MLB Players Reject Latest Offer, Dare Commish to Mandate Schedule

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 to play games after a bitter negotiation period that has produced to little to no resolution on how to protect players from the Coronavirus.

The owners, of course, don't want to play fully prorated salaries because they are making no money at the gate with fans barred from games this year. They are also fearful of having baseball play deep into the autumn when the second wave of the virus is supposed to be at its peak again.

Regardless this has been a horrible stain on the sport that will have lingering impacts. If all baseball had to do was mandate a schedule, why didn't they just do that without getting into this terrible back and forth. Meanwhile many minor league teams have released players and personnel -- some teams are not even coming back. The only baseball on our way right now is in Indy ball with the American Association dipping its toes into the water with a six-team, 60-game season.

Major League Baseball can't even figure that out.

With the rise of COVID cases in other parts of the nation, it's getting harder and harder to picture baseball returning at all this year. A 50-game mandated season fells hallow right now -- something that nobody is going to get into -- especially fans who have seen quiet enough in this pathetic battle of millionaires and billionaires.