MLBPA is considering a delayed 154-game season, sources say

The Major League Baseball Players Association is considering a proposal from MLB to delay the start of the 2021 season, and if the union does not make a counter offer early next week, spring training is likely to begin as planned in mid-February, sources know. with the situation told ESPN.

After months of fragmented dialogue, the parties are in a similar position to last year, when the coronavirus pandemic closed the season: they disagreed on the right way forward. The league’s proposal to delay the start of spring practice until the end of March and the start of the season until the end of April includes a 154-game schedule that would pay players their full 162-game salary, according to sources.

The proposal concerns the MLBPA on multiple fronts, players and union sources told ESPN. With pitchers starting around February 17 to begin spring training, they are reluctant to quit and start over against the proposed March 22 spring practice for a season that would start on April 28, according to sources. Furthermore, players believe that the language in the proposal would give Commissioner Rob Manfred more power than what he currently has to cancel games and potentially cut players’ salaries accordingly.

The competition does not agree with that interpretation. While Manfred was entitled under the March 26 deal struck by the parties in the wake of the initial period of last year’s pandemic to cancel games or stop the sport – something he considered amid early outbreaks – did he never did when the season started. . The proposal, League sources said, aims to protect MLB from a worsening national situation, be it a COVID-19 variant resistant to the vaccine or an unexpected rise in cases.

The language, according to sources, gives Manfred the right to act when government restrictions prevent more than five teams from playing at the same time, when travel is restricted or when “competitive integrity is undermined” by players seated because of COVID-19. Both sides, sources said, would retain their right to take legal action. The disagreement about the broadness of the language can be changed if the parties continue to negotiate.

MLB’s desire to delay the season, according to league sources, is based on the recommendation of health experts and the likelihood that it would allow for the 2021 season when COVID-19 cases are down – particularly in Arizona, which is currently is the highest grades in the country and where half of the league hosts spring training. Cases in Arizona and Florida have dropped recently, and health officials expect them to drop even more between now and the proposal’s start date.

The potential for an agreement is possible, but the animosity and distrust between the parties is so deep that sources have been questionable about the likelihood of a deal. Something as simple as the timing of the offer is a point of contention. League officials were frustrated with the union when it rejected the possibility of a postponement in December unless players were paid for 162 games – something the league believes it has agreed to in its proposal. In messages sent by player representatives on Sunday to the union rankings obtained by ESPN, they called the proposal so close to spring training a “tactic” of MLB.

The last deal the teams made led to months back and forth on when the 2020 season should start, and Manfred ended up implementing a 60-game season when they couldn’t come to an agreement. Both sides accused the other of bad faith, and the waste of those negotiations remains tangible today as baseball learns what the 2021 season will look like.

The eight-player executive council and the union’s players’ representatives were informed of the bid released Friday, according to sources, and were skeptical of the road to a deal. They believe, sources said, that because they are entitled to 162 games under the collective bargaining agreement, the terms of the offer – which include expanding the post-season from 10 to 14 teams and adding the designated hitter to the National League – – do not provide enough to reduce the season.

In the absence of an agreement, there are two options.

The first and most likely, according to sources, would be for teams and players to show up at the spring training sites on their report dates and proceed as planned. The other is that Manfred is invoking the national emergency clause in the collective bargaining agreement and suspending the uniform players’ contract – a possibility but one that would guarantee that the parties face each other in court, a prospect that is unappealing to both, according to sources.

MLB’s desire to cut the season has been clear for months. Currently, there are almost twice as many daily COVID-19 cases as on July 24, 2020, when MLB’s 60-game season began. The possibility of an outbreak affecting individual teams remains acute. The Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals missed long periods last year due to outbreaks and had to cram doubleheaders into their schedules to access their full range of games.

It’s not just the fear of an outbreak that fuels owners’ desire to delay the season. This would allow for a wider spread of the coronavirus vaccine and increase the likelihood of fans going to stadiums – and that local health officials allow a greater number of fans into stadiums. In discussions with the league, the league claimed it lost billions of dollars last season – a figure that has not been verified. Since regular season earnings did not exist in 2020, earnings were undoubtedly lower.

MLB’s frustration with what she thought was a fair compromise was palpable on Sunday. Discussions with the union have run wild and at this point, two players said, it is likely too late in the process to reach an agreement. While the players said they recognize that a slowdown could be pragmatic, it would if some players are already in training cities in the spring – and they all have housing they would have to cancel, which would likely cost thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars – it would are impractical.

“We are ready to play,” said one player. “The NFL is playing. The NBA is playing. The NHL is playing. Colleges are playing. Why shouldn’t we play?”

The NBA shortened the season by 10 games in early November – about three weeks before the training camps opened and six weeks before the first games were played. The NHL shortened the season by about a third. Both came from shortened seasons that ended later than usual. The MLB season ended in time after an extensive postseason, something the league would like to implement again.

The association has expressed skepticism, worried that expanding the playoffs would have a negative effect on the free agent market, as teams are more likely to play for a win in the 80s rather than the 90s. The league and team leaders disagree, arguing that the extended post-season – in this case three wildcard series in each league – is better for the long-term health of the sport. In the proposal, MLB guaranteed a pool of $ 80.9 million for players participating in the postseason.

Getting to that point, of course, is the necessity, and the league believes a delay makes it more likely – and more likely that players will play the scheduled matches to receive their full pay. Without an agreement, the extended playoffs could be off the table until 2022, and the universal DH, seven-innings doubleheaders and a runner starting at second base in overtime would be in the air.