Official *MLB Season Delayed* Thread

[Ken]

But who is doing that, the players or the owners?

It takes two to tango as they say.

[chancellor]

But who is doing that, the players or the owners?

In this case, I believe the primary burden falls on the owners. First, they revoked an in-place agreement, and it's very unclear what the testing protocols are.

That said, the players union is really bad at media management. Still.

[cavebird]

In this case, I believe the primary burden falls on the owners. First, they revoked an in-place agreement, and it's very unclear what the testing protocols are.

That said, the players union is really bad at media management. Still.

MLBPA is far worse at media management because MLB has to control only 30 entities that are used to holding their tongues for money if necessary. MLBPA has well, talent on the field, not necessarily in media relations given that a lot of them go pro after high school. But yeah, of course. And, yes, it takes two to tango. I appreciate the acknowledgment there.

[revo]

As the NBA begins to acknowledge that fans may not be allowed back for the '20-'21 season as well the completion of this one, this certainly has to be front of mind for MLB owners here in negotiations. What if the same applies for them? If fans are not allowed to attend next year either, will owners really be forced to take a 40%+ financial hit for two consecutive seasons? Since the '21 season is likely to not have any games lost, yet fans may not be in attendance, will players really get 100% of their salaries while owners only make ~60% of their typical revenue? Assuming no fans again next year, will anything they agree to this year continue into next year, or will they have to renegotiate again? These are some bizarre yet important questions that need to be answered.

[Teenwolf]

As the NBA begins to acknowledge that fans may not be allowed back for the '20-'21 season as well the completion of this one, this certainly has to be front of mind for MLB owners here in negotiations. What if the same applies for them? If fans are not allowed to attend next year either, will owners really be forced to take a 40%+ financial hit for two consecutive seasons? Since the '21 season is likely to not have any games lost, yet fans may not be in attendance, will players really get 100% of their salaries while owners only make ~60% of their typical revenue? Assuming no fans again next year, will anything they agree to this year continue into next year, or will they have to renegotiate again? These are some bizarre yet important questions that need to be answered.

Good questions. Seems more likely they fight and fight, and they cannot agree to return parameters this season, and they take the poison pill to start a highly unusual 2021 season.

The US is a disaster right now. Maybe if MLB was located in a country with a fucking clue about how to approach the virus, 2020 might be in play. But with the way it's being handled, I see little reason for optimism about 2020. It won't be feasible in the next few months. I hope I'm wrong.

[chancellor]

As the NBA begins to acknowledge that fans may not be allowed back for the '20-'21 season as well the completion of this one, this certainly has to be front of mind for MLB owners here in negotiations. What if the same applies for them? If fans are not allowed to attend next year either, will owners really be forced to take a 40%+ financial hit for two consecutive seasons? Since the '21 season is likely to not have any games lost, yet fans may not be in attendance, will players really get 100% of their salaries while owners only make ~60% of their typical revenue? Assuming no fans again next year, will anything they agree to this year continue into next year, or will they have to renegotiate again? These are some bizarre yet important questions that need to be answered.

Contractually, the owners are in a massive bind. My POV is their salary agreement only is good for this year. But since MLB contracts are guaranteed, the owners are liable for them in full unless the players agree to take a salary haircut, or the owners can implement a Force Majeure clause that would allow for invalidation or renegotiation of the contracts. If neither of those happen, and you are right about no fans in 2021, I fully expect owners to lock out the players.

[revo]

Contractually, the owners are in a massive bind. My POV is their salary agreement only is good for this year. But since MLB contracts are guaranteed, the owners are liable for them in full unless the players agree to take a salary haircut, or the owners can implement a Force Majeure clause that would allow for invalidation or renegotiation of the contracts. If neither of those happen, and you are right about no fans in 2021, I fully expect owners to lock out the players.

That would be another disastrous outcome after this disastrous shortened campaign.

[cavebird]

Contractually, the owners are in a massive bind. My POV is their salary agreement only is good for this year. But since MLB contracts are guaranteed, the owners are liable for them in full unless the players agree to take a salary haircut, or the owners can implement a Force Majeure clause that would allow for invalidation or renegotiation of the contracts. If neither of those happen, and you are right about no fans in 2021, I fully expect owners to lock out the players.

The bind for both sides is that the both lose money if they don't play. Owners get zippo, and the players have limited time spans for their careers. Hopefully, that dynamic will get them together on a deal. As for 2021, I would guess you could have 25% filled stands for that. Everyone could be the Rays!

[cavebird]

I have to say that the detailed safety protocols the owners submitted gives me some hope. I am not sure they could actually pull it off, and there are a few gaps to be filled out, but at least they seem to be seriously engaged on this issue. But wow, how do you police that many players off the field. There's bound to be some idiot who goes out and screws everything up for his team.

[revo]

I have to say that the detailed safety protocols the owners submitted gives me some hope. I am not sure they could actually pull it off, and there are a few gaps to be filled out, but at least they seem to be seriously engaged on this issue. But wow, how do you police that many players off the field. There's bound to be some idiot who goes out and screws everything up for his team.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that MLB plans to process upward of 10,000 COVID-19 tests per week, according to a draft of the league's health-and-safety manual.
Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic also reported details of the manual. The plan calls to separate people into tiers, with Tier One including players, on-field personnel and medical personnel and Tier Two consisting of other "essential" employees, like front office staff. These two groups would be tested for the coronavirus multiple times a week, as well as their families. Interestingly, MLB plans to "offer free diagnostic and antibody/serology testing" for healthcare workers and first responders in MLB cities as a public service. Other parts of the manual are focused on social distancing initiatives, such as banning the use of high-fives, first-bumps, and spitting. Players will also be discouraged from showering at the ballpark or being allowed to use taxis or ride-sharing services. Multiple sections were missing from the information provided to Passan, so this isn't a complete picture of what a potential season would look like, but what we do know sounds incredibly complicated. As of now, the hope is for a spring training 2.0 to begin in mid-June, with the start of the season coming in early July.

SOURCE: ESPN.com
May 16, 2020, 4:01 PM ET

[rhd]

Update on the start of the Japanese leagues: they have at least partially restarted their "spring training" and some teams already are training in their home stadiums (most stadiums are in locked-down prefectures). They plan on starting the regular season on June 19 and plan on either a 120-game or 100-game season depending on when the season actually starts. They play 6 games/week so that would put the end of the regular season around mid-October. They plan to eliminate the 1st 2 rounds of playoffs and also their AS game so the post-season should end about where it would have anyway.

[ThatRogue]

Owner “losses” are not as clean cut as Manfred would like the media, and the public, to believe.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2020/05/18/a-deep-dive-into-mlbs-financial-losses-for-the-2020-season/amp

[revo]

Just so I have this straight:

The owners claim they would lose $2Bn if they played an 82-game season, but $4Bn if they don't play at all.
The players claim they would lose about 60% of their salaries if they agreed to a deal based on an 82-game season in empty stadiums, but would lose 100% if they don't play at all.

So for both the MLB & MLBPA, they would both lose more if they don't play at all, yet many feel this is the way they're headed. And knowing both, I may not disagree. In Cold War terms, they call this "Mutually Assured Destruction."

[cavebird]

The difference, of course, being that both sides remain very rich even in the MAD situation as opposed to everyone being dead, so this is an improvement I guess.

[revo]

The difference, of course, being that both sides remain very rich even in the MAD situation as opposed to everyone being dead, so this is an improvement I guess.

LOL. Although I would say 100% of one side will stay rich while maybe a guesstimated 50% of the other side would.