Several Los Angeles Dodgers players have continued to work out at Camelback Ranch and Dodger Stadium over recent weeks as Major League Baseball and the union exchanged proposals and counteroffers of an economic plan for the 2020 regular season.
There was hope a resolution would be reached in time to start Spring Training 2.0 during June so that Opening Day could be held on the Fourth of July. Baseball returning on Independence Day would have made for the perfect pairing and also marked the first North American sport to return.
Justin Turner was particularly disappointed MLB was unable to reach an agreement in time for that to become a reality, reiterated the Dodgers were keeping prepared with regular workouts and players were willing to play however many games were deemed necessary this year.
Turner has since shared a video on Instagram that is made of up clips of players working out. It was shared by Kiké Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling, among others, on their respective social media channels.
The simple message of being ready is a play on the statement issued by the MLBPA when they rejected the latest counteroffer from the league.
“Players want to play. It’s who we are and what we do. Since March, the Association has made it clear that our No.1 focus is playing the fullest season possible, as soon as possible, as safely as possible,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark wrote.
“Players agreed to billions in monetary concessions as a means to that end, and in the face of repeated media leaks and misdirection we made additional proposals to inject new revenues into the industry – proposals that would benefit the owners, players, broadcast partners, and fans alike.
“It’s now become apparent that these efforts have fallen upon deaf ears. In recent days, owners have decried the supposed unprofitability of owning a baseball team and the Commissioner has repeatedly threatened to schedule a dramatically shortened season unless players agree to hundreds of millions in further concessions.
“Our response has been consistent that such concessions are unwarranted, would be fundamentally unfair to players, and that our sport deserves the fullest 2020 season possible. These remain our positions today, particularly in light of new reports regarding MLB’s national television rights – information we requested from the league weeks ago but were never provided.
“As a result, it unfortunately appears that further dialogue with the league would be futile. It’s time to get back to work. Tell us when and where.”
And despite MLB commissioner Rob Manfred saying last week with absolute certainty that there would be a 2020 season, he has now backed off those remarks.
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