Less than a week — five days, actually — since Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred declared there would “100 percent” be baseball played in 2020, the tables have turned dramatically on a potential season.
Following the league’s 72-game, 70 percent prorated pay proposal last week, the MLBPA walked away from the negotiating table on Saturday, rejecting the offer and leaving the decision on how to proceed with a shortened season in the commissioner’s hands.
Many expected the league to present the framework for this season by the end of business on Monday, as was requested by the union on Saturday.
Contrarily, late Monday afternoon, Manfred informed ESPN’s Mike Greenberg that he is “not confident” in the prospects of a 2020 season, pointing to the players’ “decision to end good-faith negotiations” as “really negative in terms of our efforts”.
“The owners are 100 percent committed to getting baseball back on the field,” Manfred said (quotes via Jeff Passan, ESPN). “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that I’m 100 percent certain that’s gonna happen.”
Per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, MLB is refusing to move forward with the logistics of a season unless the union is willing to waive any future legal claims against the league.
Under their March agreement on how to move forward with league operations in the wake of the COVID-19 global health pandemic, the league was mandated to “play the most games possible”.
Clearly, the players do not feel the league has held up their end of the bargain in that regard.
While on ESPN, Manfred expanded on the league’s position.
“I had been hopeful that once we got to common ground on the idea that we were going to pay the players’ full prorated salary, that we would get some cooperation in terms of proceeding under the [March agreement].”
“Unfortunately, over the weekend, while Tony Clark was declaring his desire to get back to work, the union’s top lawyer was out telling reporters, players and eventually getting back to owners that as soon as we issued a schedule — as they requested — they intended to file a grievance claiming they were entitled to an additional billion dollars.”
“Obviously, that sort of bad-faith tactic makes it extremely difficult to move forward in these circumstances.”
We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.
