
New York Yankees fans will see the shortest baseball season ever. MLB and the MLBPA (players union) have failed to negotiate a baseball season that will be shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic. Yesterday the union leader executive director, former Yankee Tony Clark, announced that they would no longer negotiate with the owners. Baseball has gone off the cliff and will not get to explore what’s at the bottom of that cliff.
With the failure of the negotiations, it will lead Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to issue a back to work order and impose a baseball season more to the liking of the owners than the players. The details of what that imposition will look like will most likely be issued soon as any season is slipping away.
In summary, back in early March, the owners and players agreed to a plan that would see players receive a 50% pro-rata pay cut based on an 82 game season. Although not in the contract agreement, the owners made it clear that further negotiations may be necessary as the coronavirus would determine what kind of 2020 baseball season could be had. According to the owners, when President Trump issued a national emergency, that contract became null and void.
The owners proposed several proposals to start a baseball season of different lengths and with different pay cuts to be suffered by the players and losses that would be endured by the owners due to no fans in the stands and no concession sales. Little progress was made during over a month of MLB and MLBPA talks. MLB issued their latest and final offer to the players on Friday. After a conference call with over 100 players, that final offer was rejected.
Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported additional comments by the players union:
“It unfortunately appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile,†MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said in a statement. “It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.â€
The league responded in a statement Saturday night: “We are disappointed that the MLBPA has chosen not to negotiate in good faith over resumption of play after MLB has made three successive proposals that would provide players, clubs and our fans with an amicable resolution to a very difficult situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.â€
“The MLBPA understands that the agreement reached on March 26 was premised on the parties’ mutual understanding that the players would be paid their full salaries only if play resumed in front of fans, and that another negotiation was to take place if clubs could not generate the billions of dollars of ticket revenue required to pay players,†the league said. “The MLBPA’s position that players are entitled to virtually all the revenue from a 2020 season played without fans is not fair to the thousands of other baseball employees that clubs and our office are supporting financially during this very difficult 2020 season. We will evaluate the Union’s refusal to adhere to the terms of the March agreement, and after consulting with ownership, determine the best course to bring baseball back to our fans.â€
The March agreement between the parties empowers commissioner Rob Manfred to set the number of games as long as the league awards the players their full prorated salaries, with the caveat that the league makes its best effort to make the schedule as long as possible.
If Manfred does impose a season, the players will make their full pro-rata salaries for the number of games he decides upon, which is likely to be in the area of 50 games. Â Whatever he decides, the union has given MLB until Monday night to provide the details.
The nation is enduring health issues and restrictions due to the coronavirus, has unrest in the streets, and 25% of workers unemployed. The lack of the two sides to come to a compromise and get a baseball season going for fans dedicated to the sport has created a big black eye on a sport that has seen a 14% decline in the past several years.
The ill will between the sides may very well rear it’s ugly head again, leading to a shortened 2022 season as well. The present CBA (collective bargaining agreement) ends on December 21, 2021. The players union believes that the owners have had the upper hand in the last CBA and is not likely to give up any gains it has gotten in past years. With the present inability to reach an agreement, that contentiousness could continue into the next CBA and cause a baseball strike.
At some point, both the MLBPA and the owners have got to consider what is best for baseball as a sport and less about the billions in owner profits and player salaries. If they don’t, the future of baseball will be in doubt as more and more fans turn away to other pastimes.