HERE’S THE PITCH
Owners OK restart plan, present to players today
STARTING Tuesday, Major League Baseball and the Players Association will formally try to work out an agreement for a baseball season like no other.
Within that high-stakes chess game, each side must work through internal differences of opinion to determine its policy. The players, in particular, must run a cost-benefit analysis like no other:
How much are they willing to put their health on the line in order to get back on the field? Just as in any large group, they’ll find a range of opinions.
“I’m willing to risk anything to play this game,” Paul DeJong, the Cardinals’ All-Star shortstop, told The Post on Monday. “Once we get some momentum going, the floodgates will open.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Nationals All-Star closer Sean Doolittle used his Twitter account on Monday to outline a series of concerns, which he led with this: “Bear with me, but it feels like we’ve zoomed past the most important aspect of any MLB restart plan: health protections for players, families, staff, stadium workers and the workforce it would require to resume a season.”
Reality check: Even if the players and owners agree on all terms regarding safety and payment — and to reiterate, finger-pointing on the financial front will be strictly prohibited — elected officials might not let them go through with it in the interest of public safety. These talks could turn into an exercise, a dry run for the end of this Basic Agreement next year.
Nevertheless, the two sides owe it to each other to engage in bona fide bargaining. And the players owe it to themselves to be especially diligent as they weigh the pro of their compensation against the con of potential health consequences. There naturally will be some disagreement, you’d hope respectful, on this calculation.
A biochemistry major at Illinois State and a bit of a Renaissance Man who enjoys classical music and is involved in multiple charitable
“Bear with me, but it feels like we’ve zoomed past the most important aspect of any MLB restart plan: health protections for players, families, staff, stadium workers and the workforce it would require to resume a season.”
— Sean Doolittle, Nationals closer