Rob Manfred did not make his name in baseball as a former player, as a general manager or team president or team owner, or as a marketing or broadcasting executive.
Manfred, the commissioner, made his name as a labor lawyer. On his watch a quarter-century of labor peace collapsed last December, when owners locked out players. And, in a dramatic move late Sunday night, the Major League Baseball Players Assn. declared its intention to represent minor league players.
If enough minor league players agree, Manfred and the major league owners would no longer decide for themselves how much minor leaguers should be paid. Collective bargaining would also determine if minor leaguers should continue to be bound to the major league team that signed them for as long as seven years, and what standards should be set in areas from housing and nutrition to licensing and merchandising.
