After several weeks of exchanging proposals and trading barbs, Major League Baseball and the Players Association ultimately agreed to heading down a path that would allow for commissioner Rob Manfred to impose a schedule for the 2020 regular season.
MLB made a last-ditch effort to revisit negotiations by offering to eliminate an expanded postseason and universal designated hitter, but didn’t budge on pay players full prorated salaries that were agreed to on March 26.
The MLBPA ultimately voted against the league’s proposal and days later agreed to a July 1 report date for Spring Training 2.0 and finalized health and safety protocols with MLB. The Los Angeles Dodgers will hold their first official workout at Dodger Stadium on July 3.
Although baseball is on the verge of returning, the failed negotiations left a sour taste for some fans, particularly with the disagreement coming during a worldwide pandemic. That factor was something Justin Turner said he was disappointed with, via the”Holding Kourt Podcast“:
“It’s still tough right now because there’s so many people that are out of work and so many people that are struggling and so many people have lost their lives because of the pandemic. There’s so much stuff going on that baseball seems trivial, but it is a big part of our lives and a big part of peoples’ lives. It is what we do, it’s something that we love and have dedicated our whole life to, so it does matter and is important to us. When it comes down to this bargaining stuff and going back and forth, it’s not just us saying, ‘Oh, forget it. We’ll go play for nothing.’
“There’s people above us who are working on that stuff to figure it out. I’m a baseball player. I’ve played baseball my whole life and I just want to do whatever I can to contribute to getting on the field and playing baseball. But sometimes there are some sacrifices that have to be made. It definitely got ugly in the media, so much stuff going back and forth on both sides, and they probably really regret. I regret that it was so public and back and forth. At the end of the day I don’t know if it shook out the way everyone wanted it to, but at least we’re having something that looks like a season.”
One person within baseball expressed a similar sentiment, expressing concern over the ramifications MLB may face because an agreement was not reached.
Turner is the Dodgers’ union representative, and has been lauded by several of his teammates for providing them with concise updates. And though he was disappointed by how public negotiations became, Turner emphasized it was important for players to stick to their demands because of the implications it has for future generations.
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