» MLB players balk at part of league’s safety plan.
Union responds to league’s proposal for stringent new medical protocols
The Major League Baseball Players Association responded Thursday to the league’s proposed medical and safety protocols for opening the 2020 season amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a union official said.
“The union has spent the past several days carefully reviewing the manual and gathering feedback from its medical experts and players across the league, including a 3½hour video conference with 100-plus player leaders on Monday night,” the official said.
The union’s response to MLB was described as “wide-ranging,” with questions, suggestions and requests for clarification on issues such as testing frequency, protocols for positive tests, the presence of on-site medical personnel, protections for high-risk players and family members, access to pre- and postgame therapies and sanitizing protocols.
The league on Friday sent its original proposal, a detailed 67-page manual that covered issues such as testing, social-distancing guidelines and risk mitigation.
Players see much in the original draft as over-thetop, such as arriving in uniform at the ballparks, a prohibition on them leaving without team permission, a ban on guests other than immediate family members, and a ban on showers and hydrotherapy. They also want more frequent testing than management’s proposed “multiple times per week.”
Baseball hopes to open its season around July 4, preceded by a roughly three-week “spring training 2.0” beginning in midJune, which gives the sides until roughly the first week of June to reach a deal. The sport hopes to play in as many teams’ home stadiums as possible, with no fans present at least in the early stages.
The MLBPA began disseminating the document to its 1,200 members shortly after receiving it, commissioning a Spanish-language version for its Latin American players, and consulted with its own set of medical experts.
As the document made clear, playing a 2020 season will require significant behavioral modifications for players and other essential personnel permitted into the stadiums.
Players, for example, would be barred from spitting or exchanging high fives, and would be discouraged from showering or using hydrotherapy pools at stadiums. Players also would be asked not to venture from their hotel rooms while on the road.
A central facet of MLB’s proposal was a testing program in which players and other essential, on-field personnel would be tested several times per week. But Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout is among those questioning whether that’s enough, telling ESPN this week, “I don’t see us playing without testing every day.”
Another union concern is that MLB’s testing program would divert critical resources from the general public, a factor MLB sought to address in its proposal by calling for additional tests to be made available in every major league city.
If the sides reach agreement on the protocols for starting the season, they still would need to solve the contentious issue of player compensation, which has exploded into a public squabble in recent weeks.