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Even as these tortured 2020 restart talks now face an end, baseball’s troubles might just be beginning. The Major League Baseball Players Association voted Monday against Rob Manfred’s proposal for a 60-game schedule with prorated pay, and the commissioner appears poised to go to his nuclear option: a unilaterally implemented schedule, expected to be for …
Even as these tortured 2020 restart talks now face an end, baseball’s troubles might just be beginning.
The Major League Baseball Players Association voted Monday against Rob Manfred’s proposal for a 60-game schedule with prorated pay, and the commissioner appears poised to go to his nuclear option: a unilaterally implemented schedule, expected to be for between 48 and 60 games, with the players getting their prorated pay but without an expanded playoff or — most important — a spirit of cooperation between the employers and their employees.
The PA’s 38-member executive board, featuring all 30 team representatives and the eight-member executive subcommittee, turned down Manfred’s 60-game package by a 33-5 count.
“Earlier this evening, the full Board reaffirmed the players’ eagerness to return to work as soon and as safely as possible,” the PA said in a statement. “To that end we anticipate finalizing a comprehensive set of health and safety protocols with Major League Baseball in the coming days, and we await word from the league on the resumption of spring training camps and a proposed 2020 schedule.
“While we had hoped to reach a revised back to work agreement with the league, the Players remain fully committed to proceeding under our current agreement and getting back on the field for the fans, for the game, and for each other.”
An ownership call was scheduled for Monday night. If Manfred goes ahead with implementation (as opposed to making another offer or canceling the season outright), spring training could begin next week, which would set up Opening Day — coronavirus permitting — for around July 20.
The players and owners spent nearly four weeks, with MLB making its first offer on May 26, angrily exchanging financial proposals and forging little progress … until last week, when the owners finally relented on giving the players their prorated pay over 60 games and the players countered with 70. Despite the similarity of those asks, and even after Manfred offered a last-minute sweetener on Sunday, the two sides couldn’t bridge the modest gap. The players’ resolve appeared to galvanize throughout the process and this lopsided vote underlined their anger against the owners.
While Manfred is allowed to unilaterally implement the terms of this shortened campaign, by virtue of the deal he negotiated with the players in late March, the commissioner wanted to avoid that fate because 1) It would open up both sides to file grievances against the other for bargaining in bad faith; 2) It could lead to star players opting out as a result of the ill will; and 3) It wouldn’t feature the lucrative extra postseason contests. The implementation also could cancel features like tie games and placing a runner on second base in extra innings on which the two sides had agreed, although those still could be featured as safety/health protocols.
And with the Basic Agreement expiring after next year, this failure to find common ground during a pandemic bodes very poorly for the owners’ and players’ ability to collectively bargain a longer deal without a lockout or strike occurring in 2022.
Throw in the concerns that COVID-19 might prevent this season from finishing, as numbers spike in important baseball states like Arizona, Florida and Texas — all teams will now hold their spring trainings at their home ballparks rather than their development complexes — and baseball has its hands full, to say the least.
Trevor Bauer, the Reds’ outspoken starting pitcher, made clear his displeasure with the players and owners in a couple of tweets.
“It’s absolute death for this industry to keep acting as it has been. Both sides,” Bauer wrote. “We’re driving the bus straight off a cliff. How is this good for anyone involved? Covid 19 already presented a lose lose lose situation and we’ve somehow found a way to make it worse. Incredible.
He added: “If there’s going to be a fight the time for that fight is after the ‘21 season when a new CBA is negotiated. 5 years of potential change. We’re doing irreparable damage to our industry right now over rules that last AT MOST 16 months. WTF kind of sense does that make?:
The right-hander punctuated both tweets with the emoji of a man slapping his own head in exasperation.
