Red Sox: Players reject latest offer leaving 2020 in Rob Manfred’s hands
Red Sox baseball still on hold as player’s reject latest offer
We’re getting into the final week of June and there hasn’t been a single meaningful out of baseball played in 2020. The last time we saw the Red Sox play a game was all the way back in March and it’s been a miserable three months. Today, the MLBPA Executive Board voted on the most recent proposal from the owners, and it was rejected handily.
What does that mean? Well, before we can get to that point let’s take a look at what the most recent offer included. The owners offered the players a 60-game season that would give them fully prorated pay, an expanded postseason format, and the implementation of the DH throughout both leagues. The only real negative was that the players couldn’t seek legal action against the league.
I’ve been pro-players since the very beginning of this mess but today makes it really hard to fight for them. Now let me be clear, I’ll never side with the owners, they could’ve easily ended this well before we got to this point, but the players also had that power. The two sides never seemed even in the same area code in regards to pay or games on the schedule.
The MLBPA offered up a 70-game proposal and even told the owners to give them a time and place to show up. It was countered by the league with the above-mentioned offer. Now that the players have denied the final offer from the owners this will fall in the lap of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, you know, the least competent of the current commissioners.
All the way back in March, the MLB and MLBPA agreed to terms on an agreement that gives Manfred the power to basically force a season. The problem with that is, it never once felt like Manfred put in an honest effort to have the 2020 season. In that initial agreement, it was said that both sides needed to negotiate in good faith, which one side did more than the other.
The players gave the owners more than enough wiggle room to make 2020 happen without a hitch. Granted, they started their season-length proposal a bit high but were willing to negotiate it down to the more reasonable 70 games. The owners were pretty damn firm at anywhere from 50-60 games and seemingly never wanted to budge.
There was more than enough time on the clock for at least a half-season to be played, but that would’ve meant more money out of the pockets of the owners. Yeah, there may not be a revenue flow coming in from fans and concessions but the tv deals will still make sure that the league isn’t hurting for cash.
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With today’s news of the latest offer being declined, I imagine we’ll hear from Manfred by the end of the week. We’re most likely looking at a 60-game season which will make the owners incredibly happy and will secure Uncle Manfred’s job for now. The current CBA is set to expire after the 2021 season which will then create another rift between the owners and players. If this is how the two sides are behaving with just a single season on the line, it’ll be miserable when multiple years are at stake.
As we all know, this season counted towards service time whether or not games get played. This means that Jackie Bradley Jr., Mitch Moreland, Kevin Pillar, Jose Peraza, and J.D. Martinez among others could all become free-agents. Some of those names are a guarantee to hit the market while others have options and J.D. can opt-in for another season with the Red Sox.
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This entire negotiation period has made both sides look absolutely awful. Originally the owners looked like penny-pinching misers but today hurt the image of the players. The war was never going to be won but they had plenty of chances to take the current battle, and they failed. Now Manfred will step in and give the owners what they want while the players will lose out on the expanded playoffs and league-wide DH. Today was a really sad day for the sport of baseball.