New York Yankees fans continue to wait for the outcome of the MLB MLBPA (players union) negotiations to have some kind of baseball season this year. With the latest news, we will continue to wait as the situation seems to get more contentious with each passing day. The players union rejected the final offer from MLB and left it up to Commissioner Rob Manfred to impose a schedule. He said there would be baseball 100% but now has suggested the season could be canceled. Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Atlantic report:
“Sources told The Athletic that the commissioner’s office is loathe to impose a season on players against their will when the Players Association likely would counter such a move by filing a claim for financial damages. The league’s goal, according to one source, remains unchanged: To negotiate a resolution that is satisfactory to both parties.”
Five days ago on ESPN, Manfred was adamant that there would be a baseball season. He said, “I can tell you unequivocally we are going to play Major League Baseball this year.†He put the chances then, at “100 percent.†But yesterday on the same program, he retreated from that statement and raised the possibility that the season would be canceled instead.
Upon hearing that the MLBPA executive director ex-Yankee Tony Clark had this to say:
“Players are disgusted that after Rob Manfred unequivocally told players and fans that there would 100 percent be a 2020 season, he has decided go to back on his word and is now threatening to cancel the entire season,†Clark said Monday. “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 day and another bad-faith tactic in their ongoing campaign.â€
MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem in a seven-page letter to the players union listed a host of issues the league seeks the union’s approval on for a 2020 season, including on-field rules, scheduling details, start dates and the postseason player pool — issues laid out in the now-infamous March agreement between the parties. The letter noted that some unnamed 40-man roster players and staff have tested positive for COVID-19.
All of this posturing seems less like an effort to have a baseball season, but more of an attempt to prevent a players union grievance in case MLB implements a season or cancels it entirely. If a grievance is filed it would be mediated by an independent arbitrator.
On both sides of this dispute on getting a season going, both the owners are dug in on the players accepting more pay cuts and the players that they will not accept any further cuts in per gameplay. It all centers around as pointed out in Halem’s letter; “it is clear to us that our dispute over the meaning of the March Agreement remains an impediment to resumption of play.â€
At the time of the now-famous March Agreement, the players agreed to take a 50% pay cut as it appeared there would be a season that would be only half of the regular season in length. But at the same time, MLB made it clear to Tony Clark, and other player union executives that there would have to be further negotiations should the coronavirus situation change. However, it was not specified in the contract.
At the time of that contract, it was not known that a season of any length would be played with no fans in the stands, meaning no ticket revenue or concession sales for the owners of MLB’s 30 Pro teams. Approximately a third of all owner revenue comes from those to revenue streams. They need that money to pay players, which is the most significant expense for owners.
The owners (MLB) may be asking the players to share too much in those losses, but at the same time, the players are dug in and refuse to recognize that the owners will suffer more losses with each additional game played. That is where the negotiations stand, a stalemate that makes a season less likely with each passing day.