Even Dodgers fans are rolling their eyes at Rob Manfred's response to CBA negotiations

On Wednesday, the MLB Players Association presented their first proposal in Collective Bargaining Agreement talks with MLB. The union had a number of ideas, including a "competitive integrity tax" that would penalize teams that spent less than $150 million, effectively establishing a salary floor; an increase in the minimum salary; and an increase in the CBT threshold from $244 to $300 million.

MLB and ownership shot back on Thursday to do what everyone's been dreading. They proposed a salary cap at $245.3 million, with a floor at $171.2 million. A lockout in 2027 is now all but guaranteed.

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, commissioner Rob Manfred defended MLB's proposal.

"Our payroll gap from top to bottom is $446 million. That's not a fair fight," he said. "And the numbers really bear out that it's not a fair fight. If you have a high payroll, you're much more likely to make the playoffs. And if you have a high payroll, your chances of going to each of the successive rounds are massively higher than a low payroll club. And fans want competition. That's what it's about at the end of the day, and we need to get that one fixed."

That's pretty rich coming from a guy who absolutely loves how much money the Dodgers have made the league.

Rob Manfred defends MLB's long-awaited salary cap proposal as baseball heads toward a lockout

The claim of "it's not a fair fight" is coming from a guy who has repeatedly defended the Dodgers' right to use dramatic deferrals to their payroll's advantage, because the Dodgers playing well is in the game's best interest. Baseball is absolutely humming along right now, in large part because of the exponential growth it's seen internationally over the last few years. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and the Dodgers are not the only reason for that, but they're an undoubtedly integral part of it.

Manfred can talk out of both sides of his mouth all he wants, but Dodgers fans know the truth. He'll defend the Dodgers until he actually has to deal with the owners and work as a spokesman for them.

A work stoppage would be the worst thing for the game, when it has more momentum now than it has in years. There's still a few months before the CBA actually expires, but it's not looking good for anyone right now.

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