The Major League Baseball Players Association informed MLB on Saturday night that they are done negotiating and want an answer by Monday on how many games they’ll play and when to show up for work.
“It’s now become apparent that these efforts have fallen upon dead ears,’’ Tony Clark, executive director of the MLBPA, said in a statement. “In recent days, owners have decried the supposed unprofitability of owning a baseball team and the Commissioner has repeatedly threatened to schedule a dramatically shortened season unless players agree to hundreds of millions in further concessions. Our response has been consistently that such concessions are unwarranted, would be fundamentally unfair to players, and our sport deserves the fullest 2020 season possible. These remain our positions today, particularly in light of new reports regarding MLB’s national television rights — information that we requested from the league weeks ago but were never provided.
“As a result, it unfortunately appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile. It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.’’
In other words, the union now is simply waiting for Commissioner Rob Manfred to unilaterally impose a short season, perhaps as few as 50 games, which would require the players to be paid at a prorated basis.
"We have been consistent and upfront about everything from the beginning,’’ said Andrew Miller, a member of the union’s executive committee. "We want to play and have made that abundantly clear. It’s clear the negotiations were not being productive and it was time to put the ball into the hands of MLB to let us know when we should come to work."
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