Alex Rodriguez Calls for MLB Players to Accept Salary-Cap System Amid Mets Bid

Alex Rodriguez is still working on becoming an MLB owner, but his thought process on revenue sharing has him squarely opposite his former colleagues.

During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Rodriguez advocated for a salary cap in baseball, a notion long seen as the ultimate non-starter for the players' union.

"The only way it's going to happen is if they get to the table and say the No. 1 goal, let's get from $10 to $15 billion and then we'll split the economics evenly," Rodriguez said while discussing how to raise MLB's popularity. "But that's the type of conversation instead of fighting and fighting against each other because there's too much competition out there right now."

The comments come as the former New York Yankees third baseman continues his bid to become an owner of the New York Mets. 

Major League Baseball remains the only one of the four most popular North American sports leagues without a salary cap, which allowed Rodriguez to significantly expand his wealth during his playing days. 

In 2000, he signed with the Texas Rangers for the richest contract in baseball history at the time: 10 years, $252 million. He would top that seven years later after opting out and agreeing to a 10-year, $275 million deal with the Yankees. 

Rodriguez's comments sparked quick condemnation from the MLB Players' Association.  

"Alex benefited as much as anybody from the battles this union fought against owners' repeated attempts to get a salary cap," union head Tony Clark said in a statement, per ESPN. "Now that he is attempting to become an owner himself, his perspective appears to be different. And that perspective does not reflect the best interests of the players."

Though Rodriguez's proposed solution isn't going over well with players, he's attempting to tackle a problem that has long troubled baseball: how to stay relevant in an entertainment market with more consumer options than ever. 

It's the type of mindset Major League Baseball may admire in a new owner, even one who opposed the league during the players strike in 1994-95. But the longtime infielder noted things have changed since the strike. 

"Then we had a stranglehold on professional sports. Baseball was 1," Rodriguez said. "Today the NBA has become an international conglomerate, NFL's a juggernaut. Back then there was no Netflix, there was no Snapchat, there was no Disney+, ESPN+ and everything they're doing to attract their attention. So today we have to really work collaborative, with the players and the owners, to say how do we compete together to become No. 1?"