May 01--The Cubs maintained third baseman Kris Bryant was kept at Triple-A Iowa at the start of the season because he needed more work on his defense, not because 12 days at Triple-A Iowa would give them rights to Bryant for seven years instead of six.
No one believed them, and on Friday Commissioner Rob Manfred said the Cubs had every right to keep Bryant in the minors for that extra year.
"I was surprised by the controversy for the simple reason that this has been an issue that has been discussed and vetted at the bargaining table in multiple rounds (of CBA negotiations)," Manfred said during a trip to Wrigley Field.
"Whenever you have a seniority base system, which is what we have in baseball, which is something the union has always been in favor of, you're going to have lines.
"When you have lines, smart people are going to manage around those lines. We've been open and transparent about that. It's one of the rights the club has. Obviously what the Cubs are trying to do there is to maintain their ability not to be competitive on any single day, but to be competitive over a period of time."
Manfred spoke to both teams on Friday before addressing the media. He discussed several topics, including the tampering charges against the Cubs for signing manager Joe Maddon away from Tampa Bay.
The Cubs were cleared of any wrongdoing.
"We did a very thorough investigation," he said. "I think it was probably the most thorough investigation that had ever been done of tampering in major league baseball, and at the end of the day, there was no finding of a violation."
Manfred also said playing the White Sox-Orioles game at an empty Camden Yards on Wednesday was the best option. The historic game was the result of the unrest in Baltimore, and MLB cited safety concerns for not allowing fans to enter.
"Look, we considered a variety of possibilities" Manfred said. "We thought it was really important in terms of the integrity of the schedule to have one more game played in Baltimore. When you have an out-of-division opponent and it's once to Baltimore, once to Chicago, getting one of those games out of the way is a big deal.
"Obviously we made a huge compromise, that is having no fans in the ballpark in order to do that."
Why was nearby Nationals Park, which was available, not explored?
"It was explored," he said. "The idea of opening somebody else's ballpark for one game without tickets sold was not appealing to anybody, not to either team."
Of course, the Cubs and Astros played a game at Miller Park in Milwaukee in 2008, with tickets sold, when MLB was forced to relocate games from Minute Maid Park due to Hurricane Ike.
Either way, the White Sox were unfairly penalized even though the postponements weren't their fault. They have to return to Baltimore for a doubleheader on May 28th in the middle of a long road trip.
"It's no different from a rainout," Manfred said. "The reality of the situation is this- we had a crisis in Baltimore and we had to do the very best we could with less than ideal circumstances to get the games played in a way that doesn't disrupt the competition, and we think we did that."
One of topics of local interest was the Wrigley Field renovations and how it has affected fans and neighbors. While Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts still has yet to address the opening night bathroom disaster, where fans waited for almost an hour in line and some fans left urine-filled cups on the concourse, Manfred came to the Cubs' defense.
"When you have a project as massive as this, you're going to have little bumps in the road," Manfred said. "I think the Cubs did a really good job making the necessary adjustments, and move forward."
The Cubs' adjusted by installing port-a-potties in the concourse.
