MLBPA chief Tony Clark spoke with Bob Nightengale of USA Today about the union’s stance on returning to play in 2020. His comments focused primarily on the pervasive ongoing uncertainty, but Clark also says he’s remaining optimistic.
On the one hand, there’s nothing new here. As Clark acknowledges, the course of the scientific, social, and political response to the virus will dictate what baseball can do and when.
“We don’t have the answers, and we don’t expect those to come anytime soon,” Clark explains.
At the same time, it’s important to understand where the chief decisionmakers stand on these matters. Clark echoed MLB commissioner Rob Manfred regarding the need to consider first the broader public needs. Testing availability is critical, he said, but “it can’t be at the expense of public testing.” And it must be determined how the virus “can be mitigated in the public arena as much as the professional arena.”
While there’s a lot of overlap in league and union interests — everyone wants to be a positive force and to get revenue moving again — there are obviously quite a few differences in situation. Playing in empty stadiums won’t be a problem, Clark says. And the union side is willing to consider some experimental measures to make things interesting and accommodate a compressed schedule.
But what of the much bigger potential issues? There’s agreement in the near term on the rules regarding player contracts, but what will happen to long-term guarantees and upcoming free agent and arbitration cases? And will players be willing to live apart from families and accept other restrictions on their personal lives if that proves necessary to holding a season?
Clark says “it would be premature to have that discussion” and adds that he doesn’t intend “to negotiate through the media.” Ultimately, he says, the concepts that have been discussed to this point lack “depth” and feature “too many assumptions” to be addressed in detail.
“Once we find ourselves in discussions with the league in terms of options and variations, we in turn can present those ideas to the players, and the players can decide what makes most sense,” Clark explains.
One of the most interesting matters coming down the pike hasn’t yet been addressed by Clark or Manfred: the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement in 2021. There was prior chatter of an early initiation of negotiations, so the sides have already been thinking about things. The present crisis has obviously required difficult modifications to the present bargaining period. It will also change the parameters of the next one. As league and union make difficult tradeoffs now, they’ll surely be considering the impacts and perhaps even beginning negotiations regarding their next overarching agreement. At the same time, sudden and vast uncertainty will make it all the more challenging to think through the future.
i wonder if there is any news on how the players might vote on a quarantine season proposal like the FL/AZ one. that’s a huge factor in all of this.
They’ll agree obviously.
It’ll be interesting. Most probably say yes. Trout, Kershaw and others have stated they won’t be going if quarantined from their families.
I see a 81 game season on the horizon. And an All Star game in between
81? I’m sure you meant to say 80 or 82. How would an 81 game season work? Lol
that’s half the regular season length. what’s wrong with 40 home and 40 road with a neutral site game mixed in? to be honest i think most would take a 40/41 game split of that is what it took.
@ darkside—or 81 neutral sites games–expect for the dbacks—81 games at “home”.
No fans, no advantage for the dbacks.
Pretty much the same as an 80 or 82 game schedule. You play the number of games on the schedule and the teams with the best records play in the playoffs. There will be many quirks to the schedule no matter how many games are decided upon to play.
Hopefully they can shoot for 100 games or so
No shot they play an ASG.
What’s wrong with 81 games?
either home/road split (acceptable reason i guess) or people dont like odd numbers (silly reason but probably the main one if we are honest)
world series and playoffs are odd numbers
Not all odd numbers, just prime numbers. All not factorable and everything. Weirds me out. Can’t trust ’em.
Perfect squares like 81 are a-ok tho
Not a thing in reality. You play the number of games on your schedule. Most games will be without fans so no real “home field advantage.” because of crowd noise, etc. many if not all of the games will be played in AZ or FL or both anyway so, it doesn’t really matter the exact number of games.
At this point, the number of games matters only in the sense of playing enough so they have value in determining playoff teams.
