Fate of season in Manfred’s hands

Rob Manfred now controls the fate of the baseball season.

After the players’ association rejected the owners’ latest proposal on Monday, the commissioner can now implement a schedule of his choosing, per an agreement reached in March. The schedule will most likely be around 60 games.

Following the 33-5 rejection -the latest in a series of failed proposals between the two sides -MLB released a statement giving the players’ association a 3 p.m. MT deadline on Tuesday to respond to a pair of items. The first is agreeing to a July 1 report date for the start of another spring training, and the second is players agreeing to health-and-safety protocols. It is likely the players vote yes to both of those items, meaning the 2020 regular season projects to start sometime in late July.

That March 26 agreement also guarantees the players full prorated pay, which they have been clamoring for since the coronavirus pandemic shut down baseball earlier in that month. The length of the schedule is whatever length

Manfred sets forth.

“While we had hoped to reach a revised back to work agreement with the league, the Players remain fully committed to proceeding under our current agreement and getting back on the field for the fans, for the game and for each other,” the association said in a statement after voting to reject the owners’ proposal.

Rockies pitcher Scott Oberg, the team’s player representative, said: “The Rockies support the decision made by the union. We are proud of the collective unity players have shown throughout this process and we are excited to get back on the field to play for our fans.”

While the proposal rejected Monday featured a 16-team expanded playoff field, Manfred’s mandate — which is expected to

officially come this week — will not feature expanded playoffs. After multiple teams reported positive tests for coronavirus at their facilities last week, MLB announced that spring training complexes were to be temporarily closed and that the next phase of spring training would be held in team’s home cities.

There will still be a universal designated hitter in 2020, as the rule was part of the agreedupon health-and-safety protocols, but it will not be around in 2021, as it would have under the proposal the players rejected.

The months of bitter negotiations between MLB and the players association have been underscored by the fact the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2021 season. The players and the powerful agents behind them are hesitant to yield any leverage in current negotiations with the CBA fight looming on the horizon.

Additionally, the divide and public sniping between players and owners has grown over the past few months as the two sides haven’t been able to agree on what they agreed upon in March. At that point, MLB and MLBPA agreed to full prorated pay with the stipulation that the sides would further discuss the economic feasibility of a season without fans allowed at the ballpark. Since it has become increasingly clear that fans won’t be a part of the 2020 picture, costing teams a huge percentage of their revenue, the owners have tried to use that point to leverage a shorter season.

With the rejection of the latest proposal, players retain their right to file a grievance regarding the March agreement. So, while a season is now appearing more imminent, the fight between the players and owners is far from over.