MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and union chief Tony Clark have held an in-person meeting in an effort to break a long-running stalemate on the resumption of the 2020 season, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). The substance of the talks isn’t yet known, but it was said to be a “productive” undertaking.
Manfred had indicated previously that the sides had not even engaged in real-time negotiations since June 7th. This unquestionably represents a big step up in communication, at a minimum. The pair’s in-person meetings began last night and continued today, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).
About time! NOW I’m optimistic that we might have baseball.
A face mask-to-face mask meeting.
I’m more concerned that there are no adults present.
Cue 72 games on the moon, with basepaths being 12″ deep trenches of pineapple jello to help the fielding side counter the thinner atmosphere and 1200 foot outfield.
Man Fred the slave of the owners can then return the comment about “where and when….”
.
What?!?! ROFL! You should write for movies specifically intended to spoof scifi flicks. If you aren’t already or moving in that direction than your talent is being wasted. =D
So Manfred is just flip flopping every other day?
What’s so bad about flip-flopping? Isn’t it a good thing to admit your prior position might been wrong?
I respect people who change their minds based on receiving more information.
I don’t have a lot of respect for people who will not change their minds no matter how much new data is presented.
Obviously never negotiated before. You say things to get a rise out of the other side and make your position sound more dramatic in order to gain concessions. Just took too long of playing this through the media to get here. But in the world of social media and everyone having an opinion they just play all of us so we push the other side to make a call.
Doesn’t it feel great that in the world of Twitter politicians and everyone else just puppeteer us to gain an upper hand in negotiations.
What else can they do? Optics not substance.
BREAKING:
Manfred not 100% sure there was a meeting
BREAKING:
Manfred and Clark meetings falls apart when Manfred was only going to pay 35% of the bill for their lunch and Clark was holding out for 100% of the bill Pro rata. leaving the server really confused.
They’re in TOTAL AGREEMENT that the Popeye’s chicken sandwich is tastier than the McDonald’s chicken sandwich.
Well Hallelujah!
81 games
Expanded playoffs
prorated salaries
clubs MAY defer salaries above $5M for 2 years, quarterly payments, 1% interest
Players report Monday, June 22
Season runs July 10- September 30
No grievances will be filed
Negotiations continue on unresolved for 2 weeks
Anything unresolved at that time will be arbitrated quickly, with a decision before the season starts. Season won’t be delayed.
I count 139 players with salaries of $10M or more, out of 780 players (26 x 30)
At 50% salary, those players would be subject to part of their salaries deferred
IF the owners have cash flow issues, this may help a lot
Patrick, the problem is simple, the solution is impossible…. How do you guarantee a post season?
I really don’t believe the owners have an issue with 100% prorated salaries for 50 games.
They can enforce that at any time. What is at issue is a guaranteed postseason.
The games and percentages can be worked out, the guarantee that owners can have their post season revenue is the issue.
is this based on anything???
Rob Manfred is a broken tool. Screw that guy. He may as well run for president, he’s so damn useless. Tony Clark is a stooge. That meeting was probably like Dumb and Dumber on acid. Now both parties will issue press releases saying that they couldn’t agree on anything. Just wait. Baseball is dying.
who says it was “productive?”
Just had the most delicious pork sandwich, as well as 3 imperial IPAs. Good lunch
You always eat well.
Life is too short to eat crappy food
It’s not what anyone thinks….
MLB cut a deal with Netflix on a new reality series detailing this situation. It’s a 6-part series, so expect 5 more meetings of some sort.
This is how the owners intend to make up for lost revenue, though none of this will be shared or reported as a related source of income.
You think Netflix will cover their lost revenue?
Yes, definitely.
They’re being guaranteed permanent advertising rights for the 2021 season and MLB will reportedly require every player to display a Netflix logo patch on their right sleeve.
Should have been an in-person meeting from the start. Maybe we could have already had a plan in place to play baseball? Both these idiots need to be fired ASAP!
I know you are taking the players side to this conflict. I am OK with that. However, what you and the economist fail to inject is the fallout of Covid-19 attendance, the loss of fans visiting cities that are a big mess ( no police), and those who won’t go because they are fed up with this process.
I am thinking there will be 20-25% less fans that will attend due to the above. Players want their money for every game played, and don’t care how many butts are in the seats…
Thoughts and prayers to the owners!
Then how do you counter the argument that owners don’t give out extra cash to the players when attendance and income exceeds expectations?
“Well, the players are under contract, that’s why.”
Exactly. When you own a business, you assume risk. Good times can be very, very good. Bad times happen, and you either deal with it without penalizing your employees or find another way to make your living.
Hubcap – but in a normal business you can let go your most expensive/underperformance workers when cash flow issues come up, or in some cases even furlough them with reduced or no salary when there’s a union contract.
Teams can’t do that can they?
First of all, the players union is strong and they reserve the right to strike. Second of all, baseball is not at-will employment. The most expensive players have guaranteed contracts. The owners signed those contracts.
The players are furloughed right now. They don’t get paid for games not played.
Games are not going to be played in front of fans. Not until 2021.
I highly doubt their will be games played in most major league stadiums.
Momentum is a very dangerous thing to miscalculate.
If this season goes by the wayside both sides may wish they weren’t so arrogant.
Their myopic view of a fast changing world is pure stupidity.
Just another day in the negotiating process. Some days it feels like we are making progress. Some days it feels like we are taking a step back.
Believe it or not, this is all a very “normal” part of a very ugly process called a negotiation.
At the end of the day, the negotiations are inching forward and we will have a negotiated settlement and baseball in 2020.
It was reportedly a very productive meeting. Manfred connected with a good left hook, and Clark was able to counter with some excellent quick jabs.
Wow, it’s beyond dumb they couldn’t meet in person earlier. We are talking BILLIONS of dollars and they couldn’t find a way? Hell, I’m traveling for work for deals that are worth a couple thousand bucks. Lol.SMH.
Life is too short to eat crappy food
Yeah, neither of them deserve any faith or trust, so my pessimism stands.