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As Major League Baseball ponders various scenarios in which the 2020 season could commence in empty parks without fans in attendance, Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic write that empty-stadium games could prompt ownership to ask that the players make further concessions in terms of their 2020 salary.

The two sides already reached an agreement on service time, player salaries and a broad framework for an abbreviated draft late last month. Within that agreement, players agreed to prorated salaries that are directly proportional to the reduction of total games played.

Rosenthal and Drellich suggest, however, that the league “made it clear to the union that economic adjustments would be necessary if games were played in empty parks,” while many on the players’ side of talks believe that the already standing agreement addressed games without fan and/or games at neutral sites. Unsurprisingly, agent Scott Boras ardently pointed to the preexisting “good faith agreement” regarding empty-stadium play while implying that seeking further reductions would be in violation of said good faith.

It seems rather perplexing that the players wouldn’t have pursued precise language expressly underscoring that even neutral-site games without fans in attendance should fall under the purview of the currently agreed-upon salary reduction parameters. That agreement, after all, was unanimously ratified by all 30 owners back on March 27. At that point, the idea of televising games without fans was already widely being speculated upon and surely being discussed by the league and MLBPA. Word of the potential “Arizona” plan trickled out not two weeks after that agreement had been settled.

The owners’ claim in all of this would undoubtedly be that addition of television revenue would not be enough to cover the cost of operations in conjunction with the elimination of gate revenue. Such claims wouldn’t be able to be proven with books closed to the public, but it’s easy to see all 30 owners aligning on that front whether or not the sentiment holds true in actuality.

At this point, all parties involved are flying blind for the most part, as there’s not yet any certainty regarding when or if play will resume, where games will take place or how many games could be played. There’s also been talk of expanding the postseason format, which would create additional revenue on all sides that wouldn’t otherwise exist. Without those details set in place, fiscal specifics are impossible to glean. All of those issues will factor into further negotiations — if it is indeed determined that the existing language leaves ownership ample latitude to pursue such reductions. It’s easy to imagine a contentious set of secondary negotiations eventually being necessary once the logistics can be more clearly defined, though.

At least as pertains to the 2020 season, commissioner Rob Manfred wields the ultimate hammer, as his position gives him the right to unilaterally suspend player contracts due to the declaration of a national emergency. While one would hope that negotiations wouldn’t get to that point, the threat of such extreme action could indeed be powerful leverage against the MLBPA.

All of this comes at a time when the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in December 2021. Advance collective bargaining talks were already reported to be in place well before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. Any rising tensions that stem from further back-and-forth on more immediate issues figure to impact those CBA negotiations whenever they resume in earnest.

In another example of the radical measures that Major League Baseball is contemplating as it seeks to play as many games as possible in a truncated 2020 season, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that one proposal would see the traditional American League and National League scrapped for the 2020 season only — and replaced by the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues in which the clubs play during Spring Training. The 15 teams with spring facilities in Arizona and the 15 with spring facilities in Florida could each call their spring parks home, playing games in empty parks in realigned divisions.

As with the all-Arizona plan that was reported on earlier this week, a Cactus/Grapefruit arrangement is an intriguing concept but one that is also wrought with potential pitfalls. Securing ample coronavirus testing capabilities is still a challenge on a national scale, and Florida in particular is a problematic area with regard to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While the idea of empty parks ostensibly caps the number of people present for a given contest, it may not do so quite to the extent one would initially think. In addition to hosting a pair of rosters that would likely be expanded to 29 or more players, empty-park games would still need to have coaching staffs on hand in addition to umpires, medical/training personnel, camera crews, a production team and security staff for the facility in question (to say nothing of the potential for scouts and other front-office personnel as well).

Securing temporary housing for that many players, too, could be problematic. And as with the all-Arizona plan, the Florida-Arizona plan carries questions about weather conditions — playing primarily in open-air stadiums in the dead of an Arizona or Florida summer is clearly sub-optimal — and prolonged separation of players and their families. The looming issue of how to proceed if (or more likely when) an active player tests positive for the virus remains perhaps the most notable obstacle to address.

All of that said, it’s nevertheless fascinating to think about a season played out under such radical conditions. Nightengale suggests, for instance, that with the AL and NL designations scrapped, a universal DH could be implemented for one season. That’d seemingly put would-be NL clubs that hadn’t prepped for that change at a bit of a disadvantage, although concessions will surely have to be made by many parties if a season is to be played at all.

The potential for divisional realignment creates myriad new rivalry possibilities and shuffles the deck such that we might see some current postseason long shots gifted greater hope at the playoffs. Nightengale runs through one preliminary realignment scenario that would see the “Cactus League Northwest” division comprised of the Brewers, Padres, Rangers, Mariners and Royals. Over in the “Grapefruit League South” division we’d see a hyper-competitive trio of the Braves, Twins and Rays joined by the Red Sox and Orioles. Obviously, that’s merely one hypothetical alignment in a larger-scale hypothetical undertaking that may never even come to pass.

But at this juncture, as MLB joins the rest of us waiting for more robust testing/treatment and the blessing of public health experts and government officials to relax our social distancing measures, there’s no reason for the league not to cast a wide net in dreaming up creative solutions. To the contrary, thinking outside the box is arguably their best course of action right now. This, like the Arizona plan, is likely one of dozens of scenarios that has been or will be discussed by decision-makers as they seek to find a way to restore some sense of normalcy — to whatever extent is possible while maintaining the broader health of the general public.

Major League Baseball has announced a plan to continue financial support and medical benefits to all minor-league baseball players. Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reported that a deal was pending (Twitter links), while Baseball America’s JJ Cooper first reported one was in the works (Twitter links).

The plan is for teams to issue $400 weekly payments to all minor-league players — less than higher-level players would typically receive but more than is the norm for players on the lower rungs. The agreement runs through the end of May, unless the minor-league season begins prior to that point in time.

There are a few exceptions. Players that are still being housed and fed at Spring Training sites will not receive funds on top of that existing support. And each team is responsible to handle Dominican Summer League players on its own accord.

MLB also covered a few “procedural” matters in its announcement. The league has officially informed Minor League Baseball — a separate entity that represents the many minor-league teams around the country — that “Major League Clubs are unable to supply their Minor League affiliates with players as a result of the national health emergency.” And MLB indicates that teams are “in the process of informing Minor League players of the suspension of their Uniform Player Contracts.”