For example, if they stage them all in Arizona, I could see an 87 game regular season. Every team faces all the others 3 times. Leave divisions out for this year. Top 3 in each League straight in, next two wild cards.
Maybe sneak DHs onto National league teams ….
Fun brainstorm, beats being down about this..
I’d prefer to see division rivalries.
12 games vs the 4 teams in your division for 48.
4 games vs the 10 other teams in your league for 40.
No need for interleague.
88 game schedule could do the trick,
Or get real crazy with it.
Roll with the split squads to try to squeeze 162.
Split squad plays every other team’s split squad 2 games, total of 58.
Main squad plays 16 games vs the 4 teams in own division for 64 plus 4 games vs the 10 other teams in same league for 40.
With 15 teams in both leagues you will need to have inter-league play.
Split squads could work—-at least expand all rosters to 40 for the entire season to combat against inevitable fatigue.
Good call wild bill.
Although, my instant thought goes toward rest days as a solution to that obstacle.
88 game schedule in my crazy head doesn’t need to be played in 88 days.
But after a bit more thought, I suggest 96 games with 48 division and 48 against the rest of the league for some OCD reason.
This crazy idea assumes/hopes there would be a central location to stage games and no need to restructure divisions or worry about weather while doing so.
Every Fri/Sat/Sun features six divisional matchups. Three teams on a ‘3 day bye’, one from each division. After 15 weeks, each team will have played 36 divisional games and had three ‘3 day byes’.
Every Mon/Tues/Wed/Thur features six matchups against the other divisions. Two game ‘home and home’ sets, with six teams each getting 2 day byes. After 15 weeks, each team will have played 48 league games and had six ‘2 day byes’.
Finish out with 2.5 weeks of divisional matchups. Mon/Tues/Wed. Off day Thur. Back for Fri/Sat/Sun. Six teams getting 3 day byes per week for this stretch.
Start for August 3rd. December playoffs!
Tiebreaker day Dec 3rd, Wild Card day Dec 4th.
Division round best of 5 from Dec 5-9th
League series best of 7 from Dec 10-16th.
World Series best of 7 from Dec 17-24th with an All Star Game being played on Dec 17th to kick it off.
If people don’t want baseball for Christmas, then a lot of these ‘byes’ could be condensed.
Or go ultra aggressive and have no byes with one team playing one doubleheader per day. 8 games every day, 56 per week could be done in about 12 weeks for a November playoffs in this wild ‘start in August’ scenario that I’m daydreaming about.
I don’t think I emphasized the crazy idea part enough but to me any of this would be most satisfactory. The option with extra rest built in to factor for any weather wild cards and to avoid extra physical stress on the players would be my ultimate pick if I were king.
Take care all, especially if you made it to the end of this little novel!
Friendly bet, there’s no shot, not even a hint of possibility of an ASG.
Would never say no shot….but most likely they announce “All Star Teams” but don’t actually play the game
If they take a break to play ASG it cuts into the potential games played, and salaries being based on prorated share of full salary, why would 80% of the league forfeit games played so a few guys can feel special?
It’s not happening. Those days are extremely valuable.
What if they went Pro Bowl style and staged an ASG between the LCS matchups and the World Series?
Who is worse, Manfred or Clark?
Tough question. Often wondered that myself. Neither is good for the game.
Between the two of them, Boras gets my vote
Bud Selig. Manfred is bad but Bud was horrendous. Especially for the all star winner gets home field in the world series. Home field should always go to the team with the best record.
I am prepared for no baseball this year. And if they do…it will be irrelevant. Yes..it will be baseball, but it will be more like exhibition baseball. It will have very little resemblance to a real baseball season. No fans in stands and even worse if not in their own ballparks.
I love baseball and will watch….but it won’t be remotely like the real thing. Sad…so sad.
Baseball is baseball.
Yep, just give me baseball in any form right now
Exhibition season would be fine if they can get everyone there without further spread to others. Not sure how they’d pull that off. With all the one-off drastic changes they want to make and some players not going, a real season would be a farce.
