USA TODAY International Edition
Manfred ‘ not confident’ on a season
Baseball union chief Tony Clark instructed Major League Baseball on Saturday to let the players know when and where to show up for work.
Well, that wait could last until next spring.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday that he’s no longer confident there will be a 2020 season on a pretaped ESPN show Monday evening with five other pro league commissioners.
“I’m not confident,” Manfred said on the network’s “Return of Sports” special. “I think there’s real risk, and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is going to continue. ... The owners are a 100% committed to getting baseball back on the field. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that I’m 100% certain that’s going to happen.”
Major League Baseball’s owners huddled Monday morning on a conference call and decided they will take the union’s word that negotiations are over and will now focus on reaching an agreement on the safety and health protocols with the union, along with creating a truncated schedule, according to two people with direct knowledge of the call. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
Yet no schedule will be created unless the union waives its right to all legal claims that MLB violated their March agreement.
In a letter from MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem to lead union lawyer Bruce Meyer, obtained by USA TODAY Sports, it reads: “We have been informed by numerous sources, and it has been widely reported by the media ( including statements by players), that the Association intends to file a grievance seeking “hundreds of millions” if not a “billion” dollars in damages [ if Manfred implements a season],” it reads. “While we truly hope these contentious negotiations have not reached the point of the Association setting a public “gotcha trap” by aggressively demanding that we set a schedule only to then file a grievance claiming that by doing so we violated the March Agreement, we do not have any more time to waste on legal maneuvering.”
The union thinks this is a stall tactic, leading to the likelihood that if there is season, it will be as few as 50 games and no more than 60.
Clark and the union responded with a statement Monday night in response to Manfred’s comments. “Players are disgusted that after Rob Manfred unequivocally told players and fans that there would ‘ 100%’ be a 2020 season, he has decided to go back on his word and is now threatening to cancel the entire season,” Clark said in the MLBPA statement. “Any implication that the Players Association has somehow delayed progress on health and safety protocols is completely false, as Rob has recently acknowledged the parties are ‘ very, very close.’
“This latest threat is just one more indication that Major League Baseball has been negotiating in bad faith since the beginning. This has always been about extracting additional pay cuts from players and this is just another day and another bad faith tactic in their ongoing campaign.”
The March 26 agreement specifically allows MLB to set its own 2020 schedule, using its “best efforts to play as many games as possible, while taking into account player safety and health, rescheduling needs, competitive considerations, stadium availability and the economic feasibility of various alternatives.”