COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

Imagine an Opening Day between the New York Yankees and defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals. Gerrit Cole on the bump for the Bombers against Max Scherzer.  What a match-up! What a way to start a season! The only question is ... will it happen? Even with baseball and the Players Union agreeing this week to initiate an agreement they already had in place months ago to play a 60-game season starting July 24, the thought of Yankees-Nationals right now still feels like a fantasy. With the Coronavirus wrecking havoc across the country, and baseball -- fully aware that more of its players and employees could contract the disease, these next three weeks until baseball does "return" is going to be like walking a tight rope. Everyone wants to see baseball return. Everyone wants something fun to watch. We want to return to normalcy as soon as possible. But as we are reminded everyday, these are not normal times. Social and racial tensions aside, playing through the Coro...

We are a step closer to getting baseball back , believe it or not. The players union agreed Tuesday night to report to training camps a week from tomorrow, July 1, but they are still trying to figure out the health and safety protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement to play baseball comes after the players union and the owners proposed, rejected and countered numerous offers to resume the season with the players seeking more games and a full prorated salary, while the owners -- concerned that COVID-19 would do damage to revenue -- wanted less games and to slash player sal aries. At the end of the day it was Manfred who mandated a 60-game season -- the same length that MLB proposed to players last week that was initially rejected by the union. Under an initial agreement in March that gave the commissioner discretion in the matter, players would receive a full prorated share of their salaries -- or 37 percent of their full season salaries, or around $1.5 billion. The postseaso...

The clock struck 5 p.m. and no decision was officially levied by the Major League Baseball Players Union. The Union had until that hour to tell Commissioner Rob Manfred and the owners that it would accept a reporting date of July 1 and health and safety protocols. However the 5 p.m. deadline came and went and nothing was concrete. Jon Heyman and Bob Nigtengale both tweeted out that the players union had no issues with the July 1 reporting date, but a decision on the health and safety plan was still being ironed out. Of course health and safety is a huge issue right now as the Coronavirus continues to spread like wildfire down South and out West. Texas has seen a rash of COVID-19 cases up about 5,500 according to Bloomberg reporter Steven Dennis. Jesse Rodriguez of MSNBC tweeted that hospitals in Miami-Dade County were at max capacity. Then there was the story that leaked on ESPN around 5 p.m. that two more players and staffers from the Philadelphia Phillies have tested positive for CO...

So now the ball is officially in the court of Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. The Players Union predictably rejected baseball's 60-game season with full prorated salaries, and expanded playoffs, meaning, that Manfred must now decided if there is a season or not. The owners voted to grant Manfred the power to proceed with a season. The guess that has been reported is that it could be between 50 to 60 games. MLB is now asking the players union to notify them by 5 p.m. Tuesday whether their members can report to Spring Training by July 1, a week from this Wednesday. And, secondly, whether the players agree to the safety protocols manual. The question hovering around the entire prospect of having a mandated season by the Commissioner is one of two things: 1) The players could still file a grievance and there would be continued unrest throughout the summer -- even if games are played, and 2) Coronavirus. A number of players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week. Several ...

If the Jets aren't tired enough hearing about how frustrated Jamal Adams is playing for them, they certainly won't like the video that circulated late Sunday night that supposedly shows Adams leaning out of his Mercedes SUV to tell a fan that he is "trying" to get traded t o the Dallas Cowboys. The video is the latest in a long line of animosity that has now boiled up between Adams and the Jets front office. Adams demanded a trade last week to as many as seven teams, and the Cowboys are one of the destinations that Adams prefers to go to. All of this of course traces back to last season when General Manager Joe Douglas fielded calls from the Cowboys for Adams, but the package in return to New York was too expensive for the liking of Jerry Jones and company. Adams made no bones back then that he was upset the Jets fielded calls for his services, and has made no bones about it that he wants to be a Cowboy. There is only one of three ways this could end at this point. E...

Major League Baseball will not budge from its stance on a 60-game season, even after the Players Union countered with a 70-game season just a day after many believed the division between the League and the Players Union was healing. Now with both sides once again dug in, it is up to the players to either accept the owners 60-game proposal or reject it and force Commissioner Rob Manfred to implement a schedule. The problem hovering over any agreement, however, is the Coronavirus. According to reports, the Phillies, Blue Jays, Giants and Rangers all shut down due to spikes in cases of the virus. Five Philadelphia Phillies players have tested positive for the virus. There are even reports that one Astros player an two LA Angels players have also tested positive. Even if Major League Baseball and the Players Union agreed to a season, there is no guarantee now that it would even happen with the virus still a clear and present danger. Anyone still holding out hope for a season should start t...