Funny how people think 81 can’t work. I don’t want no stinking baseball season if they’re going to play 81 games. Too darn confusing.
Three divisions, East plays in Florida, Central plays in Texas, West plays in Arizona. 90 game season, play each other division team 10 times, 5 in a row switching home team, then later 5 in a row again. One day in each 5 game cycle would be a doubleheader.
Three division champs, best record plays wild card champ. Four wild cards, two rounds to determine who plays team with best record. There is a logic to this by the way.
How many interleague games do they play right now? Technically those don’t really matter, we played for decades without them so if you just got rid of those how many games does that eliminate? if you play ~80 games with no interleague, I think the cream should definitely rise to the top to represent your league
Where would teams play in Texas?
Former Ballpark in Arlington, New Ballpark in Arlington, Rangers minor league field in Frisco (north Dallas), TCU’s baseball field in Fort Worth, Baylor’s field in Waco, UNT’s baseball field in Denton (DFW Market), then take the same approach in Houston – Minute Maid, AstroDome, Rice’s baseball stadium, University of Houston’s stadium, Astros minor league stadium – Sugar Land Skeeter’s.
astrodome has been condemned
Astrodome can not host events any longer, and the Astros do not have a minor league stadium here in town. We have Round Rock and Corpus, but nothing here in town. If you just need stadiums that you can use without fans you have MMP, Rice, UH, San Jac
Astrodome isn’t viable. It isn’t up to code and has basically been condemned.
They’d play at Minute Maid. Cameras already in place. Networks can grab the feed from the home clubhouse video room.
Winner winner
Unfortunately, until a Vaccine is developed and approved, I’m afraid Social Distancing is here to stay. Professional Sports will need to wait patiently like the rest of us.
I think you have to accept the fact that a vaccine will be some time away and when it finally arrives it won’t mean much since this strain will probably mutate into something else.
there is no selective pressure for the virus to mutate right now unless the social distancing is able to completely eradicate it, which is unlikely.
How could social distancing eradicate it? It’s either herd immunity or a vaccine.
It’s not herd immunity in the way you always propose in a vacuum. It won’t be split by age, as you would like, being 25. It’s more likely to be that they will test people in huge numbers (once able, of course) and those who have antibodies will be allowed to be active socially and work, with some caveats. Those who do not have antibodies will have to continue to distance…
Lol the death rate is too low and no chance the government is waiting for a vaccine. We’ll be back soon and only have loose restrictions.
We have no idea what % of the population is infected. 645,000 are infected, 29,000 have died. That’s roughly 4.5%. That’s a high enough death rate to be concerned about. And most of the population has not even been exposed.
I think we just need to ignore “thetruth.” Let him talk to himself as he spouts his delusions and reveals his utter lack of concern for the safety of others
Actually the numbers are higher than I cited above. 668K cases, 34K deaths. That’s over a 5% death rate among infected. No doubt it would be higher if they had tested everyone who died of respiratory causes.
Well, that would mean no sports for 4-5 years. The 12-18 months you hear parroted around on the news is if everything goes perfectly. NO vaccine has ever been developed in that short period of time. And what if there is no vaccine, ever? 90% of vaccine trials fail. No HIV vaccine, no SARS, MERS, Ebola vaccines. We don’t even know if a vaccine will be needed. This virus could be a seasonal thing, or it could have its moment and then fade away. We really do not know how this is all going to play out. At some point, we need to find a way to reopen society knowing this virus is still out there. Sports are an industry, just like any other industry. There are a lot of people who’s livelihood depends on sports.
make a 30 team playoff bracket playing at spring training facilities. let the best team win
Lol, pitchers aren’t going to ramp up and prepare for what could be a 4-7 game season
You do realize it’s typically over 100* and often over 110* consistently in Phoenix metro during the summer. Hence the reason the Dbacks have an (indoor) facility for games. The roof opens if it’s under 80*. I can’t see players agreeing to play outside in that heat. Even the overnight lows are @ 90*-95*.
