks a luxury tax threshold of $238 million in 2022, $244 million in 2023, $250 million in 2024, $256 million in 2025 and $263 million in 2026. MLB’s offer: $220 million, $220 million, $220 million, $224 million and $230 million.
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Baseball doesn’t have a salary cap, but if a team spends over the Competitive Balance Tax threshold, the team is taxed on those expenses. The players believe the threshold acts as a de facto salary cap.
“The CBT, raising it is good for competition,” Tigers catcher Tucker Barnhart told the Free Press this week. “There’s a real advantage to our game when teams can spend more money and have the ability to spend more money without as harsh of repercussions.
“I don’t think we’re setting out as a union to try and make everybody pay every dollar they have. Rebuilding is going to happen, that’s obvious. Saving money is going to happen, that’s obvious. Tanking, in my opinion, is going to happen. It’s inevitable, in my opinion. We’re not trying to go out and have 30 teams spend all the money that they can. What we’re after is — if there are 15 teams actively spending money and trying to win, as a union, what we’re trying to do is take that 15 number and make it 20. I think that helps competition.”
But Ilitch wasn’t even interested in a $220 million luxury tax threshold. His late father, Mike Ilitch, was a big spender when he controlled the Tigers and spoke publicly about his willingness to spend beyond the threshold.
“I’m supposed to be a good boy and not go over it,” Mike Ilitch said in 2015, “but if I think there are certain players that could help us a lot, I’ll go over it. Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.”
The younger Ilitch has taken a different stance following his father’s passing in February 2017.
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In 2021, the CBT threshold was $210 million. Two teams — Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres — went over and received tax penalties. The Tigers were at $103 million last season, ranking 23rd among the 30 teams, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
Before the MLB lockout, the Tigers refused to sign one player for more than $300 million. Free-agent shortstop Carlos Correa, seeking a contract of at least 10 years and $300 million total, was passed on for shortstop Javier Baez, who signed with the Tigers for a six-year, $140 million deal.
“Our goal is not to be good one time but to be good over the course of time,” Christopher Ilitch said in November, before signing Baez. “We really are shooting for sustainable success and competitive baseball over time. We’re going to be mindful of that as we look at contracts going forward.”
Forbes valued the franchise at $1.26 billion one year ago.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.