Jamal Adams is still unhappy. The disgruntled safety is upset the New York Jets have not come to terms with his camp on a new contract extension that would make him one of the highest paid safeties in the NFL.  As a result Adams has demanded a trade, even putting out a list of teams he rather play for. All of them are teams that have had recent playoff success including the 49ers, Seahawks, Ravens and Cowboys. Adams even told reporters he would love to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of the presence of Tom Brady. Adams is digging a huge hole for himself. Here is a player with absolutely no leverage whatsoever who feels he can dictate the terms to a team that still has him under contract for two more years. Adams can't win here. The Jets don't have to trade him, and each time he pops off on social media to blast the franchise he is hurting his own value. While teams are certainly intrigued by Adams talents, his propensity as a divisive figure by blasting a franchise i...

Well it took a couple of days and the threat of cancelling the entire 2020 season to get Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark to the table. Both sides finally met face to face, and the framework of a 60-game season is on the table. Will it bring the sport back? Many think so. Check out our reaction.

The chances that the 2020 season will be canceled increased substantially after Rob Manfred told ESPN that he is "not confident" that there will be a season as long as there is no dialogue between the owners and players. The confessional by Manfred comes days after he told the Press that he was 100 percent certain there would be a season this year, and that he would mandate a 50-game schedule even if the players union and the owners couldn't come to terms on a deal. Now the Commissioner's office has done a complete 180, and the prospects of Major League Baseball in 2020 looks even dimmer. Things were not helped by the fact that Major League Baseball issued a statement early Monday that it was "disappointed" that the players union chose "note to negotiate in good faith over resumption of play after MLB has made successive proposals that would provide players, clubs and our fans with amicable resolution to a very difficult situation caused by COVID-19......

So the ball is back in the court of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. As expected, the MLB Players Association rejected MLB's latest offer to play 72 games with 70 percent of prorated salaries fully guaranteed. There was no way the players, who have been demanding full prorated salaries and more games would ever agree to less. Now MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark and lead negotiator Bruce Meyer have essentially put Manfred on notice to start play already. Manfred only has himself to blame for this -- for many different reasons -- but this is a guy who gave the ultimatum that he has the power to unilaterally start the season thanks in major part to an agreement in March that gave the League power to schedule 50 games and pay the players their full prorated salaries. Manfred even said that baseball would return this year, 100 percent. His words. Now he has to live up to it. There will be grievances filed by both sides, and it is hard to imagine the players would be willing t...

Major League Baseball can't be serious, can they? In response to the players request for a 114 game season and full prorated salaries, baseball is considering making the season even shorter at 50 games?  Really? How is this an improvement? Initially baseball proposed an 82-game schedule with severe cuts to players salaries, a plan the players didn't go for. The players responded on Sunday with their requests for a longer season that would stretch deep into the fall that would cover 70 percent of their original salaries. The owners? Well, they countered with a 50 game season with full prorated salaries . But under such an plan the players would only earn about 31 percent of their salaries for 2020. This is a huge slain the face at the players, and further evidence that the owners would rather see no season than risk losing money by playing games without fans in the building. As has been reported many owners fear the second wave of the coronavirus whipping out the postseas...

It's June 1. In a perfect world a self-imposed deadline by Major League Baseball would take affect in less than a week, a deal between the owners and Players Union would occur, satisfying both sides on both the financial and medical front, and baseball would resume in Spring Training in late June. Games would begin July 4 weekend. That is the dream. And let's be honest it's a total pipe-dream at this point. Because right now it doesn't look at all like we will have a baseball season in 2020. The owners want an 82-game season and want to slash players salaries, with the highest earners getting hit the hardest. Case in point, players earning $20 million or more would only get about 20 percent of their annual salary. Players making the minimum $563,000 to a million would keep about 75 percent of their earnings. Jeff Passan of ESPN has used Mike Trout's $37.6 million contract as an example. If you prorate Trout's contract based on the owner's proposal, t...

It has been a weird time for Major League Baseball and its minor league affiliates. It appears increasingly unlikely that we will have a season in 2020 with both the owners and players union entrenched in a battle of financial Russian Roulette, leaving the minor leagues wondering if a season will even be had. Thousands of players have been released as of last Thursday.  Both the Coronavirus Pandemic and Commissioner Rob Manfred's plan to slash about a quarter of baseball's minor league affiliates are taking direct impact on baseball's future, leaving many wondering what's next for a sport that appears on the brink. One of those teams that cut a slew of Minor League players is the New York Mets, who reportedly cut as many as 39 players last week. One of those players was Andrew Church, a former second round pick, who bashed the Mets as a dysfunctional organization, and took shots at former NFL quarterback-turned baseball player Tim Tebow. "The Mets made a ...