Red Sox News: Chris Sale unsure if we’ll see a season in 2020

The Boston Red Sox ace spoke candidly about the possibility of there not being a season in 2020. In his eyes, all talks need to start with safety.

We’re coming to the end of May and June is right around the corner, and yet, Red Sox baseball has never felt farther away. At the moment, the MLB and MLBPA are sniping back and forth with neither side looking to back down anytime soon. The latest proposal by the league and Owners pretty much fell on deaf ears as the players weren’t having any of it. At this point, it feels highly doubtful that we have a 2020 season.

While speaking with ESPN’s Marly Rivera, Red Sox lefty Chris Sale was asked about this very topic and he had some pretty insightful thoughts on the matter. He didn’t beat around the bush and got down to the brass tax of the matter, safety. If the right measures aren’t in place to protect the players, personnel, fans, and families, then what’s the point of forcing a season, he asked.

“Nothing else matters if we can’t find a safe way to do this. I would hope that we’re leading with this, because I know when you talk about business, you talk about money,” Sale said. “That can lead to some things getting overlooked, but at the end of the day, the safety of not only the players, but also the fans and the people that we’re coming in contact with, should be the most important thing.”

His response hit the nail directly on the head of the issue the MLB is facing during the coronavirus pandemic. For the most part, all we’ve heard as fans is the money issue. The owners are losing “X,” the players were asked to only get paid “Y,” and later an ever lesser “Z.”

This has been the biggest hiccup that I’ve seen on my end, though some players are harping on safety, and rightfully so. We’ve heard Blake Snell and others come out against the wage demands from the owners and flat out say they’re gonna sit if pushed to that point.

Sale went in-depth on the fact that money shouldn’t even be in the conversation yet if the correct safety measures aren’t put into place. That should be the priority above anything else for everyone involved.

“Once we get that figured out, we’ll talk about money and all the other stuff. I think we need to figure out what we’re going to do from a safety standpoint before we start talking about dollars and cents,” Sale added. “I think that right now players are looking at it as the risk outweighs the reward, but it’s the same for the owners.”

Obviously money is an important factor in this whole debacle as this is still a job for the players. They also agreed to the initial prorated salary proposal put forth by the owners earlier this spring. It was the second pay-cut for the season that has thrown the stop sign on any negotiations at this point. I’ve said it a few times now and I’ll say it again, the Boston ace is spot-on with his analysis of the situation.

Yes, this is a business, and money is being lost by everyone involved. But when you put the sole focus on the money errors can be made due to shortcuts or hasty decisions being put forth. If you tackle the issue from the angle of safety, then the money portion should sort itself out. Either way, it’s incredibly difficult from both sides as you’ll have fans caught in the middle seeing the owners and players as the villain.

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I for one will never side with the owners on any argument surrounding money. Yeah, these are million-dollar players, but these are billion-dollar owners, that’s with a “B.” I’m sorry you can’t gas up the yacht this month but you’re also not the one that can see your career ended in a flash thanks to a fastball to the head or torn ligament.

The Red Sox southpaw has a great final outlook on the situation when he puts himself in the middle of it all. When I read his response I had to let out a laugh because it’s another one of those purely candid Chris Sale statements that are beyond refreshing to hear from an athlete.

“On my end of it, I’m not missing any games that everyone else isn’t missing.” Sale said. “Plus, I’m not getting paid, so no one can call me an overpaid asshole right now [laughs].”

I have no clue when we’ll get a resolution to all of this posturing or if we even will. As it stands right now it sure doesn’t feel like we’ll be seeing the Red Sox take the field at any point this season. For Chris Sale, this was a lost season anyway, but now he has the chance to get himself back to full health and dominate once again in 2021 and erase the disappointment of 2019.