MILWAUKEE (AP) — Baseball's union chief said the owners' proposal of a salary cap this summer was a “nuclear bomb" and players have no interest in the type of economic system Commissioner Rob Manfred maintains is needed for the sport to thrive.
Shortly before the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays opened the first World Series in 35 years between small-payroll teams in the bottom half of big league spending, players' association head Bruce Meyer and Manfred held separate media sessions Friday near the first base dugout at American Family Field.
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Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, speaks with Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy prior to Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Baseball's labor contract expires Dec. 1, and management is expected to immediately lock out the players. That work stoppage could threaten the start of spring training workouts on Feb. 9 and opening day on March 24.
“It is kind of sad that the league and the owners have once again been focusing not on the greatness of the game, not on the greatness of the players, not on the greatness of the playoffs, but they’ve been focusing on basically telling the consumers of their product that their product is broken,” Meyer said.
Milwaukee ranked 19th in payroll as of Aug. 31 and Tampa Bay 25th. The Brewers, in the Series for the first time since 1982, are seeking their first title, as are the Rays.
“It’s been 40 years since we’re here. Once every 40 years is not enough," Manfred said. “It’s not that no small market can win, it's just that it’s pretty rare.”
Three low-payroll teams reached the League Championship Series this year: Tampa Bay eliminated Cleveland, which has the smallest payroll, in the ALCS. Milwaukee eliminated the deep-pocketed, two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Meyer said the success of these teams shows the current economic system works.
“There’s no reason whatsoever that the Pirates can’t do what the Brewers have done or what the Rays have done. None whatsoever, right?” he said.
Milwaukee is ranked 30th among MLB teams in market size and Tampa Bay 15th. While the union points to this as evidence the current system is working, Manfred claimed the matchups showed why change is needed.
“No one ever said that differences in economics are perfectly outcome-determined," he said. “If you look at the data, our larger markets have a very statistically significant advantage in terms of making the playoffs and going deeper into the playoffs.”
MLB’s proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million using figures for luxury tax payrolls, and limit a player to 15% of a team’s payroll. Free agents would be capped at $265 million over six seasons — far under Juan Soto’s record $765 million, 15-year deal with the New York Mets.
Because all of management's proposals are tied to a cap, Meyer claimed “the rest of it is a charade.” Those proposals have included granting some players free agency a year sooner, shortening seasons to 154 games and adding postseason games.
“This would be a tough negotiation even without their demand for the nuclear bomb of the salary cap,” Meyer said.
“This notion that the owners need a cap and that a cap would somehow guarantee this utopia of competitive balance and fan engagement, it’s just not true. It makes no sense at all,” he added. “We should be appreciating and promoting the things that we have now instead of trying to tear it down.”
MLB proposed a salary cap in 1994, and it led to a 7 1/2-month strike that caused the World Series to be canceled for the first time in 90 years.
“Number one, we have an unprecedented level of unanimity among ownership that this is something that we need to do, that we need to get ourselves in a position to operate like all the other major professional sports in North America,” Manfred said. “Secondly, and even more importantly to me, our fan polling, and we do it regularly, has moved hard in the direction of the fact that we have a problem and that our fans see a salary cap as the answer to that problem.”
Meyer dismissed the argument that a cap would benefit competitive balance.
"All of this is really about their desire to make more money in the form of profits and increased franchise values, which they don’t have to share with players," he said. “It’s not about competitive balance. It’s not about teams not having hope. It’s about, again, their desire, which they’ve had for decades, to have a system that artificially suppresses player salaries and player freedom of movement, removes player guarantees and limits flexibility in all different areas, guts the amateur entry system. The rest of it is a charade.”
Meyer said it would be complicated to extend the expiring five-year contract for another season.
“I suppose anything’s possible. There’s been no discussion about that,” he said. “They don’t seem to like the current system, so I’m not sure why they would agree to continue that. Even, theoretically, if the parties agree, let’s continue some version of the status quo, it’s easier said than done. What happens to the minimum salary? What happens to the luxury tax proceeds? What happens for the pre-arb pool?”