How long are people going to tolerate government mandated house arrest and joblessness? Hunger and desperation will outweigh compassion for those with compromised health who make up a small percentage of the population sooner than later.
Absolutely agree.. For those saying no baseball if it doesn’t resemble a normal season I say get to us in June or July on that stance… My guess they’ll take whatever they can get..
We already have thousands and thousands of people waiting in food lines because they have no money. Half of all adults under 45 are now unemployed. It’s quite sad that we are bankrupting the youth to protect a small segment of the population.
In the future we need to get smarter about this. Elderly and sick people need to take precautions, not everyone.
Where did you study infectious diseases?
University of Michigan
It’s obvious based on CDC stats
thetruth
You are a nobody. You opinions on virology, infectious diseases, epidemiology and public health are worst than meaningless, because you’re one of those dumb enough to think you know what you don’t.
You are every bit the nobody thetruth is. Being on the other side of the argument makes you no better. In fact, one could accuse you of happily destroying the economy. One could accuse you hoping for lost jobs, lost wages, lost homes and breaking families thanks to the crushing economic downturn.
That would be unbecoming and wrong. You’re wrong for what you just posted and more. Stand down.
wild bill
Except that I am married to a healthcare professional who runs a medical graduate department, conducts research and is well connected to the upper echelons of THE major hospital in the state. thetruth and YOU are not.
Except for all that you MIGHT have a point. But you don’t.
Look, I’ve lost a 100 grand and my daughter’s business is dead. I have a personal stake in this. But I have a much better idea what the cost would be in lives if we did not practice social distancing and shelter in place. It’s the cost of life.
You’re dead wrong for what you just posted. Stand down.
Nobody asked you who you are married to. Your healthcare professional spouse may be working for the Bill Gates foundation for all we know. I might be right, and you might not. Ask her why should marry a guy with the handle mo4ever.
My point is dead accurate; you’re accusing people of so many things yet you aren’t taking the time to take a good look in the mirror. Please stop telling us you’re better than all of us or know more than all of us. It is simply not true.
Fully agree
This 100%
“Hunger and desperation will outweigh compassion for those with compromised health who make up a small percentage of the population sooner than later.”
52 million boomers is not a small percentage of the population. And then there’s those 45-64 who also have higher risk. And then there’s the chronically ill, like the 25 million with diabetes. It’s quarter to a third of the population with most of the money.
That’s an Excellent point about this Bogus situation! 😉
I do hope both Manfred and Clarke can agree Americans need some sense of normalcy and baseball provides that so both sides can give on a few issues and work to get this done.. Over a million tests a week are now being manufactured for public use with that number set to triple in three weeks. So the availability of testing will not be an issue in that the MLB feels they are taking away from those that need it the COVID-19 tests.
Hey skull over a month ago they said they would have millions of tests available. Proved to be a lie. When the medical community has them I’ll believe it.
There WILL be MLB games this years. Bet on it. This is only April 16th. A month from now this whole pandemic/lockdown thing will have changed very drastically. The governor of Texas is laying out his reopening plan for the state tomorrow.
New York had 2,000 COVID hospitalizations yesterday, after all of the social distancing that has been done so far. We are far from this being under control.
There’s people out there that say that’s not an accurate number. For every virus checkbox the hospital gets $13,000. So if you go in for pneumonia or any other illness, the hospital “might” check the covid-19 box. I wouldn’t put it past them.
source?
His source is common sense
Multiple sources, look it up, then make your own conclusions
I don’t trust any media source so it might be true, might not
And this is false?
twitter.com/sangerkatz/status/1248685404775239680?…
thetruth
Common sense is not a reliable source. For one thing, it varies from person to person. This is why they have science. Another fail for you.
