MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred: "We’re Going to Play Baseball in 2020"

Speaking last night on the MLB Network, commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the growing level of concern that baseball will not be played this season because the players and owners cannot come to an agreement about compensation and the length of the season.

“We’re going to play baseball in 2020, 100 percent,” he said.

The MLB Players Association’s recently proposed an 89-game season, but MLB’s owners are expected to reject that plan and counter with a shorter season that includes an expanded playoff field.

The major sticking point between the two sides is that the players believe they are owed their full prorated salaries based on an agreement that was reached in March when the pandemic was just starting, while owners say holding games with no fans, which was not factored in at the time of the pact, changes how much pay they can offer.

If the players and owners can’t reach an agreement, Manfred has the authority to implement a 48-game season that would guarantee players their full prorated salaries.

“I would prefer to negotiate a new agreement with the MLBPA that gets us more games and resolves the issues that have separated us amicably,” Manfred told ESPN’s Karl Ravech. “But at the end of the day, we negotiated for the right in March to start the season on a number of games that we select in these particular circumstances. And if we have to, we’ll exercise that right.”

In other MLB-related news, the league actually held the first round of its draft last night, and Spencer Torkelson out of Arizona State went to the Detroit Tigers with the No. 1 pick. Torkelson bashed 54 home runs in 127 career games at ASU and was only four home runs shy of the school record when the 2020 season was cut short due to the coronavirus.

The draft resumes this evening with Rounds 2-5.

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