Players have proposed expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum salary and increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs.
“Bruce Meyer’s not prepared to do a status-quo deal and the fact of the matter is he’s made a lot of demands about improvements that they want," Manfred said.
The sides have been discussing the possibility for big league players to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“There are certain things that we believe players should be entitled to, things that they expect as the level of athlete that they are,” Meyer said. “As of now, we’re not getting satisfaction.”
Manfred said work on the 2028 schedule typically would start in January. An extended All-Star break is envisioned to allow big league players to appear in the Olympics.
Manfred said the sport is paying attention to an investigation into Dodgers owner Mark Walter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission following a whistleblower complaint regarding alleged misrepresented loans made between companies within his business portfolio.
“As always when we have an investigation, external law enforcement, whatever, we monitor that and that’s where we are right now,” Manfred said.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, speaks with Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy prior to Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Bruce Meyer, interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association speaks on the field before Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to block certification of the Senate race in Alaska if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses while another candidate with the same name is on the ballot. That's sparking fears of a lengthy battle between the U.S. government and states over certifying an election where President Donald Trump's party is struggling.
In Ohio, the backlash over a campaign advertisement attacking Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, has spread beyond the state’s borders. The ad features Acton’s estranged mother calling her “a liar.”
Trump posted on social media Thursday that Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad was “hitting pay dirt” and that Acton was “fair game.”
Trump’s aggressive defense of Ramaswamy practically guarantees that more of his party’s candidates will face questions about the issue. Acton's mother lost custody of her children after her husband was indicted for raping Acton.
Here’s the latest:
The State Department says it will reduce staffing at four U.S. embassies in the Middle East, not including Saudi Arabia where nonessential diplomats and family members were ordered to leave earlier this week.
The staffing changes — driven by concerns that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels may escalate rocket, missile and drone attacks around the region — will affect the embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates but do not entail an order to leave, the department said.
The embassies involved are all under what is known as “restricted operations” status that has already reduced the size of their personnel footprints. The embassies will remain open.
House Democrats’ campaign arm has unveiled five new digital ads targeting 42 districts across 20 states where nonwhite voters will help determine outcomes. The $1 million ad campaign, shared first with The Associated Press, hits Republicans on inflation, especially on gas and groceries, and on Trump’s aggressive immigration tactics.
Latino voters are seeing an add titled, “Pledge,” depicting federal agents’ mass deportation efforts and a voiceover saying, “Republicans broke their promise to America.”
Asian American and Pacific Islander voters are targeted with an ad about grocery prices, while young AAPI voters will see a distinct 15-second clip.
Black voters are seeing a spot on gas prices featuring Trump saying, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation.”
The ads will reach Republican-held and Democratic-held districts in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Collins is the only Republican senator from New England and is running against Democrat Troy Jackson in Maine.
The White House said products including plywood sheets, packing crates and some kinds of machinery would be exempted from the 50% tariffs that were applied to Canadian products earlier this year.
Collins said in a statement that the exemption is important because many farmers in the state “rely on specialized equipment, packaging materials, and other products from Canada that are either unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense.”
The president called the health secretary on stage in Florida as he talked about what the administration calls its ‘America First Seafood Strategy’ intended to boost U.S. fisheries.
According to the White House, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will make $5 billion in guaranteed loans “to expand American dominance in modernized meat and seafood processing.”
The administration also is:
The White House specifically cited the intended boost to Maine’s lobster industry.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins is locked in a tight battle for reelection in Maine. The seat is critical to determining control of the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January.
For 90 minutes, the president rolled through a list of his administration’s accomplishments, imploring voters, “you must vote Republican” in the midterm elections.
He also called on the crowd to back GOP candidates in the state’s contests, particularly U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, and Sen. Ashley Moody.
This weekend, Trump’s midterm campaign blitz heads to Georgia and Michigan, home of two of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.
Trump called Moody and Donalds to the stage separately and both praised the president for his job performance and his support for their campaigns.
