Yesterday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander became the latest high-profile MLB player to use social media to push back on the excuses being made to explain away the frigid free-agent market. He took specific aim at the false idea that teams who are in a rebuilding phase can’t be bothered to try and sign stars like Bryce Harper or Manny Machado:
This particular instance of a player making a pro-labor argument on social media came with the added bonus of attracting former Marlins president and shitbag billionaire David Samson, who crashed into Verlander’s mentions with the force of a powerful, squealing fart:
The good news is that Samson only set himself up to be scolded by one of his former players, Christian Yelich:
Verlander and Yelich are not the first players to get in on this game, and as vile Duke fan Emma Baccellieri wrote at Sports Illustrated, they are exercising a power that has previously been unavailable to professional athletes who found themselves locked in management disputes with owners. Leagues and owners have historically had the advantage of being able to guide the media narrative around such disputes, but now players are able to use social media to make their arguments directly to fans rather than hoping that a pro-labor writer or publication will make it for them. They should keep doing it.