Hold that thought.

MLB sent a letter to the union Monday that basically translated to the sides either come to an agreement on how to return to the field — notably pay the players — or there will be no season.

Manfred had his weekly conference call with the 30 owners Monday and what came out from it is the league does not want to open a season with the risk that the union could file a multi-billion dollar grievance that MLB did not act in good faith to play as many games as possible this year.

Manfred almost certainly lacks the ownership votes to open the season without that financial guillotine hanging over ownerships heads.

To accentuate that point on Monday in conjunction with a show with major sports league commissioners, Manfred told ESPN, “I had been hopeful that once we got to common ground on the idea that we were gonna pay the players full prorated salary, that we would get some cooperation in terms of proceeding under the agreement that we negotiated with the MLBPA on March 26th. Unfortunately, over the weekend, while Tony Clark was declaring his desire to get back to work, the union’s top lawyer was out telling reporters, players and eventually getting back to owners that as soon as we issued a schedule — as they requested — they intended to file a grievance claiming they were entitled to an additional billion dollars. Obviously, that sort of bad-faith tactic makes it extremely difficult to move forward in these circumstances.”

The union rejected the league’s last bid that could have netted the players as much as 83 percent of their prorated salaries if a postseason was concluded. The union has held firm that it will not play for less than full prorated pay. It said on Saturday that it was done negotiating and that Manfred should just tell the players where to show up and when.

The expectation was that if that impasse continued Manfred — as is his power from a March 26 agreement with the union — would implement a season of 48-54 games at full prorated pay. That was what gave him the confidence to say before last week’s draft, “We’re going to play baseball in 2020.”

MLB, though, has expressed concern that without an agreement with the union that not only a grievance looms, but that star players might opt out of playing this season under protest and those who do show up will do so with no spirit of cooperation.

The union has believed MLB’s entire strategy has been to play as few games as possible or none at all to limit player salaries. MLB has argued that at one point it was working toward a July Fourth weekend start if it could reach agreement with the union.

In a statement released Monday, MLBPA head Tony Clark said the “players are disgusted that after Rob Manfred unequivocally told players and fans there would be ‘100 percent’ be a 2020 season, he has decided to go back on his word and is now threatening to cancel the entire season.

“Any implication that the Players Association has somehow delayed progress on health and safety protocols is completely false, as Rob has recently acknowledged the parties are ‘very, very close.’ The 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 another day and another bad faith tactic in their ongoing campaign.”

In the letter to the union, MLB asked that the sides either agree to how to handle all the information in their March 26 agreement or have an arbitrator determine it in the short term rather than have grievances filed. The issues from March 26 also include health and safety protocols and rules including whether to have expanded playoffs. But the big concern for MLB is the question about a games played grievance. Which is why suddenly Manfred was telling ESPN, “I’m not confident (in a season). I think there’s real risk; and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue.”

The March 26 agreement allows the commissioner not to begin a season unless three conditions are satisfied: 1. There are no governmental restrictions on spectators attending games. 2. There are no relevant travel restrictions in the United States and Canada. 3. That after consultation with recognized medical experts and the union that there are no unreasonable risks to players, staff and spectators to stage games in the 30 home parks.

By those standards, Manfred does not have to start a season because none of the three have been met completely. And since this is a contractually agreed upon position, MLB could argue it does not have to play nor face grievances. As part of the March 26 agreement, players would have the $170 million of their 2020 pay that MLB advanced and full service time even if no games were played. But they would receive no further salary and would have a full season of their careers lost.

Is this MLB rhetoric? A negotiating ploy to try to gain leverage and get the players into a negotiating room to work on a settlement? A real policy position that now imperils playing any games this year?