By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
For about an hour on Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that Major League Baseball and its players union made some serious progress towards getting on the field for a 2020 season.
One insider (cough, Jon Heyman, cough) even went as far to say that the sides were closing in on an agreement to play the 2020 season. The report was quickly denied by some of the game’s other top dogs, including ESPN’s Jeff Passan. And it took all of 38 minutes for the MLBPA’s Twitter account to also shoot down Heyman’s report, and with authority. (Talk about a bat flip.)
But the sides did have a face-to-face meeting, with some potential progress made. Maybe? I think? I don’t even know anymore.
“At my request, Tony Clark and I met for several hours yesterday in Phoenix,” Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We left that meeting with a jointly developed framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement and subject to conversations with our respective constituents. I summarized that framework numerous times in the meeting and sent Tony a written summary today. Consistent with our conversations yesterday, I am encouraging the Clubs to move forward and I trust Tony is doing the same.”
I mean, these are indeed words. I can confirm as much. But beyond that, not sure what to take away from it.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, this latest offer from the MLB includes a 60-game season, with fully pro-rated salaries, beginning in mid-July. Olney goes on to note that the final ‘haggling’ between the sides will likely see the sides agree on a 65-game season. Seems like the perfect middle-ground for the 50 vs. 80 debate these sides have found themselves in for a month now, leaving us all to wonder if anybody within either department has ever heard of the word “compromise.” This offer also includes an expanded postseason format, according to multiple reports.
If this meeting-but-non-agreement has told us anything, however, it’s that face-to-face interactions may be the best way to get this mess sorted out in time for a real season.
