After over a month of intense negations, the MLB Players Association will be halting negotiations with the owners on the status of the 2020 season. This will lead to Commissioner Rob Manfred implementing a short season, possibly only 50 games long.
On Saturday afternoon, over 100 players were on a conference call discussing whether to continue negotiations. The answer was nearly unanimous to stop, as not much progress has been made the past month.
Players were clear and vocal during the entirety of negotiations that they wanted prorated salaries. A deal was made in March saying that the season can be any length desired as long as prorated salaries were granted. Owners were okay with it originally, but got cold feet after seeing the projected revenue loss.
The closest that the owners got to prorated salaries in proposals was around 80% percent of them. They weren’t willing to commit all the way, unless the season was extraordinarily short. What they fail to realize is that they make back the lost money once fans can return. It’s not impossible that we see a limited attendance at some events.
Players are demanding that the league come out with official intentions for the 2020 season as soon as possible. Players are ready to play and are just waiting to report back to camp.
The mess that the MLB is in will hurt the game. Fans are becoming disinterested due to the ongoing negotiations, and the end of the CBA looms after 2021. That means that it’s possible we see a lockout entering 2022, and that could mean another shortened season. It could be the final straw to an already dwindling fan base.
The MLB needs to figure this out soon. Hopefully, we see a season longer than 50 games. That way, the season would mean more. Regardless, this years World Series Champion will have an asterisk next to their name.