Owners unanimously mandate a 60-game season

This afternoon, the MLBPA rejected the latest owners’ proposal for a 2020 season by a 33-5 vote, emphasizing its desire to continue negotiation — and preserving its right to file a grievance for bad-faith negotiation on the part of ownership.

As a result, MLB held a quick vote among owners and is said to have unanimous backing for a 60-game season that will start at the end of July. The owners had the right to force the start of a season, according to the original (and still only) negotiated agreement in this pandemic era, back on March 26.

The statement reflects the generally pissy nature of negotiations, he-said/she-said b.s. that fans have long tired of. Ownership bullet-pointing all the things fans won’t see (because of those mean players, right?) furthers the notion that both of these parties — certainly the owners — should be sitting at the kids’ table.

Presumably, players would have no issue (#WhereAndWhen) with reporting for “spring” training by July 1. However, will players sign off on the “Operating Manual,” when it seems clear that operating manual is filled with redacted or outdated information? We’re just days from reports that dozens of players have tested positive and all MLB facilities were shut down for decontamination.

Get yer peanuts and popcorn, here!

Remember, the MLB plan has been to have all 30 teams play in their home parks (the Blue Jays will report to Florida due to travel difficulty and/or governmental restrictions). How excited must Rays, Diamondbacks or Rangers players be to report to virus outbreak hotbeds — then travel from city to city playing out a 60-game (localized?) schedule?

It seems like there may be more to this story, and we’ll try to be quick to provide updates.