[ESPN] MLB suspends spring training, delays Opening Day at least two weeks

I really love Crane. Ever since 2017 he’s never shied away from spending money to keep a competitive team and I love that he’s not changing that now. That should mean we at least make a very competitive offer to Springer this offseason and are able to go after some top free agents if we lose Springer.

 

May St. Sebastian bless us with no more cancellations. The Euros all have their leagues up and running. We're supposed to be 1st world.

 

MLBPA was not under obligation to agree concessions just as the owners are not obligated to start the season under these conditions. However, if MLB is willing to start the season without player agreement under these conditions, MLBPA has a case that MLB should have started the season with an 82-game season without player agreement as nothing has changed that has made starting the season easier.

 

I know it's a month away but i'm just so happy that baseball / NBA will be back (hopefully) next month.

 

Except they were obligated to try to negotiate, which by definition takes time. Both sides were exchanging proposals until about a week ago. If the MLBPA hadn't been making counteroffers, maybe they'd have an argument.

 

That's only because their offense improved more after Game 60 than the Astros offense improved after they started stealing signs.

 

If we're playing 10 games against each divisional opponent then the simple way to have less travel would be to have one 5 game series in both cities. In a short season that makes it fair for pitching match ups as well. Each series you see the full rotation.

 

This should apply to Straw, too.

 

They were required to negotiate in good faith if games couldn't be played under the March Agreement. If the owners believed the conditions were suitable to be played under March Agreement without an additional player agreement, there was nothing to negotiate except maybe the safety manual. In other words, the owners negotiations were just a stall tactic, and not needed as the existing agreement was suitable.

 

Yeah. Not a fan of his rule changes the last few years either.

 

Maybe I'm crazy here but I think they should maximize the regular season amount of games and shorten the playoffs, making it like in the old school days. Regular season, a tiebreaker since there's three divisions instead of two in the '70s-'80s, an LCS between the winner of the tiebreaker and the team with the best record in each league, and then the World Series. It would probably make the regular season that much more competitive.

 

Nonsense. The March Agreement required there to be no restrictions on mass gatherings/etc. Many states have only recently said sports would be allowed, so conditions changed. A month ago, MLB didn't have authority to start their system. MLB also had to consult with the union on safety issues - the union didn't agree to those until yesterday (or really, hasn't even done so fully yet). And they agreed to discuss economic feasibility of playing without fans. The economic feasibility is different for a 60 game season and a 100 game season, so that was part of a negotiation. Or, if they want to play hardball, MLB can argue the feasibility changed when they got their new postseason TV deal.

In any scenario, it's nonsensical to think that the March Agreement required MLB to *not* negotiate with the Union, and that the Union would have a grievance based on that when they, themselves, were proactive in negotiating. For your theory to work, MLBPA would have had to insist from Day #1 that negotiations were not acceptable. There's a 0% chance the MLBPA will win a grievance here.

 

The economics doesn't work here - all the money is made from the postseason revenues.

 

If it was nonsense, the owners would never have bothered trying to get a player agreement that prevented a grievance. Maybe the players don't win, but it is enough of an issue that it isn't nonsense,

 

Wish the Astrodome was in good shape enough to use it lmao

 

Games in the Astrodome this season would be EPIC! It's been sitting there so long, it would be costly to freshen it up.

 

Whats up with the alternate site? Theyre not gonna play in MMP?