Baseball’s coming back!
MLB and players agree to a 60-game season beginning July 24.
Play ball!
Finally.
After nearly three months of hostile, fruitless negotiations, the Major League Baseball Players Association informed MLB officials Tuesday that players would report for the resumption of spring training July 1, as requested the previous day.
That left the sides to finalize health and safety protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic that delayed the original start to the season. Late in the day, the union finally put out a longawaited announcement that opened the door for a 60-game season beginning July 24:
“All remaining issues have been resolved and players are reporting to training camps.”
The union informed MLB on Monday that it would not accept the latest offer from management and that commissioner Rob Manfred should proceed with implementing a season. To follow through with plans for a 60game season, the league asked players to respond by 4 p.m. (CDT) Tuesday with answers to two questions: can they report to training camps by July 1, and are they ready to sign off on the COVID-19 protocols?
The comprehensive protocols could include measures that will change the
way the game is played. The designated hitter is expected to be used in both leagues, not just the AL, to avoid exposing pitchers to unnecessary injuries after truncated training camps.
The sides also explored putting a runner on second base beginning in the 10th inning of tie games, with hopes of a quicker resolution that would get players off the field. The discussion also included the possibility of calling games a tie if still deadlocked after 12 innings.
In an attempt to limit travel, a major concern during the pandemic, new schedules are expected to feature regional play, with teams in the East playing other teams there, Midwest teams staying in the middle of the country and West Coast teams remaining there. Accordingly, the Milwaukee Brewers would continue to play teams in the NL Central but also cross leagues to play AL Central foes.
Owners stuck to their final offer of 60 games to avoid playing regular season games beyond September. They are fearful of a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall, and also want to honor postseason television deals already struck, coveting that revenue after playing games with no fans in the stands.
Because the sides could not agree on a negotiated season, there will be no expanded playoffs. The postseason again will consist of 10 teams instead of 16 as being discussed before talks broke off.
The ability to implement a season was granted to Manfred in a March 26 agreement that set terms for a delayed season. But that document also became a source of contention between the sides, with players insisting it guaranteed them full pro-rated pay for all games played and owners maintaining it allowed the topic to be re-visited if no fans were allowed to attend.
Once it became evident that allowing fans would violate COVID-19 protocols against mass gatherings, owners made a series of proposals to the union that included salaries of less than full pro rata. The league made tweaks in the percentages and number of games played but players remained firm on being paid on a full pro rata basis.
With neither side budging to any extent, the negotiations devolved into dueling accusations of bad-faith bargaining, made through national media outlets. Owners said they'd lose more money with each game played with empty stands, and players accused them of deliberately stalling to assure the number of games would go down.
Before the start of the amateur draft on June 10, Manfred went on two different sports networks and said he was “100%” certain there would be a 2020 season. A few days later, he backed off that assertion, saying he was “no longer confident” a deal could be reached.
On June 13, with negotiations going nowhere, union director Tony Clark issued a statement, saying, “It unfortunately appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile. It's time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”
“When and where” became the mantra of the players, with many posting that message on social media. But Manfred preferred a settlement over implementation and requested a face-toface meeting at Clark's home in the Phoenix area.
Afterward, Clark released a statement that side he and Clark had agreed on a joint framework for a 60-game season that included expanded playoffs, universal designated hitter for 2020 and 2021, and other financial inducements for both sides. The offer was contingent on the union waiving its right to file a grievance against the league for badfaith negotiating.
But Clark later said it was “unequivocally false” that an agreement was made on games played, and the union countered with a proposal for 70 games. Owners were infuriated over that development but made another attempt for a deal with an updated 60-game offer. As players gathered on a conference call to vote on it Monday, Manfred reached out with more tweaks he thought would tempt the union.
Instead, the players' union representatives voted, 33-5, to turn down the offer, leaving it to Manfred to implement a season. With the players at 70 games and the owners at 60, they seemed close enough to perhaps meet in the middle at 65. Going up five games would have cost each team an additional $4 million or so in salaries but league stayed put at 60 games.
It remains to be seen if the union will file a grievance to try to recoup some of the money lost in wages in 2020. By not implementing a lower number than 60 games, ownership might have avoided such a ruling.