MLB economic standoff with union is giving baseball a black eye, shortchanging the fans

An economic battle that has given baseball a black eye saw negotiations between the owners and players reach an impasse Saturday night, leaving in limbo what the season will look like this summer.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred declared Wednesday night there will be baseball amid a global pandemic, but what remains to be determined is if it will be reduced to a 50-game season and whether players are agreeable to expanded playoffs. The squabble continues as sports fans are starving for entertainment during the covid-19 crisis.

When St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt proclaimed “the industry isn’t very profitable, to be quite honest” earlier this week only for reports to leak that MLB was finalizing a potential billion-dollar television deal with Turner Sports for playoff broadcast rights, MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark ended the bargaining.

“It unfortunately appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile,” Clark said in a statement. “It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”

Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark today released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/d1p3Oj4K70

— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) June 13, 2020

The union is standing firm it will not take further pay cuts beyond the prorated pay agreed upon in March, only for owners to propose a 72-game schedule at 70% of prorated pay. Owners are citing their profits will suffer because fans aren’t allowed to attend games but aren’t willing to open their books to prove the point.

“Players want to play. It’s who we are and what we do,” Clark said in the statement. “Since March, the Association has made it clear that our No. 1 focus is playing the fullest season possible, as soon as possible, as safely as possible. Players agreed to billions in monetary concessions as a means to that end, and in the face of repeated media leaks and misdirection, we made additional proposals to inject new revenues into the industry — proposals that would benefit the owners, players, broadcast partners, and fans alike.

“It’s now become apparent that these efforts have fallen upon deaf ears.”

MLB treated that as a tone-deaf response to its financial woes, given teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates have stopped retirement contributions, furloughed members of the business operations and the highest-paid senior executives in the front office and coaching staff have taken pay cuts.

Official statement from Major League Baseball regarding thoughts on ongoing negotiations. pic.twitter.com/OXGVerVOmD

— emilycwaldon (@EmilyCWaldon) June 14, 2020

The league responded with a statement that placed the blame on the union for its stance: “MLBPA’s position that players are entitled to virtually all of the revenue from a 2020 season played without fans is not fair to the thousands of other baseball employees that Clubs and our office are supporting financially during this very difficult 2020 season.”

A very difficult season that is shortchanging not only the sport but its fans.

This sets the stage for another standoff when the collective bargaining agreement ends after the 2021 season. It hasn’t helped that both sides are accusing one another of failing to negotiate in good faith.

The league/owners have consistently tried to turn this pandemic into a CBA negotiation. Lets shut that down. Players have wanted to play the entire time and have been working their tails off to stay ready. It’s time to play ball. It’s what our fans deserve.

— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) June 13, 2020

That is something that isn’t lost on Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon, the team’s player representative.

“The league/owners have consistently tried to turn this pandemic into a CBA negotiation,” Taillon tweeted. “Lets shut that down. Players have wanted to play the entire time and have been working their tails off to stay ready. It’s time to play ball. It’s what our fans deserve.”