On Monday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN he is “not confident” there will be a 2020 baseball season, and that “as long as there’s no dialogue” with the MLB Players Association, “that real risk is going to continue.”
These sentiments come after a long and strenuous battle between the two sides, who appear to now have reached a stalemate. On ESPN’s The Return of Sports special, Manfred had initially said, “Unequivocally, we are going to play Major League Baseball this year.” Now, he’s not so sure, and it would seem that baseball is the only sport that can’t get its act together this year.
Things took a much bigger turn for the worse on Monday, when the commissioner’s office told the MLBPA that it wouldn’t even make a schedule unless the union waives its right to begin legal proceedings on the grounds that MLB violated a March agreement between the two sides.
“It’s just a disaster for our game. Absolutely no question about it,” said Manfred about the lack of dialogue. “It shouldn’t be happening, and it’s important that we find a way to get past it and get the game back on the field for the benefit of our fans.
Manfred and Clark Go at It
Manfred said the MLBPA’s “decision to end good faith negotiations” and the talks on health and safety protocols “were really negative in terms of our efforts.” MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark issued a statement on Monday 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. 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 players were recently given a newer proposal: a 72-game schedule and 70 percent of their prorated salaries (maxed at 83 percent), but that was just the latest proposal where the MLBPA feel they were disrespected.
“I had been hopeful that once we got to common ground on the idea that we were gonna pay the players’ full prorated salary that we would get some cooperation in terms of proceeding under the agreement that we negotiated with the MLBPA on March 26,” Manfred told ESPN.
“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,” said Manfred.
This is a situation that could potentially take years to resolve. MLB and MLBPA are scheduled for more talks on the collective bargaining agreement for 2021 and beyond. This was certainly not the way to get those talks off on the right foot.
