Hope and uncertainty color start of 2020 season

Hope and uncertainty color start of 2020 season
The Major League Baseball season starts Thursday night with the first two games in Washington and Los Angeles. By far, the 60-game schedule is not only the shortest in history, it's also the most unusual, framed by a killer pandemic, labor strife, social-justice issues and questions about whether the season would - or should - be launched at all. The season was supposed to start March 26, but spring training camps in Arizona and Florida were shut down March 12 because of a spiking coronavirus...

Baseball will look different in many ways in this crazy year

Baseball will look different in many ways in this crazy year
Let's say on opening night at Nationals Park this happens: Bottom of the fifth, the Nationals' Trea Turner hits a pop to short left field. Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner charges in, shortstop Gleyber Torres goes out. The two defenders have the descending ball surrounded. Torres twists and turns and then the ball hits inside Torres' glove and falls to the ground. Turner checks in at second base. Is that a double or a two-base error? Normally, the official scorer, sitting behind home plate...

Nats try to make most of limited games, MLB releases test results

Nats try to make most of limited games, MLB releases test results
With only three true exhibition games on their schedule, the Nationals aren't going to get much of an opportunity to build themselves up into regular season shape before opening night arrives July 23. They have to make the most of whatever game-like situations they can draw up in the meantime, such as today's four-inning intrasquad contest at Nationals Park. "I don't feel like these guys are not going to be ready or not be prepared for what's to come," manager Davey Martinez said. "I...

A primer on the plan for the 2020 season

A primer on the plan for the 2020 season
The plan to start the 2020 Major League Baseball season is now officially in place. Whether it is completed in full depends on the spread of the novel coronavirus and the ability of more than 1,000 players, coaches, trainers, clubhouse staffers, team executives, umpires, groundskeepers and other assorted support staff to keep it from spreading. It's a daunting task, one that has no guarantee of being successful. But MLB is going to give it a try after getting approval Tuesday night from the...

Was this bitter fight worth it?

Was this bitter fight worth it?
So after all that, after months of nothing and weeks of bickering, after talk of a season that could be as short as 48 games or as long as 114 games, after proposals to expand the postseason to 16 teams and institute the universal designated hitter this year and next, after all that, what did we get? A 60-game season unilaterally imposed by the commissioner. The standard postseason format. The universal DH this year only. A grievance that is all but certain to be filed by the players in the...

MLB will impose season after players vote down final offer

MLB will impose season after players vote down final offer
The Major League Baseball Players Association resoundingly voted down the league's latest (and final) proposal for the 2020 season this evening, leaving commissioner Rob Manfred to unilaterally impose a shortened season on the players, the details of which should be announced in the next 24 to 48 hours. The MLBPA executive committee - made up of 30 team representatives and the eight-man subcommittee that includes Nationals ace Max Scherzer - formally voted today not to accept the league's...

Time for final decision on 2020 season has come

Time for final decision on 2020 season has come
After months of waiting followed by weeks of squabbling, the time has probably come for a final decision on the 2020 season. And barring a last-minute change of heart by the owners and players who have been refusing to budge from their most recent offers, it appears the sport is destined for a short season unilaterally mandated by commissioner Rob Manfred, which will probably be met with a formal grievance filed by the Major League Baseball Players Association. What, you thought this saga was...

Progress in latest round of talks, but no deal quite yet

Progress in latest round of talks, but no deal quite yet
Is it possible? Is it possible Rob Manfred and Tony Clark are close to a deal and the 2020 season is nearly upon us at last? Well, yes and no. After a Wednesday that featured a whirlwind of emotions, from brief moments of joy to forceful words of caution, here's where it appears things stand: Manfred and Clark, after meeting in person (and in secret) in Arizona, seem to have made significant headway toward a deal. But not a completed deal, both because they didn't sign any formal papers and...

MLB takes a step toward a 2020 season

MLB takes a step toward a 2020 season
Will we hear the cry to "Play ball!" in July? One day after I wrote in this space about how bad it looked and how we had a right to be disappointed in both the players and owners, it seems an actual deal may be getting closer. The players held firm to get 100 percent of prorated salaries and they will reportedly get that. But just for 60, 65, or 66 games, something in that neighborhood, although they could negotiate for more. The owners didn't want to pay full prorated salaries for much more...

Time for baseball to do what's in the best interests of baseball

Time for baseball to do what's in the best interests of baseball
When baseball owners approached Kenesaw "Mountain" Landis in 1920 and asked him to become the first commissioner in professional sports, the then-U.S. District Court judge insisted he be given a very specific power. Landis insisted he be allowed to make major decisions on his own, without approval of owners or players, for matters he believed were "in the best interests of baseball." Exactly one century later, that phrase remains written into Major League Baseball's constitution, and every...

