Season in danger of unraveling?
As acrimony soars, Manfred pulls reverse by claiming there’s ‘real risk’ of no games
The beginning of another week brought another inglorious chapter to this humiliating portion of baseball history. Animus between the players and owners is more pronounced than ever, at a time when the sport’s return could help heal a hurting nation. Bickering over salary in the face of a pandemic and rising unemployment claims only inflames the fans of a sport that can ill afford any more alienation.
Five days after guaranteeing the return of his sport to two national television audiences, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred made a stunning walkback Monday, telling ESPN he’s “not confident” a 2020 season can be salvaged.
“I’m not confident. I think there’s real risk; and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue,” Manfred told ESPN’s Mike Greenberg as part of the network’s “Return of Sports” special.
Contentious, prolonged negotiations between Major League Baseball and the Players Association fell apart
Saturday night, leading MLBPA chief Tony Clark to issue a statement on behalf of players instructing Manfred to “tell us where and when” the season will resume. The union demanded an answer by Monday.
The league responded with a statement later Saturday night chiding the union for choosing “not to negotiate in good faith over resumption of play.” Manfred made mention of this phrasing again Monday, calling the cessation of negotiations “really negative in terms of our efforts.”
“Now the players tell you to implement the season you told/ threatened us with it’s now our fault that there’s no dialogue? The players are ready and want to play. You made your bed now sleep in it Rob,” Astros catcher Dustin Garneau tweeted Monday. “It’s almost like this whole process has been a sham on your guys part from the get go.”
Last Wednesday, in another interview with ESPN, Manfred said there “unequivocally” would be a 2020 major league season. In a statement after Monday’s reversal, Clark said players were “disgusted” that Manfred “decided to go back on his word and is now threatening to cancel the entire season.”
“This latest threat is just one more indication that Major League Baseball has been negotiating in bad faith since the beginning,”
Clark said. “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.”
An agreement in March promised players full prorated salaries if the 2020 season resumed. Owners since asked for another salary reduction after it became clear most, if not all, games would be played in empty stadiums. The impasse began when players did not accept anything but full prorated salaries.
That same March agreement gives Manfred the authority to impose a shortened season in the absence of an agreement for resumption of play. Fed up with negotiations, players on Saturday told Manfred to exercise the right.
The two sides have not met in person since June 7, Manfred said. Fear of a second coronavirus wave has owners adamant that the 2020 season will not extend into November.
“We are running out of time,” Manfred said. “The clock is ticking on this. The key, the important first step, is the willingness of the MLBPA to get back to the table and engage in the process.”
Manfred had a conference call with owners on Monday afternoon to determine the league’s next action.
“The owners are 100 percent committed to getting baseball back on the field,” Manfred said. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that I’m 100 percent certain that’s gonna happen.”
The Associated Press reported that, in a letter to the union on Monday, owners threatened that there would be no 2020 season unless the union waives any legal claims against the league.
“(Clark) has been very open with members of the press — we’ve had players repeat it to us — that the intention is to get us to issue a schedule and immediately begin litigation based on that schedule,” Manfred said.
In a viral Twitter thread endorsed by many other major leaguers, Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer surmised Monday’s remarks were a stall tactic from Manfred to “clear the risk of not negotiating in good faith to play as many games as possible.”
If Manfred does implement a shorter season, the union could file a grievance against the league for violating that clause of their March agreement.
“The public backlash combined with potential of having to explain yourself in front of an arbitrator isn’t too appealing, is it,” Bauer tweeted.
Bauer alleged that Manfred is waiting until June 28 to implement a season of around 60 games in 84 days. Owners seem fixed on paying full prorated salaries for only one amount of games they’ve calculated. That number, presumably, will be the amount of games Manfred imposes — should a season even arrive. Bauer wondered how Manfred would delay from June 15 — when the union expected a new plan — to his predetermined date of June 28
“Guess we all got that answer today,” Bauer wrote. “Threaten to cancel the season. Threaten arbitration. Threaten grievances. All the while, hold the fans for ransom. Hold the future of the game for ransom. No one believes your bluff, bud.”
Garneau endorsed the thread. So did former National League Most Valuable Player Christian Yelich, adding to a chorus of loud discontent between two sides that cannot solve anything, even when the country encounters the most unprecedented times.
“It’s just a disaster for our game, absolutely no question about it,” Manfred said. “It shouldn’t be happening, and it’s important that we find a way to get past it and get the game back on the field for the benefit of our fans.”