The MLB has been accused of aggressively pushing for a salary cap system, with the union responding: Do you still remember the outcome last time?

The MLB collective bargaining agreement will expire at the end of this year, prompting both parties to enter fresh negotiations, with a salary cap system likely to be a central topic. The baseball world is preparing for the potential impact of a lockout on next season, with some pessimists predicting the entire season might be lost.

The last labor negotiations kicked off in April, and this year they are anticipated to commence around the same period. However, before talks officially begin, both sides have already exchanged public statements through the media, with the salary cap being the most frequently mentioned subject. Recently, when asked if implementing a salary cap would be the deciding factor for whether talks progress this year, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred placed the blame on the players’ union.

“You should ask (players’ union president) Tony Clark about that, seriously,” Manfred said. “Before I became commissioner, I was responsible for labor relations. Neither I nor the side I represented ever publicly declared ‘this is absolutely unacceptable’ before submitting the first proposal to the other party. I believe starting negotiations in such a hardline manner is excessive.”

Manfred implied that the players’ union repeatedly rejected the salary cap before negotiations even began, causing the talks to stall. In response, The Athletic’s reporter Evan Drellich reported that the union has issued a statement emphasizing that it is the league that is trying to force players to accept the salary cap system.

“Players and fans both want a full baseball season,” the union stated in response to Drellich’s inquiry. “While the league and team owners claim they want to avoid lost games, they are clearly determined to force players to accept the system they proposed last time, which resulted in the highest number of games ever canceled and even the World Series being called off.”

The league last proposed a salary cap during the 1994 labor negotiations, which led the players’ union to strike on August 12, ending the season prematurely and canceling the World Series. The strike lasted 232 days until a court ruled that the owners could not use replacement players, and both sides agreed to continue under the terms of the original agreement, allowing the players to return in April 1995. However, the 1997 labor agreement introduced the competitive balance tax, commonly known as the luxury tax.