Chance for deal seems dead after statements by MLB, players

Chance for deal seems dead after statements by MLB, players
Whatever sliver of hope remained that Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association might find a way to come together and negotiate a reasonable settlement to their ongoing fight over salary structure appeared to go up in smoke Saturday night after both entities issued nasty statements accusing each other of ruining any chance of a reasonable 2020 season. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark all but gave up further negotiations and essentially demanded that Rob Manfred tell the players...

Players, owners can't try to fight 2021 battle in 2020

Players, owners can't try to fight 2021 battle in 2020
There are problems with Major League Baseball's economics system. Big problems. Yes, the sport brings in as much as $11 billion a year, but that doesn't mean the economic state of the sport is healthy. Players have been making this argument for two years now. How can owners be making so much money while free agency remains stagnant? How can so many teams be profitable while still claiming they need to cut payroll as part of a long-term rebuilding plan? And how can the best players in this...

Set a deadline, and you might actually get a deal at last

Set a deadline, and you might actually get a deal at last
Precisely 12 weeks have passed since Major League Baseball shut down spring training and delayed the start of the regular season, the novel coronavirus having forced the entire nation to shut down like never before. Nobody knew at that moment how much time would pass before baseball could be played again, but slowly it became clear the target date for starting a condensed 2020 season would fall right around July 4. Which meant teams would need to be able to start holding workouts for a second...

MLB, union seem far apart, but middle ground awaits them

MLB, union seem far apart, but middle ground awaits them
It's hard to look at the competing proposals for the 2020 season offered up by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association and come to the conclusion that the two sides are anywhere close to striking a deal. But here's a key point that must be taken into consideration when trying to gauge the state of negotiations: Both sides are purposely making proposals that fall at the extreme ends of their acceptable spectrums. Not because anyone believes the opposing side is going to accept...

Nationals change course, will keep paying minor leaguers in full

Nationals change course, will keep paying minor leaguers in full
One day after learning their own major league players had pledged to cover the pay cuts the organization was imposing on minor leaguers, Nationals ownership reversed course and elected to continue making full weekly stipend payments to their players, a source familiar with the decision confirmed. The Nationals' intention to reduce the stipends given to minor leaguers from $400 per week to $300 per week throughout June was immediately met with a harsh reaction from the franchise's own big...

Nats players pledge to cover minor leaguers' pay cuts

Nats players pledge to cover minor leaguers' pay cuts
Nationals players, after learning Sunday the organization is cutting minor leaguers' weekly pay this month, have collectively pledged to cover the difference on their own. The club, which by Major League Baseball mandate had been paying all minor leaguers $400 per week throughout April and May, will reduce that amount to $300 per week in June, a source familiar with the decision confirmed. The reductions come as the organization also released more than two dozen minor league players, a trend...

It's time for baseball to help bring us back together

It's time for baseball to help bring us back together
It all seems so trivial right now, doesn't it, the bickering between Major League Baseball and its players over how to fairly set salaries for the 2020 season? Our country is coming apart at the seams, protests and riots consuming cities across America over an issue that has plagued this land of ours for centuries and has now reached a boiling point. All of this, mind you, against the backdrop of a global pandemic and collapsed economy. We're supposed to care about baseball right now? But...

Scherzer shoots down MLB plan as clock ticks down for deal

Scherzer shoots down MLB plan as clock ticks down for deal
If you didn't realize how far apart Major League Baseball owners and players were in their negotiations over pay cuts for the proposed 2020 season, Max Scherzer served up a harsh reminder late Wednesday night that the chasm right now is vast. The Nationals ace and member of the MLB Players Association's eight-person executive subcommittee said the union has no intention of accepting any more salary reductions beyond what was already agreed to in late March. And he put the onus on owners to...

Reduced pay, but no layoffs, for Nationals employees

Reduced pay, but no layoffs, for Nationals employees
While Major League Baseball and its players continue to spar over how to restructure salaries for the 2020 season, club employees around the sport are beginning to learn they won't be paid in full this year. The Nationals joined the list Tuesday, informing all full-time team employees they will see their salaries and work hours reduced by a modest amount. According to a source familiar with the club's decision, all full-timers in both the baseball and business sides of the organization will...

Would Nationals train and play in D.C. or West Palm Beach?

Would Nationals train and play in D.C. or West Palm Beach?
There are so many questions that must be answered before baseball returns, but let's attempt today to tackle one of the most pertinent questions facing the Nationals: Where would they hold the resumption of spring training, and then where would they play their season? Based on Major League Baseball's official proposal to the MLB Players Association, it looks like the answer is: In Washington, as long as it's safe to do so, and as long as local authorities say it's OK. Those are some pretty...