“There’s people out there” = Gary actually has no idea what he’s talking about
Gary
That’s b.s. denier propaganda. If anything the COVID deaths have been significantly undercounted, since deaths due to symptoms like pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses have only been counted if the patient has tested positive for COVID. They are not counting patients who have not tested positive to COVID. Stop the wild-eyed denier lies.
I really don’t have any idea what I’M talking about. That’s exactly why I’m just saying I hear it from others. Take it for what you will.
You could be right Mo. But understand there’s good people on both sides of this thing. I’m not surprised either way.
1% death rate, over 90% of infected have no serious symptoms…. what if they released daily statistics on driving accident deaths? There are 8 million New Yorkers, 2,000 is a tiny number.
You realize that number is AFTER social distancing for a month?
thetruth
4.5% death rate among infected cases. We have no idea how many are infected. We do know that infected would skyrocket if everyone just went back to normal levels of interaction.
Make that 5%. Updated stats.
Which could have been less had the NYC Mayor and Governor took the virus seriously sooner than they did. Not propaganda.
They were caught by surprise with a densely populated city and a hugely mobile population coming and going from places in Asia and Europe. They had pretty unique circumstances. Seattle had similar circumstances in that there is significant travel to Asia from there. You would have done no better. It’s a cautionary tale for the rest of the country, what might have happened had the rest of us not taken drastic measures. Yet some call those measures overreaction. Fools.
It’s going to be so cool to see walk off HR’s. The ball drops into the empty stands. No fans. No cheering. No mosh pit at home plate.
Well, at least we’ll be able to hear the Astros banging the garbage can.
itll also be easier to hear Brett Gardner’s tirades.
No matter what they do it will not be real baseball. However Clark has it right with making sure the public has the same access to testing as players will have. After all we are in this together. I love baseball as much as anyone but everyone has to remember it’s just a game
in that case ill take the “fake baseball”
Key will be the finger prick test now in use, if it proves to be accurate, it can easily be produced in huge quantities
The question is the machines used to test the samples. How many of those will we have and how soon?
10 to 20 percent of individuals getting the virus are health care workers. They can’t get P.P.E. or masks or testing. If we can’t keep them safe why the hell are we talking about playing any game that will expose even more individuals?
Oh no, individuals with a 1% death rate and over 90% have no serious symptoms of infected. It’s a nightmare! Run! What a dangerous flu!
The death rate of the flu is. .1% 10 times less than the 1% you quote which is not accurate. If you do the math the virus death rate is over 2%. It’s closer to 5%. 620k infected 32k deaths!!!
The death rate is 4.5% among the infected. You have NO idea what the infected rate among the general population is since the vast majority have not been tested.
We are tenth in the world in deaths per million and not even in the top twenty in tests per million. We have 50% more deaths than any other country. We are totally unprepared and the only thing keeping this from being a catastrophic event beyond what anyone could even imagine is the efforts of our governors to flatten the curve. Thankfully, they are running the country now, or we would have no economy to come back to, just months of funerals.
I am going by reported numbers not some could be. My point there is not enough protection for medical workers the reported infection rate is who knows what and they are talking about putting more people at risk. We don’t need more deaths to play baseball!
5% death rate among infected. Updated data.
Until everyone gets tested, including and especially postmortem with acute symptoms, those numbers from Johns-Hopkins aren’t even remotely accurate.
“We” only talk about it because of the total arse wipes who come and insist it’s no big deal. They want baseball so they can do nothing but sit around and watch games. Only that will make them feel better. It’s not about sense, it’s about false narratives from know nothings. Meeting’s adjourned. Now let’s get back to our phony baloney lives! Harrumph,harrumph, harrumph.
Isn’t Clark a bit old to be thinking about playing again?
Yes..lol
Tony Clark was a medicatior player and q less than medicatior union boss.
How about having the players play no fans and stream the games on MLB network