There will be a baseball season in 2020 — but only because commissioner Rob Manfred is now imposing his will on the players union.
With their weeks-long stalemate continuing after the players union executive board voted 33-5 to reject MLB’s latest 60-game proposal, the league announced Monday night that it will start the process of implementing a season. According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, a 60-game schedule is what MLB is looking to impose.
The league released a statement saying it was disappointing that a deal couldn’t be struck with players and has given the union a 24-hour deadline to provide two pieces of information needed to start a 2020 season: whether players can report by July 1 and whether the players will agree to the so-called “operating manual” for the season, which contains the health and safety protocols for a COVID-19 shortened season.