Moody urged Floridians to help Republicans hold majorities on Capitol Hill to “continue that fight for you.”
“It’s like a UFC fight on the White House lawn,” she said.
Donalds told Trump he was proud to support his presidential campaigns.
The congressman has carefully navigated the economic realities of Trump’s second presidency. He hasn’t blamed Trump for inflation but he’s built his general election bid around a promise to address Floridians’ economic struggles.
Even standing next to the president, he promised to make Florida “more affordable.”
The president says his administration will spend $250 million to boost the nursing home work force in underserved areas.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Friday that it would dedicate $100 million, less than the figure the president quoted, with states committing $175 million for total program of $275 million.
The initiative is expected to support 4,000 nurses nationwide. Nursing students and licensed nurses will qualify for up to $40,000 in student loan repayment or a $10,000 stipend in exchange for a three-year-commitment to serve in a qualifying nursing home in a rural area or another area with a nursing labor shortage.
The money will come from civil penalties collected by CMS and state Medicaid agencies from nursing homes.
The administration previously faced backlash for trying to cap student loan amounts for nurses, among some other professions. But a federal judge put those changes on hold in June.
A group of bipartisan lawmakers has urged the Pentagon immediately restore Ukraine’s access to the Starshield satellite internet system used to intercept Russian strikes.
In a letter released Friday, six Democrats and two Republicans told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that he should “ensure that Ukrainian forces maintain access to satellite communications at speeds and service levels.”
They said in the letter dated Thursday that it should include “connectivity over Russian territory where necessary to support Ukraine’s lawful military operations.”
The release comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was still experiencing Starlink and Starshield speed restrictions. The Trump administration has offered conflicting explanations as to who is responsible for the slowdown in the Elon Musk-built satellite internet system.
Trump on Friday brushed off questions about the role Musk played in the disruptions and declined to comment on who ordered the restrictions.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom told fellow Democrats “it’s all on the line” as he urged party members to help win five additional U.S. House seats to allow Democrats to claim the majority next year.
President “Donald Trump’s presidency ends as we know it on Nov. 3, as long as we do our job,” Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential contender, said to cheers at a San Francisco rally.
State voters last year approved new congressional district boundaries intended to tilt five additional seats to Democrats to thwart Trump’s maneuvers in Texas and other Republican states to gain more seats and maintain the GOP’s fragile hold on House control.
Referring to Trump’s GOP, Newsom said, “These guys are not screwing around and nor can we.”
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi told the crowd “we now have to work to elect those five seats.”
“We have to get out there,” she implored the crowd.
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In a long diatribe against Rep. Ilhan Omar, Trump said the Minnesota Democrat who was born in Somalia came to the U.S. from “a shithouse country.”
Omar is a naturalized citizen whose family fled civil war when she was a child. They first went to Kenya and then came to the U.S. as refugees.
During his first presidency, Trump denied using the phrase “shithole countries” to describe Haiti and other African countries, as some of his former aides described.
He admitted in 2025 that he had, in fact, used the description for majority Black nations.
Trump has repeatedly disparaged Somali immigrants to the U.S., including Omar, and suggested she should be stripped of her congressional seat and her citizenship.
Under Trump, federal authorities are investigating potential fraud in her family’s immigration paperwork and have issued grand jury subpoenas to some of her relatives.
That came after someone in the south Florida crowd shouted a question about Cuba as Trump talked about his administration’s actions in Venezuela and Iran.
As U.S. ships eventually return from Iran, Trump suggested that one of them could “stop about 50 yards off the coast, they’ll raise up their hands, and then we’re going to send in (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio.”
Trump has previously said “Cuba’s gonna be next” in terms of intervention efforts abroad.
Earlier this week, the two countries clashed at the United Nations as the Trump administration sought once again to build opposition for an upcoming annual vote condemning Washington’s decades-long economic embargo against Havana.
Issues related to Cuba are particularly closely followed in South Florida, where Trump is speaking Friday.
