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This is an in-depth article from The Athletic on the backgrounds of all 30 MLB owners. Nothing special about DeWitt at all, but the other 29 are interesting reading.
Owners. You hear that word so often these days. But what does it really mean? @extrabaggs and the crew @TheAthleticMLB put together a primer on who actually runs the business of baseball. https://t.co/T6rimXPUuw
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) June 19, 2020
The Major League Baseball Players Association today released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/XxRDSskBBT
— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) June 19, 2020
The 30 franchises and MLB have a combined value that runs in the neighborhood of $50 billion. And they aren't scraping up another $150 million to at least make an offer into the middle ground and save the product from continued embarrassment.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 19, 2020
MLB players are expected to vote soon — likely by tomorrow — whether to take the 60-game framework deal Manfred/Clark worked on Monday that includes expanded playoffs and other bonuses or let commissioner Manfred set the schedule for 50-60 as allowed by the March 26 agreement.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 20, 2020
An initial small survey suggests players are unlikely to vote for the 60-game framework deal and may prefer the schedule set for 50-60 which allows them to file a grievance. Vocal players don’t seem to love the 60-game deal but could there be a silent majority liking deal better?
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 20, 2020
As Olney noted, $5 million per team would have split the difference.
The owners are either going to impose a season and get a grievance or bang the season and get a grievance. And not get expanded playoffs. And poison the well for the 2021 CBA talks. All because they're unwilling to pony up the cost of a relief pitcher each.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) June 19, 2020
But MLB can mandate a season…
If players vote no on the famed 60-game framework deal as seems quite possible, Manfred is indeed planning to set the schedule for 50-60 games. So there will be baseball — unless the Covid numbers worsen to the point where it’s considered unsafe.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 20, 2020
Vote delayed…
The players will delay taking a vote on #MLB’s 60-game proposal for several days while gathering information on the safety and health protocols in light of all spring training camps being shut down because of the rash of COVID-19 positive tests.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 20, 2020
I would definitely rather see the season cancelled than for the owners to get themselves into a position where the players can file a grievance against them. If that happened and the owners lost, I think it would create an environment so toxic that MLB as we know it could not survive.
Some of the owners are upset with Manfred because of some of the wording in the March agreement, and they should be. Based on that alone, IMHO, there’s no way Manfred should be allowed to negotiate the new CBA in 2021.
I would like to see the March agreement. I’ve read speculation that some owners were unhappy with Manfred over the agreement, but the owners ratified it. Certainly their team lawyers would’ve advised in that process.
We’ve seen both sides giving different interpretations of the agreement on points that shouldn’t be confusing. We’ve seen both sides leaking many half-truths and fibs, yet we haven’t seen the full agreement itself leaked. This issue hasn’t made sense to me.
This is far too logical to actually happen. A commissioner for all of baseball, not just the owners.
Sunday notes: This is the blunt message that the baseball owners need to hear from Rob Manfred. https://t.co/HR8xZtM1Zp
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 21, 2020
Do these two groups understand how much damage they’re doing to the cherished national pastime? Is there a “former players association” (alumni group) that can/would step up and voice their opinion?
MLB players back to intending to vote on the framework/proposal today, it appears. Situation is fluid though so no guarantee. The idea to pause was a very smart thought but the vote appears to be on because players heard it might take too long to get reliable virus info.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 21, 2020
Euro Dandy asked:
Does the latest proposal require the players to sign an assumption of covid19 risk agreement?
I am not 100%, but I think the owners proposal does include that.
I think so too, Brian. The other issues might be based in greed, but the Covid-19 risk is a legitimate concern for both sides.
A reasonable agreement/assumption of risk seems appropriate. It should be something along the lines of the owners will ensure and implement all the recommended and mandated protocols, but beyond that, a risk still exists that must be accepted. Players should get insurance and pay like they do when they go on the injured list like with other injuries and illnesses, but they shouldn’t be able to file frivolous negligence lawsuits if the owners have implemented all the proper protocols to mitigate the risks.
Just watching the Tennis Channel yesterday and today for one of the live Re Open events (Adria Tour) in Croatia. Grigor Dimitrov, a highly ranked player, pulled out at the last minute yesterday when the event started because he was feeling ill. Dimitrov announced today it is because he has tested positive for Covid-19. He played in the Adria Tour event last week in Belgrade, where there was no social distancing among fans, players, ball boys, judges, etc. Very few masks in the crowd.
They just canceled the remainder of the Adria Tour event in Croatia after Dimitrov’s announcement.
Owners sweeten their offer…
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sent a letter to MLBPA executive director Tony Clark today offering to cancel expanded playoffs and universal DH for 2021 if a full season isn’t played in 2020, sources tell ESPN. Players are concerned about giving up leverage of playoffs for naught.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 21, 2020
The proposed 2021 olive branch may be the last and best chance MLB and MLBPA have to strike a deal. Players had planned on voting today whether to accept a 60-game season or allow Manfred to impose a season of his desired length, sources tell me and @JesseRogersESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 21, 2020
The handwriting on the wall is becoming more and more clear now. Another bit of virus hits and BAM they shut down whatever it was they had going. Same for NFL. Folks there is nobody around, athlete or fan, that can guarantee they can play X number of games without several players/coaches/hotdog vendors contracting the virus. Why not give it a break and hope for a vaccine before 2021 spring training.
Baseball taking advantage of fans, good article by Gary Washburn, Boston Globe:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/21/sports/mlbs-attitude-fans-is-unforgivable/
This morning I read an article from The Athletic by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich. It sounds to me like the players aren’t too concerned about the coronavirus. What they’re mostly worried about is not being able to collect more money from the owners by filing a grievance after the season. In other words they want to make sure they don’t give up their right to sue their bosses after the season. This is as crazy as anything I have ever heard of. For me it’s hard to imagine how this adversarial relationship between the players and the owners can be fixed. The players apparently hate the owners and they want to hurt them any way they can. IMO, MLB is on a path to crash and burn. It will interesting to see what the new MLB will look like.
Mud wrote: IMO, MLB is on a path to crash and burn. It will interesting to see what the new MLB will look like.
I agree Mud but there are a ton of minor leaguers on the cusp of moving up that would be glad to play in a reformed major league. Not strikebreakers, just guys that want to play in place of those that don’t. I think it might be surprising at just how many young guns in MLB now would go to work quick if push came to shove.
I know what you mean. There are lots of kids that would love to play. But there are also the players with the big long term contracts like Arenado that would also have to be on the field in order to collect that big money that is owed them. That would be pretty awkward. Plus getting all the rookies used to the Bigs at the same time would be a challenge. One saving factor would be that all the MLB teams would be in the same boat. The best thing that could happen would still be for all the problems between players, owners, and fans to get somehow worked out although that seems like a longshot at this point. Charlie Finley tried to put a team together with ‘replacement players’ and it didn’t work out. But this time the circumstances are different, so who knows?
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