Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press
Major League Baseball announced Monday night that it plans to begin spring training and the regular season in 2021 on time after the MLB Players Association rejected a proposal for a revised schedule.
“In light of the MLBPA’s rejection of our proposal, and their refusal to oppose our revised offer this afternoon,” MLB said in a statement. “We are moving forward and instructing our clubs to sign up in time for Spring Training and the championship season, subject to reaching an agreement on health and safety protocols.”
Earlier in the evening, the MLBPA officially rejected MLB’s proposal to delay the start of the 2021 season, shortening the schedule to 154 matches.
“Although players’ salaries will initially not be linked to a regular season of 154 games, MLB’s proposal offers no protection against salary or service in the event of further delays, interruptions or cancellations of the season,” the MLBPA said.
From now on, the spring training will start later this month, with the opening day scheduled for April 1:
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Sunday that MLB’s proposal had been tabled “in several areas”. In particular, some players were concerned that the agreement “may grant Commissioner Rob Manfred what he currently has to cancel games and consequently possibly cut the players’ salaries.”
Players quoted how they also started training out of season in preparation for the spring practice in mid-February. If you push back the start of the season, you have to start the process all over again.
According to Passan, MLB has pointed to health experts to justify the delay in launching the upcoming campaign. A later date will allow longer rollouts of the COVID-19 vaccine, allowing regions around hometowns to better handle the pandemic.
Along with the disagreement between the two sides, Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown reports that some players do not believe that play-off matches will be a net advantage, as it lowers the entry point and takes away the importance of the results of the regular season.
This off-season will apparently provide ammunition for critics about the expansion of the national season.
The Chicago Cubs (Yu Darvish), Tampa Bay Rays (Blake Snell) and Cleveland (Francisco Lindor) only swapped star players after winning the playoffs. The Colorado Rockies too announced On Monday, they took Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals swapped.
The Athletics’s Ken Rosenthal reported Monday that the MLBPA is likely to reject MLB’s proposal “and may not even act.” The union could potentially be susceptible to the universal designated hitter or extended play-off battle, but consider it too late to change the scheme for 2021.