MLB is the last major sports organization in the US that doesn’t have a plan to return to action
If MLB doesn’t reach a decision soon, this year’s season might not happen at all. Several weeks have been wasted since both owners and players started sending proposals from one side to the other, and the biggest concern has been the overall inability to sit down and negotiate. June is here already and there are still no hopes about a possible date to return to action. According to Charles Gasparino of Fox Business Network, owners have a meeting scheduled for today to talk about the ideas and possibilities that can be considered.
Now, the option to start an 82-game season starting July 4 is no longer viable. Perhaps the league will need to consider a shorter version of the regular season that includes fewer games, or there might be no baseball at all during this year. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred could also mandate a 48-game season and send players back to action with full prorated salaries.
Also, a recent report by ESPN’s Jeff Passan said that owners seem more willing to lose over $400 million this season. So, based on this fact, owners are looking into ways in which the season can be divided to avoid any more losses. One of the topics still in discussion is that players are not willing to play in different conditions than the ones they agreed to when the pandemic first hit the country. If there are no agreements between the parts soon, then Manfred might end up imposing a short season to have some baseball action this summer.
