Union chief Clark offers support for Desmond, Zimmerman

VIERA, Fla. - Major League Baseball Players Association chief Tony Clark said it was "disheartening" to watch Ian Desmond's unemployment saga play out this winter and into the start of spring training and suggested the sport's qualifying offer system that contributed to it would be a point of emphasis during his coming bargaining negotiations with the league.

In town this morning for the union's annual spring meeting with Nationals players, Clark spoke glowingly about Desmond and was bothered by the fact he remained unsigned until accepting a one-year, $8 million offer from the Rangers earlier this week.

"It is disheartening to think that a player of Ian's caliber would have a difficult time finding a job," Clark said. "I don't think it's good for the industry, on any level, to have players of that caliber - both on and off the field - having a difficult time finding a job. I won't admit it, but I'm going to admit it: I've always enjoyed Ian, watching him play. I do think he is one of the best players in the game. So to watch his course of action, how things played out this offseason, to say it was disappointing is an understatement."

Desmond entered the offseason universally regarded as the top shortstop on the free-agent market, fully expecting to have a choice of long-term contract offers. He declined the Nationals' $15.8 million qualifying offer in November, a decision that left any club that did ultimately sign him to have to forfeit a draft pick. Teams proved reluctant to do that in exchange for a player who after winning three consecutive National League Silver Slugger Awards saw his production drop in 2015, right as he was about to enter free agency.

The Nationals, who made Desmond a long-term extension offer in 2014 that would have paid him a total of $107 million through 2020, had no serious discussions with him this winter.

The qualifying offer system, which was incorporated four years ago when the last CBA was negotiated, has become a significant point of contention since. Desmond's case might have been the tipping point, and Clark expects it to be among the biggest issues in the next round of negotiations later this year.

"I think any time you sit down at the table and realize that there are pieces of a system in place that are detrimental to both player and club, it's worthy of more dialogue," he said. "If the player finds himself having challenges and there are clubs who want to make decisions with respect to their roster, but because the system's in place they're having a difficult time making the decision about how to do certain things, that brings everybody to the table to see how you can make it better. I would anticipate that happening, along with a number of other topics worthy of more discussion in an effort to try to keep the industry moving forward."

Clark also offered his reaction to this winter's Al Jazeera America documentary that accused Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman of receiving performance enhancing drugs from a pharmacist caught on hidden camera who later recanted his claim. Zimmerman (and Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard) have since filed a defamation suit against Al Jazeera.

The union has no formal role in this matter because MLB itself is not involved, but Clark expressed support for Zimmerman and hopes this incident will help serve as a reminder for the importance of a stronger relationship between players and media.

"For me, I run the range of agitation, disappointment when we talk about the climate that we're in now with respect to media and information and the value of accuracy versus first," Clark said. "The concerns are there, as it relates to Zim or any other player. And the fact that it doesn't ... a level of professionalism that suggests: 'Before I write this, maybe I should double-check. Or before I announce this, I better be close to 100 percent certain that it's accurate, instead of offering something publicly and then offering a snapshot at the bottom of some page at some time of recanting. Oh, I was wrong. My bad. Sorry about that.' "