IN BRIEF MLB planning to unilaterally issue 60-game schedule

Major League Baseball plans to unilaterally issue a 60-game schedule for its shortest season since 1878 after the players’ association rejected a negotiated deal of the same length, putting the sport on track for a combative and possibly unhappy return to the field amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Six days after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and union head Tony Clark negotiated to expand the playoffs from 10 teams to 16, widen use of the designated hitter to National League games and introduce an experiment to start extra innings with a runner on second base, the deal was rejected by the Major League Baseball Players Association’s executive board in a 33-5 vote.

“Needless to say, we are disappointed by this development,” MLB said in a statement. “The framework provided an opportunity for MLB and its players to work together to confront the difficulties and challenges presented by the pandemic. It gave our fans the chance to see an exciting new postseason format. And, it offered players significant benefits.”

MLB’s control owners approved going unilaterally with the 60-game schedule if the final arrangements can be put in place, The Associated Press reported.

MLB asked the union to respond by 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday as to whether players can report to training and whether the players’ association will agree on the operating manual of health and safety protocols. The schedule would be the shortest since the National League’s third season.

The decision likely will provoke what figures to be lengthy and costly litigation over the impact of the coronavirus on the sport, similar to the collusion cases that sent baseball spiraling to a a spring training lockout in 1990 and a 71⁄2-month strike in 1994-95 that wiped out the World Series for the first time in nine decades.

It also eliminates a $25 million postseason players’ pool, meaning players will not get paid anything above meal money during the playoffs and World Series, and $33 million in advance salary that would have been forgiven for 769 players at the bottom of the salary scale with lower rates of pay while in the minors.

The union said in a statement that the “board reaffirmed the players’ eagerness to return to work as soon and as safely as possible.”

“To that end we anticipate finalizing a comprehensive set of health and safety protocols with Major League Baseball in the coming days, and we await word from the league on the resumption of spring training camps and a proposed 2020 schedule,” the union said.

With the collapse of a negotiated deal, playoffs are set to remain at 10 teams rather than expand to 16. The framework had included the expanded playoffs for both 2020 and 2021, and Manfred offered to drop its inclusion in the second season if players feared it would decrease their future leverage.

Spring training was suspended March 12, two weeks ahead of scheduled openers, and the sides reverted to the financial infighting that fractured the sport in the past.

NFL: As expected, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott signed his $31.4 million tender under the franchise tag Monday. That comes just over three weeks before the July 15 deadline to agree on a long-term deal.

Soccer: The Orlando Pride will not participate in the upcoming NWSL Challenge Cup in Utah after six players and four staff members tested positive for COVID-19.