MLB had 40 players and staff test positive for COVID-19 in the past week, adding urgency to labor talksGETTY IMAGES
MLB owners "prefer a negotiated solution" to the '20 season, but "otherwise hold a wide variety of opinions on how to proceed," according to a source cited by Rosenthal & Drellich of THE ATHLETIC. Some owners, fearing COVID-19 "might wreck any attempt to play, want the league to slow down its plans." Others believe that the league "should no longer negotiate with the union and implement a schedule if necessary." Still, others say that the league "should not proceed without an agreement, contending the optics of forcing players to play during a pandemic would reflect poorly on MLB" (THEATHLETIC.com, 6/21).
RENEWED URGENCY: USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes MLB has had 40 players and staff members test positive for COVID-19 in the past week, "creating a sense of urgency in labor negotiations between the owners and players." But the recent surge of positive tests now "will further delay the start" of the season. The resumption of spring training now "will be no earlier than June 29, with the season starting July 26." The two sides "had agreed the season would start July 19 in their last exchange of proposals." If the two sides are unable to reach a deal this week, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is "expected to simply mandate a season of 54 to 60 games" (USA TODAY, 6/22). The AP's Ronald Blum reported absent an agreement, the union "would file a grievance claiming MLB violated the provision in the March 26 agreement" (AP, 6/21).
PANDEMIC PROBLEMS: On Long Island, David Lennon writes baseball's current "problem is the first wave" of coronavirus. The Northeast has "stabilized, but many other states are experiencing record numbers of cases and hospitalizations." Unlike the NBA and NHL, which are "trying 'bubble' plans to squeeze in their playoffs, MLB intends to play a regionalized schedule, with limited travel, and that is shaping up to be incredibly challenging because of the unpredictable nature of this pandemic" (NEWSDAY, 6/22). In N.Y., Ken Davidoff has a "humble proposal" for both sides: "Hit the pause button on these talks at least until the 30 clubs all get clearance to reopen their development complexes." That "could be as short as a few days." Davidoff: "If the pandemic only gets worse, then the season wasn’t meant to be, anyway" (N.Y. POST, 6/21).
MORE DAMAGING BY THE DAY: In Boston, Gary Washburn writes it is "almost as if this once-beloved and revered sport is trying to lose fans." A sport that "always seems to be a decade or so behind its brethren in terms of marketing its players," as well as "selling its sport to the Black community and attracting a young audience is again clueless in how it’s perceived outside its own bubble." Washburn: "Is this the last straw? Can we take another season cancellation?" More Washburn: "It seems baseball is running out of equity" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/22). In Chicago, Gordon Wittenmyer wrote all sides look "more petty and out of touch with each day that passes as they haggle over money." Wittenmyer: "What's certain if this status quo holds is that when the history of this moment is written, baseball will be the one American major league sport on the wrong side of it" (NBCSPORTSCHICAGO.com, 6/19)
DAMAGE ALREADY DONE? YAHOO SPORTS' Tim Brown: "As the negotiations trudge on, as another statement is made, as positive coronavirus tests bring another closure to another baseball facility, the smaller it all seems. The smaller they all seem. They must know that. They must understand what is being lost, and also not care." There is "opportunity to reach a compromise, then to play a season that isn’t anything more than an extension of an old, rotten relationship. It’s a narrow opportunity. Perhaps the baseball can be spirited, in spite of the empty ballparks." The problem in any case, though, is "nobody will forget how we got there" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/20). In Boston, Jason Mastrodonato wrote last week capped the "ugliest eight days" of Manfred’s tenure. Mastrodonato: "The players started by asking for 114 games. They’re down to 70. And the owners are still upset." It is "starting to look like they don’t want baseball at all, unless it’s on their terms and then some. They don’t want to give up anything" (BOSTON HERALD, 6/19).
QUIET IN BOSTON: In Boston, Sean McAdam wrote the Red Sox' "silence is deafening" as neither Owner John Henry nor Chair Tom Werner have "said a single word about the impasse." McAdam wondered, "Where do they stand?" Henry sits on the "influential Labor Policy Committee, helping to plot strategy and develop proposals." So it is not as if he is "removed from the issue, or not in a position to contribute to the dialogue." In fact, Henry is "very much in the middle of these talks. But you wouldn’t know it from his silent stance." Henry has been "more critical of small-market owners than the union." One source said that he has "remained quiet out of respect for Manfred" (BOSTONSPORTSJOURNAL.com, 6/21)
JUST THE BEGINNING? Stanford Law School professor emeritus Bill Gould, who helped end the '94-95 players' strike, said that baseball "could be heading toward a labor shutdown." Gould said, “One thing that’s lurking in the background in terms of 2021 is the owners in many of the sports have found the lockout has been a very effective weapon for them." Gould even suggested that a lockout "could cut into the start of the 2022 season." Gould: “I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if this wasn’t what the baseball owners have up their sleeve and I think the union is busily at work figuring how it can counter this. The recent experiences and lessons we have from the past few years in sports are not good from the union perspective when it comes to the effectiveness of economic pressure" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/21).
