Is baseball season in jeopardy? MLB commissioner backtracks: There are no guarantees
Five days ago, just before the start of the 2020 Major League Basebal Draft, MLB commissioner Ron Manfred said “We’re going to play baseball in 2020. 100 percent.”
Fast forward to Monday, and that guarantee no longer seems to exist as the league and the MLB Players Association have essentially ceased conversations to negotiate a deal. In addition to economic agreements — including player salaries and length of season —the two sides still need to finalize specifics on health and safety protocols.
“I’m not confident. I think there’s real risk; and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue,” Manfred told ESPN’s Mike Greenberg in a taped interview that will air at 9 p.m. Monday as part of ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” special.
Manfred said owners remain committed to playing a season but “unfortunately, I can’t tell you that I’m a hundred percent certain that’s gonna happen.”
MLBPA executive director Tony Clark on Monday responded to Manfred’s comments with the following statement:
“Players are disgusted that after Rob Manfred unequivocally told Players and fans that there would ‘100%’ be a 2020 season, he has decided to go back on his word and is now threatening to cancel the entire season. Any implication that the Players Association has somehow delayed progress on health and safety protocols is completely false, as Rob has recently acknowledged the parties are ‘very, very close.’ This latest threat is just one more indication that Major League Baseball has been negotiating in bad faith since the beginning. This has always been about extracting additional pay cuts from Players and this is just another day and another bad faith tactic in their ongoing campaign.”
The league and players have been at an impasse since official offers started going on the table last month. The players want to play as many games as possible for full pro-rated salaries, which they agreed to in a March 26 deal with the league.
League owners wants to limit the number of games and keep the postseason in October due to network contracts, a fear of a second wave of the coronavirus and the desire to keep their revenue losses to a minimum. The league also contends that the March agreement calls for re-negotiation of salaries if games are to be played without fans.
The last talks came on Saturday after players rejected the league’s offer of 72 games with players making up to 83 percent of their pro-rated salaries (only 70 percent if the postseason wasn’t played).
Clark released a statement saying the players shouldn’t have to make additional concessions to the ones that already made back in March and that “it unfortunately appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile.”
“It’s time to get back to work,” Clark’s statement continues. “Tell us when and where.”
The league followed shortly after with a statement of its own that said the league is “disappointed that the MLBPA has chosen not to negotiate in good faith over resumption of play.”
“We will evaluate the Union’s refusal to adhere to the terms of the March agreement, and after consulting with ownership, determine the best course to bring baseball back to our fans.”
Manfred has the ability to set the league’s 2020 schedule if the sides don’t come to an agreement, according to the March 26 deal. However, that season would likely be no more than 50-some games.
Should that happen, the MLBPA is anticipated to file a grievance with the league for not working in good faith to try to play as many games as possible. The league could and likely would file a counter-grievance saying the union did not bargain in good faith.
According to the Los Angeles Times, MLB sent a letter to the MLBPA saying there would be no 2020 season unless the players waived any potential legal claims against the league.
And all of this is providing bad optics for the league as well, with their negotiations coming out in the public while the country continues to take an economic hit due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s just a disaster for our game, absolutely no question about it,” Manfred said. “It shouldn’t be happening, and it’s important that we find a way to get past it and get the game back on the field for the benefit of our fans.”
But the bigger picture of it: Baseball remains the only professional sport that is failing to come to terms for their season despite the obstacles.
NASCAR has been racing for a month and on Sunday had 1,000 people in the stands for the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The NBA and Major League Soccer are set to resume their seasons at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando in July. The NHL has allowed teams to reopen training facilities for individual workouts and has a tentative plan to resume playing in two to-be-determined hub cities with an expanded playoff field.
“Negotiations are negotiations,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said Wednesday, “but the bottom line is this is in everyone’s best interest [to play the season] and I think we’re going to get there.”
There still seems like a lot of work to do, and time is running out.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
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