Ukraine’s top negotiator involved in a humanitarian mission led by U.S. first lady Melania Trump told The Associated Press late Friday that a local ceasefire with Russia will start Oct. 27 — two days before the mission begins — and last several days.
Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. negotiators reached a deal Friday to provide humanitarian assistance in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, in the war-divided region of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian ombudsman and his country’s chief negotiator in the talks, said the ceasefire would take effect across the Kherson region and neighboring areas essential to the operation. He added that the initiative could act as a model for future humanitarian missions.
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“We love Florida,” Trump said as he opened an afternoon rally, celebrating that he’s back in his adopted home state.
He’s trying to boost Florida Sen. Ashley Moody as she seeks her first election after being appointed to the seat and Rep. Byron Donalds in his effort to be elected governor.
Trump opened by misrepresenting his 2024 vote totals, suggesting he got “millions and millions” more votes than any other candidate ever has.
Trump got more than 77 million votes in 2024. But Democrat Joe Biden got 81 million votes to defeat Trump in 2020.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is responding directly to Trump claiming that she has an entirely different name and will not be allowed to be a member of the House.
“Whenever the news turns bad, this creep reaches for one name: mine. So let’s make it crystal clear. My name has always been Ilhan Omar,” the congresswoman said in a social media post on X. “Maybe you should focus on what your VP’s real name is.”
Trump’s comments came in a Truth Social post.
Omar’s name has been listed in court records as such for nearly two decades. She sought two marriage licenses under her name, twice filed for divorce under that same name and has numerous traffic and parking tickets under her name. She is also registered to vote under the name.
From 2009 to 2017 she was married to a man named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. His last name is the one Trump now claims is her correct name. But in their marriage and divorce filings, she always used the name Ilhan Omar and did not adopt his name.
On the Southwest Florida International Airport tarmac as Trump landed Friday, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted wins for Republicans in tight Senate races as long as turnout is robust.
“If people come out, if our people vote, I think we’ll win, not just in Florida, but some of these other Senate races that are close,” DeSantis said, welcoming the president “back to his home state.”
As the president brings his midterm blitz to Florida, DeSantis said “no one does it better” than the president when it comes to energizing voters.
“If they vote, we’re going to win big,” Trump said.
According to an Associated Press analysis of early voting two weeks before Election Day, voter turnout is soaring compared with the last midterm election in many of the states expected to decide control of the U.S. Senate.
President Donald Trump said he told his administration to file a lawsuit to block certification of the U.S. Senate race in Alaska if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, kicking off what many fear could become a lengthy battle between the government and states over certifying an election where the president’s party is struggling.
“I’m the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters as he landed for a campaign rally in Florida.
The lawsuit centers on one of the president’s longstanding complaints in the Senate race — the presence of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan who Republican fear could siphon away votes from the incumbent in what’s likely to be a photo-finish contest with Democrat Mary Peltola, the state’s former congresswoman.
The second Dan Sullivan, who is Daniel J. Sullivan from the tiny fishing community of Petersburg, has said he decided to run on his own, but Republicans have contended he is a Democratic plant to siphon votes away from their candidate.
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U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican, is emphasizing his bipartisan support in the final week of his reelection campaign. His new political advertisement includes some Democrats saying directly to camera that they’re backing Nunn over Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott, a state senator.
Nunn is seeking his third term representing the district that includes Des Moines, the fast-growing suburbs to the city’s west, and rural counties in southern Iowa. While Republicans outnumber Democrats in each of the three targeted House races in Iowa, Nunn’s has the smallest GOP advantage.
One member of the Des Moines city council identifies himself in the ad as a moderate Democrat who is ticket-splitting this year.
“I’m supporting Rob Sand, and I strongly support Zach Nunn,” Mike Simonson says in the ad. Sand is the Democrat running for governor.
Trump brushed off questions about the role Elon Musk played in disruptions to service between the satellite system he owns and the drones Ukraine uses to fight Russia.
