After negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association failed to result in an agreed-upon deal, the league issued a statement on Monday — Major League Baseball’s 30 owners unanimously agreed to launch a 60-game 2020 season. The vastly condensed campaign will proceed under the terms of the late March agreement previously reached between the league and the MLBPA.
“There will definitely be a 60-game season,” Tweeted Bob Nightengale (USA Today), yet both sides still have to reach an agreement on labor and health and safety protocols, delaying Manfred’s final implementation of the season.
Assuming the union agrees to restart Spring Training, and sign off on health and safety protocols, players will show up to their home cities for workouts. They will also undergo several days of COVID-19 testing before they begin a three-week Spring Training camp starting in early July. The 60-game regular season will start the weekend of July 24 and will feature universal DH and expanded playoffs.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred “told MLB owners that he had no plans to implement a season Monday or even Tuesday, a high-ranking official told USA TODAY Sports,” writes Nightengale.
And while that delay does leave open the slightest of cracks for one last round of negotiations, after months of failed discussions, it doesn’t seem likely that an agreement will be met in the next few days.
We will have more on this as the news unfolds.
Noteworthiness
— I love baseball, and I love the Rays, however, I’m not sure how I feel about the league’s decision. Give me a few days to put my thoughts together.
— For what it’s worth, Rays players continue to work out at the Trop: