MLB: Season in jeopardy after hostile talks break off, players test positive

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says there might be no major league season after a breakdown in talks between teams and the union on how to split up money in a season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The league also said several unidentified players have tested positive for COVID-19.

Two days after union head

Tony Clark declared negotiations futile, deputy commissioner Dan Halem sent a sevenpage letter to players’ association chief negotiator Bruce Meyer asking whether the union will waive the threat of legal action and tell MLB to announce a spring training report date and regular season schedule.

“It’s just a disaster for our game, absolutely no question about it,” Manfred said during an appearance on ESPN that included the heads of the other major U.S. professional leagues. “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.”

Spring training was stopped because of the pandemic on March 12, two weeks before opening day, and the sides reached an agreement on March 26 on how to revise their labour deal to account for the virus.

Since then, the hostility has escalated to 1990s levels as the sides exchanged offers. MLB claims teams can’t afford to play without fans and pay the pro-rated salaries called for in the March deal, which included a provision for “good-faith” negotiations if they wound up playing in empty ballparks or neutral sites.

“The proliferation of COVID-19 outbreaks around the country over the last week, and the fact that we already know of several 40-man roster players and staff who have tested positive, has increased the risks associated with commencing spring training in the next few weeks,” Halem wrote to Meyer in a letter obtained by the AP.

Clark had issued a statement Saturday that told MLB: “It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”