New York Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman remains “optimistic” there will be baseball in 2020

While the coronavirus pandemic is still in full force, public health officials, MLB and the players’ association remain in negotiations to see if baseball can return for an abbreviated season, and the respective details. Will we see the New York Yankees in 2020? Only time will tell, but right now, the sides are discussing the beginning of spring training in June and the regular season around July 4th.

One of the hottest topics being discussed right now is player compensation. MLB and the union clearly have to come to an agreement, and the negotiations are already getting ugly. However, the New York Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman remains hopeful that a solution is in the horizon.

“I can’t promise anything, but am I optimistic?” Cashman said Thursday morning, cited by NJ.com. “I’m optimistic.”
The Yankees’ GM was speaking on a charity video call from his Connecticut home. The call benefitted, per NJ.com, the nonprofit Family Centers, which aims to financially help Fairfield County residents hit by the consequences of the COVID-19 shutdown.

“I am optimistic,” he said. “I don’t represent the players and the (players’) association. Obviously there’s a lot of hurdles that everyone’s trying to navigate here, and certainly trying to find common ground appropriately with the Players Association is one of those things and obviously the commissioner of baseball and his team are having honest, frank conversations and negotiations … I’m optimistic that where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Will the Yankees play in 2020?

Players are already starting to complain about having to play under a significant pay cut, especially if they aren’t confident that the spread of the virus has been stopped.

“We all in this country are trying to find a way to get up and running,” Cashman said. “So, you see how that manifests itself in, whether it’s the local restaurants changing how they go about doing their business … in most cases have been (offering) takeout so far and how they repackage themselves and remake themselves.

The Yankees’ leader added, “We’ve all found ways to adjust and make adjustments. So, obviously, as we continue, this great country continue to navigate. With this COVID(-19) experience moving forward, it’s incumbent upon all of us to find a way. I trust that all leadership will find a way within our industry, just like everybody’s trying to do in their own respective industries as well.”