“Elon will never do anything wrong,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I know him very well. He’s a fair person.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that service remained slow from Starshield, SpaceX’s military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service. The disruption produced speed restrictions on Ukrainian drones, which have been unable to intercept Russia’s jet-powered drones.
Trump said he hadn’t heard that there are still problems with the service, and declined to comment on who ordered the restrictions to Starshield, telling a reporter, “I wouldn’t tell you if I did know.”
“The NFL could have probably postponed that match if you want to know,” Trump told reporters. “France is really in trouble, that’s what happens when you go left.”
Sunday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints is scheduled to go ahead despite recent civil unrest in Paris and other cities in France. More demonstrations are planned for this weekend.
The protests in France were originally sparked by high school and university students demanding better school funding, smaller class sizes, and other reforms to the country’s education system, but have morphed into a broader outlet for public anger about rising costs and the government’s effort to tighten its budget.
While tens of millions have taken to the streets, some rioters have used the demonstrations as cover for looting and destroying government property.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy accused his opponent in the Ohio governor’s race, Democrat Amy Acton, of lying about the ad he’s running, which features her mother calling her “a liar.”
“The irony is they’re lying about an ad that is about lying,” Ramaswamy said.
Speaking at a campaign stop in Strongsville, Ohio, he added that the ad had “nothing to do” with childhood abuse. Acton’s mother lost custody of her children after her husband was indicted for raping Acton.
“They’re changing the subject,” Ramaswamy said, “because they don’t want to answer for their own failures.”
The advertisement also includes Acton’s mother insinuating her daughter has mental health issues. Acton is Ohio’s former public health director and has made no secret of facing homelessness and abuse as a child.
Acton has condemned Ramaswamy for the ad.
“I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is just something I’m complaining about,” she told Spectrum News, a cable news outlet in Ohio.
Leaving the White House on Friday, Trump said “no” when asked if he had reconsidered his support for the Ohio campaign advertisement attacking Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton, following criticism from other Republicans.
The president engaged in a heated exchange with a reporter asking if the president knew about the backstory behind the ad from Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. The spot features Acton’s mother, who lost custody of her children decades ago after her husband was indicted for raping Acton as a child.
“You don’t know that,” Trump said, of the abuse allegations, adding that Acton’s mother had an “obligation” to tell voters “that her daughter is a liar.”
The Ukrainian president said he spoke with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner just before appearing remotely for an address at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.
Witkoff and Zelenskyy met earlier this week in Oslo, Norway, about ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine before Witkoff went on to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.
Putin says he agreed to trilateral talks next month with Trump and Zelenskyy, who on Friday said “we need these meetings, and we need diplomacy to move forward.”
Zelenskyy says we “cannot have these meetings without America” and that Ukraine was counting on the U.S. to “give this priority at every level.”
He said reaching a “ceasefire is point number one” and then after that would be sorting out security guarantees. Russian officials have resisted a ceasefire and said they want to broker a comprehensive settlement to end the war.
The president has a rather eyebrow-raising addition to his midterm travel schedule: a stop Monday in deep-red Mississippi, where GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is up for reelection.
Asked about the visit Friday, Trump said he won the state by 32 points and “they’ve asked me to go,” without specifying who “they” were.
“I look forward to it. And Cindy Hyde-Smith, you know, Cindy Hyde is fantastic,” Trump said. “She’s very popular. She’s up in the polls. She’s not losing.”
The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to block certification of the U.S. Senate race in Alaska if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses. Another candidate with the same name is on the ballot.
This move has sparked concerns about a lengthy battle between the U.S. government and states over election certification. The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit Thursday, demanding Alaska be blocked from certifying a win for Democrat Mary Peltola if the other Sullivan remains on the ballot.
The Alaska Supreme Court previously rejected efforts to remove the other Sullivan.
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This photo taken with a smart phone, voters stand in line at an early voting location in a mall in Anchorage, Alaska, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
People arrive before President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Sioux Gateway Airport, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Sioux City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign rally at Sioux Gateway Airport, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Sioux City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump listens a gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign rally at the Covelli Centre, in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
